Five star - Latest Top Rated Stage Reviews from the Guardian

Oedipus review – Robert Icke's take exerts thriller-like grip
An updating of Sophocles’ classic, set on election eve, has such political resonance you can imagine Boris Johnson not far away - Mark Fisher
Kate Tempest review – this isn't a gig, it's a reckoning
The performance poet absorbs all of the uncertainty and anger of our times, and pours it into ferocious, apocalyptic music that both wounds and heals - Kate Wyver
Civilisation review – an audacious study of everyday heartbreak
In a thrilling piece of theatre, a grieving woman immerses herself in quotidian distractions oblivious to three dancers who invade her space - Kate Wyver
To Move in Time review – hypnotic tale of the time-traveller's strife
Tim Etchells’ thought experiment doggedly asks what if you could go back and right the wrongs of your past? - Mark Fisher
Not Today's Yesterday review – deft demolition of rightwing wrongs
Lina Limosani and Seeta Patel target the whitewashing of colonial history in a punchy, pertinent piece of dance theatre - Anna Winter
The End review – beautiful duet asks what happens when it's all over
Bert and Nasi’s ramshackle duet explores the end of the world and of their relationship in tender, silly, heart-rending style - Kate Wyver
Since U Been Gone review – life-affirming study of grief, gender and friendship
Teddy Lamb untangles the difficulties of relationships in a bold monologue that is bursting with love - Kate Wyver
Jonny Pelham review – darkest of subjects brings compassion and hilarity
The comic turns his childhood trauma into a warm and deeply reflective show laced with jet-back humour - Brian Logan
Sexy Lamp review – actor shines stark light on the misogyny of her industry
Katie Arnstein uses Dorothy’s yellow-brick road to map her own struggles and issue a raw reminder of the urgency of #MeToo - Chris Wiegand
All Hands on Deck review – engaging narrowboat drama
Two female navy recruits battle the enemy and colleagues - Clare Brennan
Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet review – the thrilling shock of the new
Bourne and his superb dancers inject visceral new life into Shakespeare’s overworked tragedy - Sarah Crompton
Hearty review – a ferocious cry for the safety of trans women
Emma Frankland plays a winged guide to a burning world in this charged and vulnerable piece about fighting for one’s survival - Kate Wyver
Jordan Brookes review – refuses to play by the normal rules of comedy
Brookes delivers one of the coups of this year’s fringe with this deconstruction of a standup set, in which you never know what he’ll do next - Brian Logan
Jessica Fostekew review – punchy polemic about gender stereotyping
The standup rails against old-fashioned ideals of femininity, the diet industry and society’s policing of women’s bodies. It’s strong stuff. - Brian Logan
Goodbear: Dougal review – smart sketch show scrambles reality
When the billed act fails to materialise, front-of-house staff played by sketch duo Goodbear fill in – and prove themselves more than capable - Brian Logan
Will Adamsdale review – a masterclass in self-deprecation
The singular standup’s new show FaceTime is a delightful, devastating and stealthy account of his domestic woes - Paul Fleckney
Phil Wang review – record-breaking riffs on sex, race and Popeye
Wang is back with a new no-messing, harder-nosed attitude, along with excellent jokes including some choice one-liners - Brian Logan
Jerry Springer the Opera review – chatshow from hell still shocks
The TV host who provokes salacious slanging matches becomes newly pertinent in a revival of Stewart Lee and Richard Thomas’s show - Catherine Love
Tom Parry review – bringer of comfort and joy
The best newcomer nominee of the 2015 fringe returns with a smart, satisfying look at the funny side of weddings - Paul Fleckney
Anna and Helen review – self-care klutzes conjure comedic bliss
Mining the comedy of motivational seminars with a delectably clownish touch, this double act could make anything funny - Brian Logan
Fishbowl review – wordless French farce gives a wacky view from the top
Neighbours in an apartment block squabble, fall in love and steal each other’s biscuits in a delightful piece of comedy theatre - Brian Logan
The Patient Gloria review – shrinks take the rap in waywardly funny drama
Male psychotherapists feel the heat in pantomimic telling of a true story about the voyeuristic exploitation of a female patient’s private disclosures - Mark Fisher
Tricky Second Album review – searing takedown of the fringe from within
Warping the conventions of theatre, this exhilarating play lays waste to the sky-high expense of the festival of which it is a part - Kate Wyver
Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet review – an epic snog and a touch of Grease
Young dancers, a reworked score and dynamic choreography bring blasts of rhythm, energy and feeling to the tale of star-cross’d lovers - Lyndsey Winship
Evita review – a work of screaming fun
