Sarah Crompton

Scandaltown at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre review

It's bad luck for the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, that their new Mike Bartlett play is the last of the trio of productions written by him that have opened in close succession. Following the stylish Cock, about modern sexual mores, and the coruscating The 47th, a drama in Shakespearean blank verse about the threat to democracy from authoritarianism, Scandaltown feels a touch underwhelming.

It's shaped as a pastiche of a Restoration comedy, and it is, in truth, extremely funny at times. But it is more like a pantomime or even a fairy tale than a sparkling satire. Its targets, all given the names that define character, are pretty soggy and predictable

Brian and Roger at the Menier Chocolate Factory review

If your idea of a good night out at the theatre is watching two grown men dress up in ridiculous outfits while pretending to be chased by dogs, shagged by an elephant or bitten by a poisonous snake while all the while shouting at each other on mobile phones, then this is the show for you.

Patrick Marber: I'd really like to direct Keir Starmer

The Leopoldstadt director, who also helped develop Alan Partridge, speaks to Sarah Crompton about antisemitism, the quasi-racism of Boris Johnson, and reopening the acclaimed Tom Stoppard play after the pandemic forced its early closure

Review: The Comeback

For all its smartness, it has at its centre a sweetness and an innocent enjoyment of comedy for comedy's own sake that feels the perfect antidote to the complicated world we are living in, a vaccine against cynicism.

Review: The Upstart Crow (Gielgud Theatre)

Ben Elton's comedy makes the jump from TV screens to the West End stage, starring David Mitchell.

Review: The Boy in the Dress

If you wanted to criticise, you could argue that The Boy in the Dress is not as subtle as the RSC's last musical hit Matilda. But then Matilda didn't have a farting dog. This show is just as much a hit, an exhilarating assertion of the goodness in people and their capacity for acceptance of difference, at a time when we very much need that sentiment to be shouted and sung from the rooftops.

Fleabag review

Words land with precise comic weight, but also with a relish for their sound, beat and emotion. Each character and situation is exactly encapsulated and what you get on stage - which you didn't on TV - is her vivid mimicry of the people she meets.

Review: Lady Windermere's Fan

Jennifer Saunders stars in Kathy Burke's production of the comedy classic.

Review: Labour of Love (Noel Coward Theatre)

We all emerged from the theatre punching the air; there is something exhilarating about its energy and its passion.

Review: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

I liked the way it uses the entire depth of the Old Vic stage, bringing the action as far forward as it can, while placing its effects at the back, and dividing the space with silk curtains but it occasionally over-complicates the action, particularly in the second half.