Here are all of our lovely team of current reviewers.
While this might look like a lot of people, we always have more invites than we can cover and we are always looking for more people to join the team and review some shows. If that sounds like something you might be interested in, get in touch!
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Alastair JR Ball is a writer, podcaster and filmmaker based in London. He is co-host of the Moderate Fantasy Violence podcast, chief editor for SolarPunk Stories and editor of the Red Train Blog. His main interests are politics in writing, theatre, film, art and buildings. When not writing, he can usually be found in a live music venue or a pub.
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Andrei, a lifelong theatre enthusiast, has been a regular in the audience since his childhood days in Constanta, where he frequented the theatre weekly. Holding an MSc in Biodiversity, he is deeply fascinated by the intersection of the arts and environmental science, exploring how creative expression can help us understand and address ecological challenges and broader societal issues. His day job is Residence Life Coordinator, which gives him plenty of spare time to write reviews. He enjoys cats and reading, and took an indefinite leave of absence from writing. Although he once braved the stage himself, performing before an audience of 300, he concluded that his talents are better suited to critiquing rather than acting, for both his and the audience's sake.
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Cristina is currently in the last year of her PhD where she is researching British theatre, film, television and radio celebrities from 1900-1978. She has a passion for watching old films with some of her favourite stars which include Leslie Howard, Vivien Leigh, Conrad Veidt, Valarie Hobson, Michael Redgrave, John Gielgud, and Ivor Novello.
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Daisy has recently moved to London after studying and working in beautiful Bristol for 5 years. Whilst trying her acting chops on for size through school and her first year of university, she ended up stumbling off stage and into a life of reviewing - heading up to Edinburgh to write for the Ed Fringe Review back in 2019. Since then, Daisy has written shows up for Epigram and The Bristol Magazine. She’s looking forward to theatre-hopping her way across the capital.
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Daniel is currently partying his way through his first year at University. Not knowing what to study he turned to drama and has loved every moment so far. This perhaps grew from his childhood when each christmas revolved around a trip to see Keith Harris and Orville in panto. Outside of the serious nature of his degree he is likely to be found supporting Portsmouth Football Club, at a theatre or living the typical university life with friends.
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Originally from Dublin but having moved around a lot, Dave moved to London, for a second time, in 2018. He works for a charity in the Health and Social Care sector. He has a particular interest in plays with an Irish or New Zealand theme/connection - one of these is easier to find in London than the other!
Dave made his (somewhat unwilling) stage debut via audience participation on the day before Covid lockdowns began. He believes the two are unrelated but is keen to ensure no further audience participation... just to be on the safe side.
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Kate's favourite theatre genre for both plays and musicals is dark comedy and horror, although her favourite show is Frozen the musical. She's a sucker for a strong ensemble and is particularly interested in the musical composition of the songs on stage. Kate is fascinated by stories and the escapism they provide, she loves to consume them in all formats: on stage, screen, page, sound - but theatre is by far her favourite medium.
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Faye is a recent English Literature graduate from King's College London, where she discovered her love for fringe and avant-garde theatre. She enjoys anything political and subversive - the wilder and crazier the better! When not at the theatre, she can be found taking pictures with her film camera in parks across London or strolling around an art gallery.
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Gabriel is a Rose Bruford graduate, playwright, aspiring novelist, and cephalopod lover. When he’s not obsessing over his next theatre visit he can be found in Soho nattering away to anyone who will listen about Akhenaten, complex metaphysical ethics and the rising price of cocktails. He lives in central London with his boyfriend and a phantom dog.
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Harriet is a teacher in south west London specialising in music and the creative arts. She loves the theatre, craft nights and spending time with her godchildren (who she is steadily introducing to all the musical theatre greats!).
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Hope has been a regular audience member for everything from musicals to Shakespeare from a young age. She love all forms of theatre and tries to spend as much time attending live shows as she can (probably too much time). She recently finished her final university project assessing the creative benefits and real dangers of boundary-breaking performance forms such as immersive theatre & performance art. She is also on the youth advisory board for her local theatre because it's crucial to support the arts at all levels!
