She may be in a distinctly chilly New York but that didn't stop @polyg spotting the announcement that one of my favourite actors, Clive Owen, is taking to the West End stage in the Summer. His last stage outing pre-dates my obsession with theatre but I've been a huge fan of his screen work since…

It feels long, primarily because it's not so much one note as one emotion. You'd be forgiven for thinking London's theatre scene had been taken over by Game of Throne's actors in the past month or so. First Maisie Williams made her stage debut at Hampstead Theatre in I and You, then True West starring…

Is it ironic that the most powerful scene in the play comes in a rare moment of silence and stillness, a scene when the Macbeths are nowhere to be seen? Niamh Cusack and Christopher Ecclestone in Macbeth. Photo by Richard Davenport © RSC Watching RSC's latest production of Macbeth I began to wonder if the…

I nearly booked to see Cillian Murphy in Grief Is The Thing With Feathers when it was playing at the O'Reilly Theatre in Dublin earlier this year.  Jumping on a plane to see a play isn't unprecedented, I've been to see Ben Whishaw in New York – twice* – but in the end, I couldn't…

It all adds up to make a play that is entertaining, powerful and refreshingly broad and detailed in its female narrative. Clare Barron's play Dance Nation at the Almeida not only sees life through the female lens it touches on subjects that are generally treated as taboo. On one level it's a play about a…

Blackout is a dark and difficult play to watch, darkly funny at times, horrifying at others Blackout by Mark Jeary, photo by Mihaela Bodlovic A blackout, we are told at the start, is when part of the brain shuts down in order to let the organs work and what follows is the story of six…

Stuffed full of great one-liners, clever silliness and an amazing array of accents Living forever – would it be as good as it seems? What if you wrote a play about it and your writing 'partner' kept coming up with the most ridiculous ideas? Part exploration of love and relationships in extraordinary circumstances, part tutorial…

There is on doubting Killymuck's powerful message, it is moving and tough but there is also love and laughter along the way. Killymuck photo by Javier Ortega Saez Kat Woods' play Killymuck is the story of Niamh who lives on a council estate in Northern Ireland with her alcoholic father, mother and sister. She's bright,…

They are plays of sleight of hand, seemingly explaining how tricks are done while performing another that just bamboozles and astounds even more. The Vanishing Man and The Extinction Event (David Aula and Simon Evans). Photo: Michael Wharley. Simon Evans and David Aula have written and are performing in not one but two shows back…

There is good writing here and some good ideas but it loses its way. The Journey is the story of a romance set on a lonely spaceship but it's also a play within a play, the trials and tribulations of two actors putting on a play at the Fringe. Written by stand up Stuart Laws,…