Selected reviews by Fiona Mountford, freelance theatre critic.
Fiona Mountford is a writer and theatre critic. She spent 17 years as the Evening Standard’s theatre critic, and has worked for numerous publications including the Observer, Telegraph, the Spectator, Sunday Times and i news.
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A Christmas Carol at the The Old Vic (2023)
★★★★★
"Christopher Eccleston rendition is the best yet" "Here’s an early Christmas present for theatre lovers. Jack Thorne’s version of the…
i News
Ghosts at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (2023)
★★★★
"Shows the Globe shouldn’t always stick to Shakespeare" "Hattie Morahan gives an impassioned turn in Henrik Ibsen's tale of family…
i News
The Witches at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"No Matilda – but still a dazzling Dahl musical" "With some judicious tweaking and pruning, a glorious future surely awaits…
i News
Backstairs Billy at the Duke of York's Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Penelope Wilton makes a magnificent Queen Mother" "The Downton Abbey actor’s performance in Michael Grandage’s production is a gift for…
i News
The Time Traveller’s Wife at the Apollo Theatre (2023)
★★★
"The story hasn’t aged well – but this’ll have you weeping" "Although this musical adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger’s bestselling novel…
i News
King Lear at the Wyndham's Theatre (2023)
★★
"Kenneth Branagh needs to stop directing himself" "The entire thing has the feel of some dubious historical recreation for tourists"…
i News
Clyde's at the Donmar Warehouse (2023)
★★★
"Pulitzer winner Lynn Nottage’s new drama fails to convince" "Imperfect though the play is, Nottage’s insights into marginalised lives are…
i News
Lyonesse at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2023)
★★
"New Lily James play is the most barking thing I’ve seen in a long time" "Watching this starry West End…
i News
Dear England at the Prince Edward Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"Joseph Fiennes is a phenomenal Gareth Southgate" (National Theatre London) "Graham offers us the England men’s team as both entirely…
i News
Hamnet at the Garrick Theatre (2023)
★★★
"This adaptation lacks the boldness and riches of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel" (Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon) "The Women’s Prize-winning bestseller about Shakespeare’s…
i News
Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Nicole Scherzinger sure can sing – but why the standing ovations?" "Jamie Lloyd’s take on the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical…
i News
A Voyage Round My Father at the Theatre Royal Bath (2023)
★★★
"Rupert Everett impresses – but this voyage lacks zip" "Even the Bafta nominee can't stop Richard Eyre's staging of John…
The Telegraph
Noises Off at the Phoenix Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Michael Frayn’s farce is as sublimely funny as ever" (Phoenix Theatre) "The play following a rackety company of actors from…
i News
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends at the Gielgud Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Bob Dylan won a Nobel Prize, so why didn’t Sondheim?" "Matthew Bourne and Julia McKenzie’s starry tribute to the maestro…
i News
Close Up: The Twiggy Musical at the Menier Chocolate Factory (2023)
★★
"Ben Elton must stop making musicals" "Random pop songs, clunky social commentary and hardly anything on Twiggy’s modelling career –…
i News
Mlima’s Tale at the Kiln Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"A brutal, devastating drama about the ivory trade" "An elephant murdered for its tusks haunts much of the action in…
The Telegraph
Vanya at the Duke of York's Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"Andrew Scott’s one-man Chekhov is the performance of the year" "Is solo Chekhov a vanity project? Quite possibly – but…
i News
Pygmalion at the The Old Vic Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Patsy Ferran and Bertie Carvel’s version feels magnificently modern" 'There is a deliberately extravagant quality to both performances to start,…
i News
A Mirror at the Almeida Theatre (2023)
★★★
"A slippery interrogation of free speech" "Jonny Lee Miller and Tanya Reynolds star in two hours of uneasy blurring of…
i News
Next to Normal at the Donmar Warehouse (2023)
★★★★
"A blistering musical portrayal of mental illness" "The Pulitzer Prize winning musical finally arrives in London – and it’s worth…
i News
The Effect at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Lucy Prebble’s play says less about mental health than it thinks it does" "Paapa Essiedu and Taylor Russell’s characters fall…
i News
The SpongeBob Musical at the Queen Elizabeth Hall London (2023)
★★★
"To adults this is a noisy neon nightmare" (Queen Elizabeth Hall, London) "The stage iteration of the unstoppable children’s TV…
i News
Macbeth at the Shakespeare's Globe (2023)
★★★
"Turning the witches into men is a gimmick that doesn’t work" "Abigail Graham’s modern-dress production needed to be left in…
i News
