Articles Christmas Culture LGBTQ+ Theatre News Originals Pantomime Performance Theatre West End

Beauty and the Beast panto keeps the yuletide very gay indeed this festive season – review

If you weren’t already aware that He’s Behind You! make queer, adults-only pantomime, the subtitle for this year’s show, Beauty and the Beast, is ‘A Horny Love Story’ – which would probably give the game away. Set in the (sadly) fictional Scottish town of Lickmanochers, which of course neighbours Suckmacoch, it is a loose retelling of the classic tale, which many will be familiar with from the 1991 Disney movie. Of course, there’s a fair amount of artistic licence in this adaptation, written by Jon Bradfield and Martin Hooper. We’re…

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Articles Culture Musical Theatre News Originals Performance Southbank Centre Theatre

Revival of Top Hat falls flat despite some impressive choreography – review

We’d been very much looking forward to Top Hat, which has arrived at London’s Southbank Centre this Christmas as part of a national tour. The original 2011 stage adaptation of the classic Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie swept the Oliver Awards, picking up Best New Musical; this revival, first produced earlier this year at the Chichester Festival Theatre, opened to rave reviews. It’s also directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Kathleen Marshall, who was responsible for the incredible choreography we saw in the dazzling revival of Anything Goes at…

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Articles Culture National Theatre News Originals Performance Theatre

End draws David Eldridge’s trilogy to a satisfying conclusion at the National Theatre – review

It’s taken us about eight years, but we have now finally completed David Eldridge’s trilogy of plays exploring love and relationships. Like its predecessors Beginning and Middle, End is a two-hander which plays out as a real-time conversation. The focus of Beginning was on two young lovers on the night they met at a house party, while in Middle we met two people in an established relationship which had begun to go south. The narrative of End – as you may already have guessed – looks at two people who…

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Articles Culture National Theatre News Nicola Coughlan Originals Performance Siobhán McSweeney Theatre

Nicola Coughlan and Siobhán McSweeney star in revival of The Playboy of the Western World – review

When the National Theatre’s revival of JM Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World was announced, it grabbed headlines for starring not one, but two of the cast of the iconic Derry Girls: with Nicola Coughlan as the young Pegeen Mike and Siobhán McSweeney as the older Widow Quin, they take on two of the three lead roles (the trio being completed by Éanna Hardwicke who plays love interest Christy Mahon). Going into the theatre we didn’t really know anything about the show, beyond the attention-grabbing casting – so what…

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Articles Culture National Theatre News Originals Performance Theatre

Ballet Shoes tells a heartwarming tale at the National Theatre this festive season – review

We were really rather taken with Ballet Shoes when we caught it at the National Theatre last Christmas – so much so that when we were offered an opportunity to review it again this year, we leapt at the chance. Kendall Feaver has adapted Noel Streatfeild’s beloved children’s novel for the stage, and it is playing once again at the Olivier Theatre – the largest of the three spaces within the National Theatre. So how does this year’s production fare? Unsurprisingly it’s very similar – some of the cast has…

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Articles Culture News Originals Performance Theatre West End

The Spy Who Came In From the Cold makes for compelling viewing at the @sohoplace theatre – review

You may already be familiar with The Spy Who Came In From the Cold – John le Carré’s seminal spy novel from 1963 was swiftly adapted into a major film in 1965 starring Richard Burton – although somewhat surprisingly, none of the author’s stories have ever made it to the stage. Until now, that is: adapted by playwright David Eldridge, this production was first staged in 2024 at the Chichester Festival Theatre and has now transferred to London’s West End at the @sohoplace theatre. It is directed by three-time Olivier…

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Articles Christmas Culture News Originals Performance The Old Vic Theatre

A Christmas Carol returns with a hearty dose of festive cheer at The Old Vic Theatre – review

We’ll start with the same caveat we did last year: we’ve already seen this production of A Christmas Carol and we already know we like it. This is the ninth time that Jack Thorne’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic tale has played at The Old Vic Theatre – we’ve not seen it every year (this is our fifth time) but it doesn’t really change much year on year. That’s absolutely fine by us, however – it’s a charming production sure to delight children and adults alike. If it ain’t broke,…

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Articles Culture Musical Theatre News Originals Performance Stephen Sondheim Theatre

Kate Fleetwood steals the show in delightfully daft revival of Into the Woods – review

We’d never actually seen a production of Into the Woods – Stephen Sondheim’s musical hasn’t played in London for many years – so we were excited to pay a visit to the Bridge Theatre to check out Jordan Fein’s new staging of the classic show, which will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this coming year. If you’re not familiar with the musical, fear not, because much of the material is well-known; Into the Woods intertwines a whole series of fairytale storylines. Favourites including Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood and…

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Articles Culture Music Musical Theatre News Originals Paddington Performance West End

Paddington: The Musical is the best new show in town this festive season – review

More than five years in the making, Paddington: The Musical has finally opened, just in time for Christmas – and we’re pleased to report that it has absolutely been worth the wait. Written by Jessica Swale, with songs by McFly’s Tom Fletcher and directed by Luke Sheppard (& Juliet, My Son’s a Queer), it tells a story that we’re sure many will be familiar with. Paddington – a bear from deepest, darkest Peru, with a penchant for marmalade sandwiches – is found by the Brown family at Paddington railway station…

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Alan Cumming Articles Culture Interviews LGBTQ+ Theatre Long Reads News Originals Performance Theatre

Alan Cumming on Out in the Hills: ‘We’re creating a joyful queer oasis’

WORDS BY CHRIS SELMAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOMMY GA-KEN WAN It’s always a pleasure chatting with Alan Cumming – the BAFTA, Emmy, Tony and Olivier-winning actor and all-round queer icon. During a break in filming for the new Russell T Davies series Tip Toe, we caught up with Alan to discuss the queer theatre plans he has for 2026. He recently took over as the Artistic Director of Scotland’s Pitlochry Festival Theatre, and has been busily curating new queer arts festival Out in the Hills, as well as a programme for the…

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