Susannah Clapp

“Ayckbourn’s characterisation is often shrewd but broadbrush, a feature exposed by the insufficient pace of Breen’s production.”

“The core of the play could hardly be better expressed or delivered.”

“There was, I suppose, a play somewhere in the room but it eluded me.”

“It is a leisurely evening but full of savour.”

“Like Robert Icke’s production, she conveys something essential about the action of this romance – its hysteria and its precariousness – yet detracts from that truth with hyper activity, multiple underlinings.”

“Fascinating rather than forceful.”

“Carrie Cracknell’s production delivers considerable lucidity but without wings.”

“Sharrock’s production is engaging rather than exciting.”

“Here is acting and a production that takes Miller away from finger-wagging into essential truth-telling.”

“Nicholaw’s staging is remorselessly cheery: not so much humorous as perpetually grinning; not so much moving on – choreography is more vigorous than expressive – as jumping on the spot.”

“Both actors have little to do other than present themselves and slightly inflect the first impression of flat-packed characters.”

“There is much to be grateful for in Hadestown”

“The opening moments – involving the disappearance of a ship so huge it’s as if the Cutty Sark has broken into the stalls – are alone worth the ticket price.”

“Everything shades, nothing detracts from the central performances, with Jatinder Singh Randhawa’s rumbling Porter, doubling as Seytan (with good play on the punning pronunciation), adding a note from the depths.”

“The talent was immediately apparent: nimbly varied, expressive music, ranging from sea shanty, to jazz to hip-hop; lyrics so patteringly exact and ingeniously rhymed that Noël Coward might have flushed with envy.”

“Hawley’s marvellous songs are more planted than propelling.”

“And Totoro – accompanied by delectable, more quivering mini-versions of himself – is unforgettable.”

“Nevertheless, this is a thin, often awkward evening.”

“This mill grinds – and yes, there is a bit of that, what with the fishnets and satin and rhinestones and bustiers and long legs whipping over each other – exceeding small, delivering its songs mostly bitesize.”

“Hamilton expands your heart and concentrates your brain by deliciously stretching your ears.”

“I would cheerfully sacrifice some plot and pyrotechnics for richer characterisation, psychological depth, more emotional involvement.”

“Hideous to look at and blaringly hard on the ears, Stephen Schwartz's music and lyrics have just enough of a right-on message to take away the possibility of laughs.”

“This gorgeous carnival of hybrid creatures is emphatically, triumphantly theatrical.”