The Sound of Music at the Chichester Festival Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Proves the musical is as indestructible as the Alps" "Gina Beck’s Maria has a voice that is as clear and…
i News
Cuckoo at the Royal Court Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"The dark, relatable comedy the theatre has been missing" "Four women from a single Birkenhead family navigate a widening generation…
i News
Dr Semmelweis at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2023)
★★★
"What on earth is Mark Rylance doing in this dull drama?" "Fans of the actor will find their minds drifting…
i News
Beneatha’s Place at the The Young Vic (2023)
★★★
"This Raisin in the Sun-inspired satire is frustrating" "Kwame Kwei-Armah has done much better work than this" "What is unwaveringly…
i News
Robin Hood The Legend. Re-Written at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Playful family fun" "An enjoyable spin on the legend presents a familiar-but-different story – with no time for stereotypes" "Where…
i News
Mrs Doubtfire The Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Gabriel Vick quickly banishes thoughts of Robin Williams" "The star is nothing less than phenomenal in an energetic show that…
i News
The Pillowman at the Duke of York's Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Lily Allen or not, will people pay West End prices for something this unpleasant?" "This Martin McDonagh revival at The…
i News
The Third Man - A Musical Thriller at the Menier Chocolate Factory (2023)
★★★★
"A slick, wistful new musical" "Trevor Nunn directs an effective production of this ‘musical thriller'" "... so was it a…
i News
Romeo and Juliet at the Almeida Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"Rebecca Frecknall’s tragedy casts an exquisite magic spell" "Five stars simply isn’t enough for the urgent, vibrant glory of this"…
i News
42nd Street at the Sadler's Wells Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Ruthie Henshall is full of sass in a shimmering revival" "Expect routine after routine of exquisitely expressive tap dancing" "Tastes,…
i News
When Winston Went To War With The Wireless at the Donmar Warehouse (2023)
★★★
"Unsubtle government vs the BBC drama" "Stephen Campbell Moore and Adrian Scarborough are terrific in Jack Thorne’s clever but heavy-handed…
i News
Assassins at the Chichester Festival Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"A triumphant reframing of Stephen Sondheim’s musical" "Polly Findlay’s timely production draws parallels with right wing politics in today’s America"…
i News
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at the Southwark Playhouse Elephant (2023)
★★★★
"Should be the next must-see musical" "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’s Jamie Parker is an ideal fit in this…
i News
Groundhog Day at the The Old Vic (2023)
★★★★
"Tim Minchin’s musical is warm and spiky – but it’s no Matilda" "There is much to savour in this sharp,…
i News
We Will Rock You at the London Coliseum (2023)
★
"This show must not go on! Queen musical is utter bohemian crapsody" "What a grim, joyless, deafening thud of an…
i News
Great Expectations at the Garrick Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Eddie Izzard does herself and Dickens proud" "Izzard plays every single character in this beguiling one-woman show" "Those looking for…
i News
Rose at the Ambassadors Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Maureen Lipman’s one-woman show is an extraordinary epic of Jewish history" "Lipman’s trademark dry sense of humour is a perfect…
i News
Aspects of Love at the Lyric Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"It’s cool to mock Andrew Lloyd Webber, but this is a stylish update" "Michael Ball is among the stars of…
i News
A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Shakespeare's Globe (2023)
★★★★
"The theatre’s best show in ages" "Accessible, witty and meaningful: this is exactly what the Globe should be doing" "...…
i News
Brokeback Mountain at the Soho Place Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Lucas Hedges and Mike Faist are splendid as secret lovers" "The in-the-round intimacy of @sohoplace is perfect for the understated…
i News
Once On This Island at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2023)
★★★
"A confident Caribbean spin on The Little Mermaid" "This is a vibrant if uneven opening production for a summer that…
i News
4000 Miles at the Chichester Festival Theatre (2023)
★★
"A dangerously flat and underpowered trudge" "Aside from one moment, 4000 Miles is hard trudge" "Let’s start with the good…
i News
Operation Mincemeat at the Fortune Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"A joyously homegrown new comedy musical" "The show is witty, mocking, camp and joyous, not to mention immensely tuneful" "It’s…
i News
Retrograde at the Kiln Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Sharply skewers race and power in Hollywood’s Golden Age" "This witty drama about Sidney Poitier’s rise to stardom confirms Ryan…
i News
Ain't Too Proud - The Life And Times Of The Temptations at the Prince Edward Theatre (2023)
★★
"Plodding musical squanders the joy of The Temptations" "There is nothing here to tempt punters who are not already fans…
