Richard BeanDirected by Nicholas Hytner★★★★★ Pros: Easily the funniest show in town, different-in-a-good-way to the original, Owain Arthur is ridiculously good, The Craze are still playing the music. Cons: None. Except for the fact that it gets out at the same time as Phantom of the Opera, forcing you to share limited pavement space with so-called ‘Phans’! Our Verdict: Still at the top of it’s game, it remains the must-see show in London. Courtesy of Alistair Muir for the Daily ...

Conceived and directed by Lloyd NewsonCo-Production between the National Theatre and DV8 Theatre★★ Pros: DV8’s stylised physical theatre. Cons: The political agenda is uncomfortable. Our Verdict: DV8 is a brilliant physical theatre troupe, it’s a shame about the topic they’ve picked to perform which only detracts from what they do best. Courtesy of Gergoe Nagy for the Guardian Through verbatim speeches and stylised movement, DV8 are back on stage at the National Theatre, tackling the potentially flammable issue of Islam’s ...

William ShakespeareDirected by Dominic Cooke★★★★ Pros: A wonderful cast and a fun, modern staging. Surprisingly emotional ending.  Cons: Not the funniest ever staging of the play, the set definitely dominates at times. Our Verdict: Plenty of laughs and plenty of reasons to go see it beyond the appeal of seeing Lenny Henry. Courtesy of Johan Persson for the Daily Telegraph It has been a while since I last queued at 7.30am for National Theatre tickets and I had almost forgotten ...

Nicholas WrightDirected by Nicholas Hytner★★★ Pros: Interesting and light-hearted story, some good performances and a superb set design. Cons: A little silly in places, and quite hard to concentrate at first because of the accents.  Our Verdict: Not the National’s best, but still very good and worth a trip! Courtesy of Tristram Kenton for the Guardian As always, it remains our intention to see everything that the National has to offer. So as part of a mop up of shows ...

David Eldridge Directed by Dominic Cooke ★★ Pros: A part of the country that few playwrights choose to write about and a well-executed artistic vision.  Cons: Not very inspired writing, a couple of badly placed, almost caricature-like secondary characters and a rather dull and unnecessary ending, difficult to engage with the main characters. Our Verdict: Probably not worth your money considering what else you could be watching, but if serious drama really is your thing, then you may want to ...

George FarquharDirected by Josie Rourke★★★★ Pros: A great play, some sublimely funny performances, and a highly entertaining evening. Cons: None really, one slightly weak performance and a very hot venue (if those count!). Our Verdict: Highly recommended, a very funny production which is well worth seeing, and a great start for Josie Rourke. Care of Johan Persson It’s all changed at the Donmar since I went to see Streetcar Named Desire a couple of years ago. Well, not all changed. ...

Michael FraynDirected by Lindsay Posner★★★★ Pros: Frayn’s superb script, the ridiculous achievement that is Act 2, Robert Glenister’s wonderful portrayal of Lloyd Dallas. Cons: Hardly any, slight issues with the deliberate bad acting in Act 1. Our Verdict: Probably the best farce ever written, an absolute must for all theatre fans. Courtesy of Alistair Muir for The Daily Mail Many of my deeply unfortunate friends (of which there are very few as it is…) have recently had to hear me ...

Alan BennettDirected by Christopher Luscombe★★★★ Pros: Alan Bennett’s script is superb and David Haig’s performance is outstanding. Cons: We can’t think of any… Our Verdict: A resounding success and highly recommended. Not ground breaking, but just very, very good theatre. Courtesy Tristram Kenton for The Guardian Having never seen the film or play before, I was really excited to see this production of Alan Bennett’s The Madness of King George III, and I was not disappointed. Without wasting any time, ...

Mike BartlettDirected by Thea Sharrock★★★  I was persuaded, just in the nick of time, to give Mike Bartlett another go after I, like many others, left Earthquakes in London feeling disappointed. However, I was determined to go into it with an open-mind and this was helped by the fact that I was walking into the Olivier, which brings with it all the anticipation of encountering a mind-blowing set.  Productions staged in this theatre have each given different answers to the ...

Written and directed by Conor McPherson ★★★★ Courtesy of National Theatre Well, we have just entered the first few days of October, which means that the grueling period of Hallowe’en is upon us. Yes, entire aisles of supermarkets dedicated to low-grade costumes, children banging on your door, asking for the sweets which you inevitably have forgotten to buy (they never seem satisfied with apples or stale digestive biscuits), and, perhaps worst of all, the incessant playing of “Monster Mash” by ...