Theatremonkey

HACKING LONDON'S SHOW SEAT JUNGLE - SAVING YOU TIME, MONEY AND SEAT REGRETS!

Broken Glass (Young Vic Theatre)

12 March 2026

(seen at the afternoon performance on 11th March 2026) Just like “Shadowlands” last week, another play which premiered during the monkey’s youth is revived. First encountered at the Lyttelton Theatre in 1994, the monkey once again gets the opportunity to consider a work as a (“mature” – note inverted commas) adult. First time around, audiences […]

Disney In Concert – The Sound of Magic (Eventim Apollo Hammersmith) and touring

28 February 2026

(seen at the afternoon performance on 28th February 2026) The Novello Orchestra under leader David Mahoney played carefully orchestrated symphonic arrangements of music from Disney movies from the past 100 years. Above, a large screen showed well-edited clips from various animated features, along with a surprising number of sketched outline sequences and two clips of […]

Giselle (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden)

21 February 2026

(seen at the afternoon performance on 21st February 2026) The tale has been breaking hearts since 1841. There is a reason. As the programme notes, the score ‘isn’t quite “Swan Lake” or “Nutcracker” but more than good enough.’ It does soar, and dip, jubilant character themes and darkly spooky ensemble sequences. John Macfarlane’s designs match […]

Lucie Jones In Concert (London Palladium)

17 February 2026

(seen at the performance on 16th February 2026) Lucie Jones seemed always to be a guest star of other people’s concerts. Every appearance fleeting, Jones giving way to someone else. A show all to herself seemed too good to miss, and so it proved. For those who don’t remember, Lucie first came to our attention […]

The Constant Wife (Richmond Theatre) and touring

16 February 2026

(seen at the afternoon performance on 14th February 2026) If this show had a scent, it would be the satisfying odour of ink from a glossy magazine. The characters are from that strata of 1920s London society. Upper middle-class professionals with firm ideas of propriety, and the first iteration of softening attitudes stemming from the […]

Here There Are Blueberries (Theatre Royal, Stratford East).

13 February 2026

(seen at the afternoon performance on 12th February 2026) Six photographs of young female office workers seated on a fence by a pretty holiday chalet, enjoying blueberries. Their boss is with them, and they are enjoying a little relaxation in a busy schedule. He later captions the photographs, “Here There Are Blueberries.” They form part […]

The Rat Trap (Park Theatre)

6 February 2026

(seen at the afternoon performance on 5th February 2026) Noel Coward wrote the original version of this play when he was just 18. Of course, he had been a theatre professional for over half a decade by then, and people grew up far more quickly. Still, considering what a young man would have probably known […]

American Psycho (Almeida Theatre)

5 February 2026

(seen at the afternoon performance on 4th February 2026) This was quite a book in the monkey’s day. Sold sealed, it was one dirty, anarchic, raw read. Often making little sense, few mentioned the fact. It was the 1980s, appearances were everything. The monkey wasn’t keen on the film adaptation, and the 2013 Robert Goold […]

Fallen Angels (Menier Chocolate Factory)

2 February 2026

(seen at the performance on 1st February 2026) This is early Coward, and unfamiliar to the monkey. It wishes it had discovered it sooner. Christopher Luscombe’s scrupulously period production shows it to best advantage, Simon Higlett producing a 1925 Art Deco sitting room (airily lit by Oliver Fenwick) the monkey would move into tomorrow. It […]

“I Do” (Malmaison Hotel, Barbican)

28 January 2026

(seen at the performance on 27th January 2026) For the first time in over 40 years of theatregoing, the monkey viewed the opening scene of a play from inside a walk-in shower stall, shared with three other audience members. Such are the perils of “site-specific” theatre. “Dante or Die’s” show, first seen in 2013, is […]