Jane Eyre, Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury ★★★★

Reviewed for The Reviews Hub: Originally staged in two parts at Bristol Old Vic, Sally Cookson’s collaborative adaptation of Jane Eyre won acclaim in a single, three-hour form at the National Theatre. It is due to return to London in September, following this current tour which has now arrived in Aylesbury. Jane Eyre is often presented as a…

The Whisper House, The Other Palace, London ★★

Reviewed for Musical Theatre Review: For its second major staging in its new rebranded guise as the home for new musical writing, The Other Palace has chosen curiously. Whisper House is a 2009 piece with music and lyrics by Duncan Sheik, whose Spring Awakening and, to a lesser extent, American Psycho marked him out as…

After You, The Crazy Coqs, London ★★★½

Reviewed for The Reviews Hub: Over recent months, Brasserie Zedél’s live cabaret space, The Crazy Coqs, has been spreading its wings with comedy performers and plays complementing the more traditional cabaret. Now, it has a commissioned musical, written for and set in the venue by Alex Parker and Katie Lam. Apart from raising one of…

Audra McDonald, Leicester Square Theatre, London ★★★★★

Reviewed for The Reviews Hub: If your knowledge of Audra McDonald is limited to her role as the opera singer-cum-wardrobe, Madame de Garderobe, in Disney’s recent live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, you have so much more to learn. McDonald has won six Tony Awards – more than any other actor – and is…

Consent, National Theatre, London ★★★★

Reviewed for The Reviews Hub: The act of rape, its effect on the victims and the difficulties with prosecuting attackers, is such a serious subject that one can feel guilty at laughing during Nina Raine’s new play for the National and Out of Joint, Consent. And yet, such laughter is deliberate and necessary: Raine’s darkly…