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Currently a desk zombie in the public sector, Irene has had no formal training or experience in anything theatrical. She does, however, seem to spend an awful lot of her spare time and spare cash going to the theatre. So, all views expressed will be from the perspective of the person on the Clapham omnibus - which is what most audiences are made up of after all.
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James is the co-founder and joint managing editor of Everything Theatre. By day he is also a management consultant. He once considered a career in theatre production, but then he sold out and joined an event management company. Then he sold out again and to become a consultant. In his time he has produced some extremely mediocre student drama at University College London, where he was unfortunate enough to meet Louie, with whom he ended up founding ET. He has no known specialist knowledge about theatre, but he enjoys plays more than musicals, and is not intelligent enough to understand really abstract stuff. Or opera.
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Jess González is a multilingual storyteller, performer, short-film director, and theatremaker based in London. She has produced for theatre and film in English and Spanish, both written by herself and others. Her shows have been staged in Spain, Italy, and the UK. She has also directed for the award-winning series "Dinosaurio". In recent years she´s turned to comedy, directing and co-writing the web series "Bitching Kills", where she also played Barb. It is also easy to find her on the London stage doing stand-up comedy with her nickname Jess "The Mess" or in the improv group "Loose Beavers".
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Joanne is quite proud of being Everything Theatre's first ever Yorkshire reviewer. Like most reviewers, she spends lots of her spare time in the theatre, both in the audience and on stage, watching anything from a Shakespeare play to a modern musical. She can confirm that performing in a panto is far more fun than watching one, but is often frustrated that rehearsal commitments get in the way of too many press nights!
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Lily is a freelance copywriter, content creator, and marketer, working with arts and culture clients across the UK. When not working, she can be found in a theatre or obsessively crafting. Her love of theatre began with musicals as a child, Starlight Express at the Apollo Victoria being her earliest memory of being completely entranced. She studied music at university and during this time worked on a few shows in the pit with her violin, notably Love Story (which made her cry more and more with each performance) and Calamity Jane (where the gunshot effects never failed to make her jump). But it was when working at Battersea Arts Centre at the start of her career that her eyes were opened to the breadth of theatre and the impact it can have. This solidified a life-long love of theatre, whether in the back of a pub, a disused warehouse or in the heart of the West End.
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Lisamarie is a freelance writer and author with seven novels to her name. Her love of theatre started with a pantomime at the age of three, but it only developed into the obsession it is now thanks to a trip to London to see Les Miserables when she was 12. She lives with her husband, daughter, two guinea pigs, and a cat called Cheryl in a cottage in the Kent countryside where she writes, paints, watches horror films and – whenever possible – leaves it to go to the theatre.
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Louie is the co-founder and joint managing editor of Everything Theatre. He met James at university, and this event definitively changed his life for the worst. These days he a Ph.D. student in particle physics working on the Higgs boson's decay to two photons (seriously). He claims that theatre is his only release from an existence of signal-to-background ratios, selection efficiency and C++ programming. His particular preference is for well-executed site-specific productions and anything by Tom Stoppard. He has been widely misquoted as saying he "hates musicals". This is not true. He simply has not yet come across a musical he hasn't disliked.
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Lucy is a 22 year old living in London that loves theatre! She studied History at the University of Nottingham and enjoyed researching how historical events such as politics, strikes and union disputes are portrayed through theatre! Her favourite genre is musical theatre, which she performed in, directed and produced whilst at University! Her favourite musicals are currently Six, Les Mis and Matilda! She is so excited to be able to review some great shows, to share her love of theatre, and to enjoy more plays and new theatre!!
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Lucy has been a fan of theatre her whole life, enjoying watching, reading and analysing plays both academically and for fun. She'll watch pretty much anything, which has led to some interesting evenings out, and has a fondness for unusual venues. Aside from theatre, Lucy writes about film, TV, cultural trends, and anything else she falls down a rabbit hole about.