i News
The Secret Life of Bees at the Almeida Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"A vibrant new musical" "Sue Monk Kidd’s bestselling novel has been given a potent musical makeover" "... Duncan Sheik, the…
i News
Dancing at Lughnasa at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"A glorious modern classic" "Derry Girls’ Siobhán McSweeney and Louisa Harland chat, laugh and bicker their way through this wistful…
i News
A Little Life at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"James Norton is astonishing in the most gruelling play I’ve seen" "Ivo van Hove’s adaptation of Hanya Yanagihara’s novel is…
i News
Black Superhero at the Royal Court Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Fierce, frank exploration of black masculinity" "Danny Lee Wynter’s uneven but snappy debut play revolves around a struggling actor who…
i News
Guys & Dolls at the Bridge Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Reinforces the thrill of live theatre like nothing else" "The initial booking period for Nicholas Hytner’s exuberant Guys and Dolls…
i News
Shirley Valentine at the Duke of York's Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Sheridan Smith is a dazzling triumph" "The star was surely born to play Willy Russell’s chirpy yet downtrodden Liverpudlian wife…
i News
Oklahoma! at the Wyndham's Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Swaggering revamp thrums with sexual tension" "Daniel Fish’s Tony-winning version of frontier country is stark: an uncompromising place of rough…
i News
Women, Beware The Devil at the Almeida Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Alison Oliver beguiles as a woman accused of witchcraft" " A wild and unwieldly new work from Lulu Raczka" "The…
i News
Romeo and Julie at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Callum Scott Howells is magnificent as a skint Cardiff single dad" "Playwright Gary Owen and director Rachel O’Riordan have produced…
i News
Trouble in Butetown at the Donmar Warehouse (2023)
★★★
"An underpowered portrait of wartime life in Cardiff" "The standout performance in Diana Nneka Atuona’s new play comes from 10-year-old…
i News
Medea at the @sohoplace (2023)
★★★★
"Sophie Okonedo is blisteringly brilliant in this revenge tragedy" "The in-the-round auditorium of the West End’s newest theatre proves the…
i News
Sylvia at the The Old Vic Theatre (2023)
★★★★
"Beverley Knight lets rip in this fast, fearsome suffragette musical" "Kate Prince blends hip hop, dance and funk in her…
i News
Standing at the Sky's Edge at the National Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"Richard Hawley’s perfect love letter to Sheffield" "This stylish production set on the iconic Park Hill estate is a terrific…
i News
Phaedra at the National Theatre (2023)
★★
"Frenetic and ridiculous" "Janet McTeer is never less than commanding in Simon Stone’s Greek myth retelling, but this divisive play…
i News
The Lehman Trilogy at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"Pure theatre magic" "Starring Hadley Fraser, Michael Balogun and Nigel Lindsay, Ben Power’s play is nothing less than an astonishing…
i News
The Tempest at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (2023)
★★
"Alex Kingston is an uneven Prospero in a lethargic production" "Elizabeth Freestone’s climate change spin on the play contains many…
i News
Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2023)
★★★
"Jenna Coleman and Aidan Turner bring bags of zest" "The performers are on superlative form in Sam Steiner’s sometimes bewildering…
i News
The Unfriend at the Criterion Theatre (2023)
★★
"Steven Moffat’s house guest comedy is lazy and unfunny" "Mark Gatiss’s production starring Amanda Abbington and Reece Shearsmith pummels ideas…
i News
A Streetcar Named Desire at the Almeida Theatre (2023)
★★★★★
"Paul Mescal boils with raw animal power in a mesmerising revival" "It says something about the quality of a production…
i News
Watch on the Rhine at the Donmar Warehouse (2023)
★★★
"Lillian Hellman’s call to arms is stirring but stodgy" "The writer’s 1941 play – here starring Patricia Hodge – follows…
i News
The Fir Tree at the Shakespeare's Globe (2022)
★★★
"A festive eco-fable that may make you pity your Christmas tree" "Hans Christian Andersen’s obscure fairy tale about a talkative…
The Telegraph
As You Like It at the @sohoplace (2022)
★★★
"Rose Ayling-Ellis is charming in her West End debut" "The Strictly darling stars in As You Like It – the…
i News
Sons of the Prophet at the Hampstead Theatre (2022)
★★★
"A humane but underpowered story of family and loss" "Stephen Karam’s play has some lovely performances but is markedly inferior…
i News
Mandela at the The Young Vic (2022)
★★★
"Musical fails to bring us closer to the political great" "There are heartfelt moments, but should this be a musical?…
i News
Hex at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
" It’s a delight" "Rufus Norris and Katrina Lindsay’s ingenious idea of putting a new spin on the fairy behind…
i News
It's A Wonderful Life at the London Coliseum (2022)
★★★★
