Simon Ward reviews Cellular at the Old Red Lion Theatre Cellular is the latest play from writer-director Dean Stalham. Its punning title refers, of course, to the confined quarters shared by Marj (Jane Gull) and new cellmate Veronica (Vanessa Koster-Goodliffe), but also, perhaps, to the deep visceral damage […]
Simon Ward reviews Big Love at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre This is the final play in the Lion and Unicorn’s Here | For 2026 season, this time written and directed by the venue’s Artistic Director David Brady. It is a one man show, with Samuel Warren playing […]
Simon Ward reviews The Other Room at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre Here | For 2026 is a season of four shows over five weeks running at the Lion and Unicorn designed to showcase promising new work. Sarah Rickman’s brilliantly written and almost unbearably moving new play certainly […]
Simon Ward reviews What The Animals Say at the Finborough Theatre Written in 2009, this is David Ireland’s first play and his trademark themes of how life in Northern Ireland is often absurd and frequently violent are already in evidence. So too is the outrageously hilarious dark humour […]
Simon Ward reviews Sweet Victory at the Etcetera Theatre In this new play, written and directed by Elise Marra, we are introduced to two combatants in the American Revolutionary war, one on each side. John Thomas (Mikkie-denè Le Roux) is a soldier on the American side, John Smith […]
Simon Ward reviews The Pass at the Pearly Queen Theatre The Bow Bells is a traditional East End pub, which seems to be thriving. The Pearly Queen Theatre is its latest addition – ascend the stairs next to the bar and what must have previously been a small […]
Simon Ward reviews Griefcase at the Hope Theatre Co-produced by the Hope Theatre and Tailwind Physical Theatre, Griefcase is a profoundly moving examination of grief in all of its manifestations. With traverse staging, directed by Jack Mckee, we watch on as G (Ru Lawrence, who also wrote the […]
Simon Ward reviews and I looked at the sky at the Omnibus Theatre It is timely that Tim Stubbs Hughes’s new play should be opening now, when the topic of assisted dying is again on the political agenda. His protagonists seem to have solved the problem for themselves, […]
Simon Ward reviews Sense and Sensibility at the Arches Lane Theatre Nicky Diss has adapted and also directs Jane Austen’s first novel which contrasts the philosophies and attitudes to life of two Dashwood sisters, Elinor (Grace Kelly Miller) and Marianne (Laura Cooper-Jones). Elinor tries hard to ensure that […]
Simon Ward reviews Scar Tissue at the Old Red Lion Theatre Lilwen Faulkner’s thought-provoking new play is a reminder that the early traumatic events of our lives never really leave us, and may even ripple through to future generations. As writer and director, Faulkner shines a spotlight on […]
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