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Lucy is currently a London-based university student studying drama. Since a very young age, she has been an avid theatregoer of both plays and musicals alike; She is very well practised in picking apart and delving deeper into what is being presented. She tells us she cannot wait to share her thoughts and feelings on what the stage has to offer!
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Manika is a freelance creative writer and journalist. She loves a good drama to sink her teeth into on a Saturday evening, and often is inspired by these stories in her art. She's passionate about bringing new voices to theatre, and creating a platform where audiences can connect with stories otherwise unheard.
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Marianna, being Italian, has an opinion on just about everything and believes that anything deserves an honest review. Her dream has always been to become an arts critic and, after collecting a few degrees, she realised that it was easier to start writing in a foreign language than finding a job in her home country. In the UK, she tried the route of grown-up employment but soon understood that the arts and live events are highly addictive.
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By her own admission Mary goes to the theatre far too much, and will watch just about anything. Her favourite musical is Matilda, which she has seen 16 times, but she’s also an Anthony Neilson and Shakespeare fan - go figure. She has a long history with Richmond Theatre, but is currently helping at Shakespeare's Globe as a steward and in the archive. She's also having fun being ET's specialist in children's theatre and puppetry, and being a Super Assessor for the Offies! Mary now insists on being called The Master having used the Covid pandemic to achieve an award winning MA in London's Theatre and Performance.
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Matt's love for theatre started with with his first role as a Harley Davidson-riding granny at the age of 9. Since then he has played the beating heart of a Jabberwocky at the Edinburgh fringe, directed a Rhinoceros (puppet) in a West-end venue, and bloodied several audience members (with a production of Titus Andronicus). Away from theatre he is training to be a patent attorney and to mix an excellent French martini.
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Michael is a lifelong Londoner who enjoys using his free time to explore all the fantastic and madcap sights that London has to offer. This often involves the arts and is occasionally something he stumbles across by complete accident. Having experienced many enjoyable adventures in theatre, he continues to be entertained and educated by the wide variety of shows on offer.
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Mike Carter is a playwright, script-reader, workshop leader and dramaturg. He has worked across London’s fringe theatre scene for over a decade and remains committed to supporting new talent and good work.
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Nathan is a writer, painter and semi-professional fencer. He fell in love with theatre at an early age, when his parents took him to an open air production of Macbeth and he refused to leave even when it poured with rain and the rest of the audience abandoned ship. Since then he has developed an eclectic taste in live performance and attends as many new shows as he can, while also striving to find time to complete his PhD on The Misogyny of Jane Austen.
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Paul is a reviewer and an experienced actor who has performed extensively in the West End (Olivier nominated) and has worked in TV, radio and a range of provincial theatres. He is also a speech, drama and communications examiner for Trinity College London, having directed productions for both students and professionals and if not busy with all that he is then also a teacher of English.
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Polly Allen is a lifestyle journalist and marketer based in Bristol. Her earliest memory of theatre was a Postman Pat stage show; she's since progressed to enjoying drama, comedy and musicals without children's TV themes. Her favourite plays include Hangmen by Martin McDonagh, and A Woman Killed with Kindness by Thomas Heywood.
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Rachel became obsessed with Shakespeare as a teenager, after unexpectedly spending two hours in a waiting room with only a copy of Hamlet for company. She's now a regular at the Globe, and loves seeing shows in unusual places. Outside of the theatre, she's enthusiastic about Scottish dancing, beautiful buildings, and economic growth.
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Rika's earliest recollection of theatre was watching ‘Sargent Nallathambi’ at the Lionel Wendt Theatre in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was a comedy written by Nihal Silva, and it drew her attention as an impressionable teenager to the magic of capturing and interacting with a live audience. As an avid theatergoer (both on her own and with friends) she can't decide on a preferred genre… mostly because she enjoys them all! As long as it has a story that is well thought out and engaging, leaving an audience thinking and sharing, and it feeds their imaginations. Rika live and work in London, and in her spare time, she loves reading/reviewing manuscripts and interviewing playwrights and authors.
