Pros: Immersive and beautiful staging Cons: Slightly difficult to follow This musical adaptation sees Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale transplanted from its original Edinburgh setting to a smoggy, dark and dingy Victorian London. That setting is stunningly brought to life through the staging, which immerses the audience from the moment they approach the theatre door with faded notices adorning soot-covered red brick walls. The classic nineteenth-century urban street setting – worthy of Oliver or Les Mis – gives the cast a huge stage to work ...

In the suggestive surroundings of the Gallery Different, three of Pablo Picasso's most influential muses offer an intimate portrayal of the man they loved and hated.

Pros: A tremendous lead performance by Karen Archer. Cons: Although billed as a psychological thriller, it’s neither surprising nor subtle enough to properly fit that bill. The Park Theatre is modern, comfortable, and only a couple minutes’ walk from Finsbury Park station. Also, they have pizza. Why don’t more theatres do pizza? It’s two of my favourite things in the world, combined. The Other Place focuses on Juliana Smithton, a high-flying neurologist whose life starts to unravel when she is diagnosed ...

Pros: Visual alchemy – the production design and Grand Hall setting combined to create delightful thematic echoes that enhanced the whole experience. Cons: With so much going on visually and sonically, the text felt unnecessarily wordy sometimes. At last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe, I was sad to miss Adam in its first triumphantly sold out run, but now I’m glad I had to wait. From Egypt to Glasgow, from Woman to Man – seeing this global transgender odyssey in the newly ...

Pros: The dramaturgy, the design, the acting. Cons: I should stop going to see plays that make me emotional. In July 1940, the imminent German invasion and the continuous bombings of most British cities convinced the Government of the necessity to exile as many children as possible to other Commonwealth countries. For this purpose, the Children’s Overseas Reception Board was established, which saw the registration of over 200,000 youths in the first few months of its existence. Amongst them, 15 ...

Pros: Alice Pitt-Carter’s energetic portrayal as she rips through a 70 minute performance with ease. Cons: A slightly uneven plot doesn’t quite deliver the pay-off that is so richly deserved. Whenever I’m handed earplugs prior to a show I feel a curious mix of fear and excitement. Fear because I’m reminded of Idol Berserker at the Barbican (which involved earplugs, plastic ponchos and cling film: believe me that’s all you need to know); but also excitement because it means I’m ...

Pros: Worth watching, if just to see some of the more complex scenes played out. Cons: It could do with shortening by ten minutes or so. New, international London-based theatre company Starbound Theatre brings its tale of grief and ghosts to the cosy Hen and Chickens Theatre Bar above an Angel boozer. The troupe – whose brand is focused on identity – tackles the topic with plenty of dramatic irony, and even a Roomba robot to boot. Young Celeste, played ...

Pros:  The performance of Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong. Cons: Uncomfortable benches resulted in noisy fidgeting which made it difficult to hear. This Folk musical tells the story of the Haymarket Affair, an incident at a gathering of striking workers in May 1886, at Haymarket Square, Chicago, USA.  What started as a peaceful rally to support strikers demanding an eight hour day, ended up with a number of police and strikers being killed when a bomb was thrown into the police line. The police, in ...

A charming little play that can't help but make you laugh and smile with the familiarity it will bring to mind, but it feels like it needs a little more body.

Pros: The universality of the scenario portrayed. Cons: The lack of insight and character development. Sexism is ingrained in the very fabric of society and I can’t think of a single woman who hasn’t experienced it throughout life. In the case of Leah (played by the mesmerising Nancy Sullivan) this disparity is taken to the extreme, with life-changing events in which men always have the upper hand. Working in a bespoke tailoring boutique in Savile Row, thirty-year old Leah is ...