The London Theatre Review

This week, the team travels from ancient Troy via modern Essex to the boxing rings of Depression-era New York.First up is Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy at Theatre Royal Stratford East. Ava Pickett relocates the aftermath of the Trojan War to a Towie-style living room, with Michelle Dockery playing a bloodied and deeply complicated Helen. After the huge success of 1536, can Pickett produce another modern classic?Then it’s Golden Boy at the Almeida, starring Josh O’Connor as a gifted young violinist forced to choose between his music and the money, danger and broken fingers of professional boxing. It's got a formidable supporting cast including Daniel Mays, Hayley Squires and the deeply unsettling Zubin Varla. Plus, Sierra Boggess celebrates 40 years of The Phantom of the Opera. She has appeared as Christine Daae several times over the years, and is now seen as the 'mother goose' of Christines. She tells producer Tim about being part of this show for half its lifetime, and returning to the show not as Christine this time, but as Carlotta for the 40th anniversary West End cast. Also the great Greg Hicks answers our five questions ahead of starring in The Master Builder at the Arcola.And we launch our Macbeth watch party with Marquee TV. Get one month free at marquee.tv/ltr or use the code LTR, watch Macbeth with David Tennant and Cush Jumbo, then send us your thoughts by 7 October.Find us on Instagram and YouTube @thelondontheatrereview.

We’ve got a new way for London Theatre Review listeners to watch, discuss and rediscover some brilliant theatre.The London Theatre Review is partnering with Marquee TV, the streaming platform for arts and culture, to introduce the London Theatre Review Watch Party.Our first pick is David Tennant and Cush Jumbo’s acclaimed 2023 Donmar Warehouse production of Macbeth. Watch it on Marquee TV, send in your thoughts by Wednesday 7 October to thelondondtheatrereview@gmail.com, and we’ll bring your comments into a special review episode the following week.London Theatre Review listeners can also get one month of Marquee TV free at marquee.tv/LTR, or by using the code LTR at checkout.Once you’re in, you’ll also find theatre, dance, opera, classical music, documentaries and more from around the world.So head to Marquee TV and join the party!

The London Theatre Review is back with a brand new season, and back in front of a live audience! Kicking off season seven in style, Nancy and the Nicks are coming to you from the Saatchi Gallery as part of the Chelsea Arts Festival. We're joined for a very special episode by two very special guests. National Theatre artistic director Indhu Rubasingham reveals what’s in store during her star-studded new season and reflects on taking charge of one of the world’s most important theatres. And the brilliant Samuel Barnett, star of The History Boys and Dirk Gently, talks all about queer joy and history as he prepares to star in Pride the Musical ahead of its transfer to the Bridge Theatre. We've also got reviews of course. Of two of London's biggest openings in fact: Thelma & Louise at the Young Vic, based on the iconic film, and starring Rachel Tucker and Amy Lennox, and Tilda Swinton’s long-awaited return to the stage in Man to Man at the Royal Court.Drop us a line at thelondontheatrereview@gmail.com or on Instagram @thelondontheatrereview.

We’re back very soon, and kicking off our new season LIVE at the Chelsea Arts Festival.Join Nancy and the Nicks at the Saatchi Gallery on 19 September for the London Theatre Review LIVE.We’ll be reviewing two of the season’s biggest openings: the new musical adaptation of Thelma & Louise at the Young Vic, and Man to Man at the Royal Court, with Tilda Swinton returning to the role she first played 30 years ago.Plus, we’ll be joined by two very special guests: Indhu Rubasingham, Artistic Director of the National Theatre, and Samuel Barnett, ahead of his return to Pride the Musical at the Bridge Theatre.Come and be part of the live audience on 19 September, 12.15pm, Saatchi Gallery. Tickets available now at chelseaartsfestival.com.

Surprise! We told you it wouldn't be long before another episode dropped into your feeds, and here it is – a special bonus pod from a busy bar in the centre of Edinburgh, where Nancy and producer Tim grab 20 minutes of chat time before plunging back into the frenzy of a city filled with 4,000 Fringe shows, alongside the Edinburgh International Festival, the art festival, the film festival, the book festival and the TV festival...Tim talks us through some of the best things he's seen so far, including clowns and singing dogs, and what he's looking forward to. And Nancy chats to one of the most influential theatre producers in the world, Francesca Moody, who brought Fleabag and Baby Reindeer to Edinburgh before nurturing them to become global success stories. She tells Nancy about the changing nature of the festival, the ethos behind her brilliant new venue Shedinburgh, and how she spots a hit. Don't forget you can still get tickets to our live show on 19th September at chelseaartsfestival.com! And follow us on Instagram for all the latest LTR news @thelondontheatrereview.

It's the series six musical finale, and the team go out with a bang -- well, a damp squib and then a bang. First up, Nick, Nick and Tim review Trainspotting the Musical at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, Irvine Welsh's adaptation of his own epoch-defining novel, now given the West End musical treatment...and possibly one of the most misconceived shows any of them have seen in a very long time. Then it's across town to the Menier Chocolate Factory for Midnight at the Never Get, starring Tony Award winner Ben Platt, and the verdict couldn't be more different.Nick Curtis also speaks to the brilliant Phelim McDermott, Olivier Award-winning director of My Neighbour Totoro, co-founder of Improbable, whose new show Tao of Glass is a love letter to Philip Glass and to theatre itself. And Natalie Kassanga answers our Five Questions ahead of the Jonathan Larson Project at Southwark Playhouse. Now we're on a break! The London Theatre Review will return in September for our live show at the Chelsea Arts Festival. But there may be a bit of surprise podding before then...Follow us on Instagram and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview.

This week Nick Clark and producer Tim are holding the fort while Nancy and other Nick are away, but to be fair to them they managed to bag some pretty great interviews before they disappeared...First up, Nick Curtis sat down with Aaron Sorkin — yes, the extraordinary writer of The West Wing, A Few Good Men, The Social Network, The Newsroom — ahead of his To Kill a Mockingbird adaptation returning to the West End. They talk about why his first draft was really bad, and whether the man who gave us Jed Bartlet's America still believes in it. Tim reviews The Oresteia at the Bridge Theatre, Simon Stone's long, blood-smeared, gleefully melodramatic update of the Greek tragic trilogy, set inside a glass box with David Morrissey, Mary-Louise Parker (also of West Wing fame!) and a scene-stealing Rosie Sheehy. Plus Nancy talks to John Studzinski about 25 years of the very influential and very necessary Genesis Foundation, the organisation that supported Ava Pickett in writing 1536, among many other early career artists and musicians...he also reveals what Katharine Hepburn told him about stage fright. Follow us on Instagram and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview.

This week Nick, Nick and Nancy head to the National Theatre's Dorfman for Pride, Steven Beresford and Matthew Warchus's musical adaptation of the beloved 2014 film about the unlikely alliance between gay activists and Welsh miners during the 1984 strike. Then it's off to the Noël Coward for the RSC's transfer of Cyrano de Bergerac, with Adrian Lester in glorious form and Susannah Fielding turning Roxanne into something the gang have never seen before - hear her interview in episode three of this season. Nick Curtis talks to Anna Zavelson, the 22-year-old Texan who had never left North America before landing the role of Christine in Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty's Theatre. And Henry Lewis from Mischief Theatre answers our Five Questions ahead of The Comedy About Spies returning to the West End. Follow us on Instagram and watch us on YouTube @thelondontheatrereview.