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Someone once described Rob as "the left leaning arm of Everything Theatre" and it's a description he proudly accepted. It is also a description that explains many of his play choices, as he is most likely to be found at plays that try to say something about society. Willing though to give most things a watch, with the exception of anything immersive - he prefers to sit quietly at the back watching than taking part!
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Sara is very excited that she has found a team who supports her theatre habit and even encourages her to write about it. Game on for seeing just about anything, she has a soft spot for Sondheim musicals, the Menier Chocolate Factory (probably because of the restaurant) oh & angst ridden minimal productions in dark rooms. A firm believer in the value and influence of fringe theatre she is currently trying to visit all 200 plus venues in London. Sara has a Master's Degree (distinction) in London's Theatre & Performance from the University of Roehampton.
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Anisa is a twenty-something writer and theatre maker living in the shadow of Kings Cross. Still, for some mysterious reason she spends most of her time charming dogs in a very sparkly part of Farringdon. In fact, if you've been to any coffee shops in that area recently then you may have seen her! But, let's be honest, you'll never really know will you?
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Sidonie has a BA in Theatre Studies, and an MA in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy. Describing theatre as her ‘home’ she is never happier than when she is wandering around a theatre. One of her first theatre memories is watching Victoria warm up before a performance of Cats in Blackpool in 1989 - in the eyes of a 5 year old, Victoria was 100% cat. Now, sadly, some of the magical way a child sees things has faded, but that doesn’t stop her enjoying as much theatre as she can. She is partial to a good musical and has a love for the integration of digital technologies into live performance. On the rare occasion she gets to go to Broadway Sidonie is a firm believer of go big or go home, with the 2014 record of 11 shows in 8 days not yet having been beaten – but there is always next time.
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Simon is currently deciding if he’s unemployed, retired, an entrepreneur or taking a career sabbatical. He’s using this time to re-familiarise himself with all of the cultural delicacies his favourite and home city have to offer after fourteen years of living abroad. He is a published and award-winning songwriter, pianist and wannabe author with a passionate for anything dramatic, moving or funny.
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A graduate from Manchester Metropolitan University School of Theatre, Simone has worked as an actress and has run drama workshops for young children. She of course loves going to the theatre, often with her 12-year-old daughter. She loves cake, Radio 4 and coffee.
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Steve is a freelance artist and writer, specialising in Photoshop, who builds unlikely furniture in his spare time. He plays the piano reasonably well, the accordion moderately and the guitar badly. Steve does, of course, love the theatre. The worst play he ever saw starred Charlton Heston and his wife, who have both always wanted to play the London stage. Neither had any experience of learning lines. This was almost as scarring an experience as seeing Ron Moody performing a musical Sherlock Holmes. Steve has no acting ambitions whatsoever.
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Tara is a twenty-something actor, writer and theatre maker from Mumbai. She spends much of her time (and money) outside of theatre still being inside another theatre to watch other people’s work. She realised that her calling lay in theatre when she played Wicked Witch of the East (yes, East, not West, which means her star moment was laying under a prop house with red shoes on for a few seconds) in the 3rd grade. She loves cats, a good Negroni, and soup dumplings, and would like to make it known that she thinks she will make a great wine aunt one day.
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Wendy’s love of the theatre and all things creative stem back to a fateful school trip to the Aldwych where she got the opportunity to improvise on stage with the RSC team. It took another 50 years before she got that chance again, this time via the Old Vic. Having performed in several fringe shows and now writing and directing Wendy takes every opportunity to see and learn from new works and views them with the understanding of just how hard it is to put new work out there. Wendy’s main claim to fame is appearing as the Head Midwife in House of the Dragon where she used her professional expertise as a midwife to advise on the infamous caesarean scene.
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Everything Theatre Reviews, interviews and news for theatre lovers, London and beyond