"The Christmas miracle that should save the ENO" "Let’s hope the Arts Council, which recently announced the bizarre defunding of…
i News
Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial at the Wyndham's Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Your brain will implode" "Liv Hennessy has whittled seven days’ worth of court transcripts down into two hours that bounce…
i News
The Sex Party at the Menier Chocolate Factory (2022)
★
"Inept and embarrassing – like a rant from your weird uncle" "Terry Johnson’s play has the air of a formerly…
i News
Super High Resolution at the Soho Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"A captivating performance from Blackborow, who has a radiantly expressive face, demonstrates how Anna is so professionally composed but personally…
i News
Mary at the Hampstead Theatre (2022)
★
"What is going on at Hampstead? Urgent questions need to be asked – and soon – about the selection of…
i News
Tammy Faye – A New Musical at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Hallelujah! Elton John’s new musical is a riot" "The pop legend joins forces with the Scissor Sisters’s Jake Shears and…
i News
Good at the Harold Pinter Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"David Tennant is magnetic as a Nazi professor" "In this reimagining of the 1980s modern classic, Tennant gives a compelling…
i News
Blues For An Alabama Sky at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"Pearl Cleage’s 1995 drama gives our critic the best evening she’s had at the National Theatre in a long time"…
i News
Iphigenia in Splott at the Lyric Hammersmith (2022)
★★★★
"Gary Owen’s furious monodrama, written in 2015 as a response to the austerity policies of the Cameron government, has lost…
i News
Jews. In Their Own Words at the Royal Court (2022)
★★
"The theatre’s response to anti-Semitism claims doesn’t work" "This play, where actors voice the views of 12 Jewish interviewees, is…
i News
The Crucible at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Erin Doherty shines in an immensely powerful revival" "Director Lyndsey Turner offers a still and foreboding production of immense gravity,…
i News
Eureka Day at the The Old Vic (2022)
★★★★★
"Eureka! Here’s the first copper-bottomed hit of the autumn season – and the fact that it stars the Oscar-winning actress…
i News
All's Well That Ends Well at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon (2022)
★★
"Director Blanche McIntyre has had the beginnings of a bright idea in updating the setting to our contemporary world of…
i News
Jack Absolute Flies Again at the National Theatre (2022)
★★★
"Light-hearted levity, rather than world-conquering phenomenon" "The result is a qualified triumph of an evening, one that pitches from the…
The Telegraph
Anything Goes at the Barbican Theatre (2022)
★★★★★
"A gloriously frothy and terrifically tuneful tap-dancing confection" "The extended sections of dance are dazzling " "In the words of…
i News
Patriots at the Almeida Theatre (2022)
★★★★
"Tom Hollander delivers firecracker Boris Berezovsky lead performance" "There are echoes of The Crown’s confident sweep down the years and…
The Telegraph
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club (Playhouse Theatre) (2021)
★★★★
"Eddie Redmayne is chilling in this unsettling, stripped-back revival" "Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome to the most eagerly anticipated show of the…
i News
Best of Enemies at the The Young Vic (2021)
★★★★★
"James Graham serves up another thrilling, slyly humorous knockout" "David Harewood and Charles Edwards offer a masterclass as intellectual monster…
i News
Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward Theatre (2021)
★★★★★
"The Most delightful West End show in a long time" "Richard Eyre's 2004 musical is back at the Prince Edward…
The Telegraph
9 to 5 The Musical at the Savoy Theatre (2019)
★★
"It's enough to drive you crazy if you let it" " There’s not enough real firepower here or in Patricia…
The Evening Standard
Hole at the Royal Court Theatre (2018)
★★★
‘The show doesn’t develop sufficiently from its initial premise, although it continues to burn with rage’ ‘The message of this…
The Evening Standard
My Name Is Lucy Barton at the Bridge Theatre (2018)
★★★★
"Impressive" "At first I feared I wouldn’t get along with Lucy Barton. This Lucy Barton, at least, as there is…
The Evening Standard
An Ideal Husband at the Vaudeville Theatre (2018)
★★★★
"Fantastic Foxes team up for a Wilde West End delight" "Jonathan Church’s production triumphs because it skilfully balances Wilde’s light…
The Evening Standard
Tina - The Tina Turner Musical at the Aldwych Theatre (2018)
★★★
"Who better to power a high-profile new show than the queen of rock and roll herself" "Warren is a livewire…
The Evening Standard
Sister Act The Musical at the London Palladium (2009)
★★★★
"Take it away, sisters" "There can be no disputing the evening's main draw: 24-year-old Miller... her magnificent voice is rich,…
The Evening Standard
Thriller Live at the Lyric Theatre (2009)
★★★★
""Thrilling, certainly, but empty, too.""
The Evening Standard
📷 Main photo: Fiona Mountford
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