A refreshing and funny take on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical - Hannah Jane Parkinson
London Hughes review – roof-raising routines from a comic force of nature
Raucous and rude, the standup provides a whirlwind tour of her sexual history and blows past all objections with the G-force gusto of her performance - Brian Logan
Jack Rooke review – eyebrow-raising stories about love, sex and friendship
In this intimate show backed by a live harp, the effortlessly charming comedian expounds on platonic, brotherly and romantic love - Kate Wyver
Crocodile Fever review – like Tarantino for feminists
Set in South Armagh during the Troubles, Meghan Tyler’s anarchic and OTT revenge fantasy hits back at the patriarchy and turns into a bloodbath - Mark Fisher
Until the Flood review – fleshed-out fictions from a real-life killing
Dael Orlandersmith transforms into her characters, dispassionately inhabiting their reactions to the shooting of black teen Michael Brown by a white policeman - Catherine Love
Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation review – cult theatre
Tim Crouch plays a messianic cult leader prophesying catastrophe in a formally adventurous show about the dangers of environmental fatalism - Mark Fisher
Bout review – a ringside seat for the delicate battles of brotherhood
A trio of siblings make their childhood sparring literal in a mesmerising dance show with heavyweight potential - Chris Wiegand
Who Cares review – tear-jerking tales of family role reversals
Their script adapted from interviews with young carers, a young trio trade heartbreaking stories of unpaid and unsupported custody of their parents - Kate Wyver
Josie Long review – the mother lode of love, joy and laughs
The standup tenderly hymns the joys of new parenthood in this delightful, tightly focused show - Brian Logan
Life Is No Laughing Matter review – depressed? Eat some bananas
Inspirational hashtags, cute dogs and marriage don’t cure depression, says Demi Nandhra in her gleefully silly yet deeply important take on mental health - Catherine Love
The Bright Stream review – Bolshoi's gentle farce brings big guffaws
Alexei Ratmansky’s choreography – to Shostakovich’s score full of melody and gusto – is agile and substantial and, with its cross-dressing sylph and dog on a bicycle, full of humour - Lyndsey Winship
Musik review – Pet Shop Boys' musical evokes Warhol, Dalí and Nico
Frances Barber stars as Zelig-like chanteuse Billie Trix, in this one-woman spinoff from the band and Jonathan Harvey’s 2001 musical Closer to Heaven - Mark Fisher
8 Hotels review – Paul Robeson drama lifts curtain on a racist America
Based on a true story, a new play tracks a backstage affair with big repercussions for Robeson, played perfectly by Tory Kittles - Michael Billington
Arthur review – man and baby in unique double act
Daniel Bye enlists the help of his five-month-old son in an unpredictable hour-long exploration of nature versus nurture - Mark Fisher
Are We Not Drawn Onward to New ErA review – palindromic drama of dazzling proportions
The pioneering Ontroerend Goed company takes on a conceptually daring view of environmental apocalypse - Mark Fisher
Banging Denmark review – spiky feminist romcom crackles with joy
Van Badham’s play tangos comfortably with the politics of pick-up artists and feminism without being didactic - Cassie Tongue
Ahir Shah: Dots review – humour and poetry in existential angst
The polemical style of his early work may have given way to a more conflicted thinker but the comedy remains emphatic - Brian Logan
All of Me review – a messy and beautiful look at depression
Though it is unashamedly bleak, there are fragments of brightness as Caroline Horton’s show recognises mental health as something that ebbs and flows - Catherine Love
Baby Reindeer review – Richard Gadd's solo theatre debut is a haunting hour
Recounting his experiences with a stalker, the comedian seems to live the horror afresh in a gripping show - Brian Logan
Burgerz review – chop chop, get wise to transphobic violence
Breaking down a thrown burger into its constituent ingredients is a way of confronting assault in this sassy, humane show - Mark Fisher
Lucy McCormick review – caustically candid comedy about history's famous women
McCormick rips up the rulebook with Post Popular, a hedonistic history lesson that is trashy, volatile ... and honest - Kate Wyver
The Secret River review – pinpointing a crucial moment in Australian history
Andrew Bovell’s adaptation of Kate Grenville’s novel about the collision between settlers and Indigenous Australians combines masterly storytelling with metaphorical resonance - Michael Billington
Bystanders review – urgent memorial to society's most vulnerable
Cardboard Citizens’ gutsy and gut-wrenching stories of the homeless focuses on people instead of just grim statistics - Mark Fisher
The Crucible review – white-hot intensity in reinvention of Miller classic
Momentous dance and strong performances make Helen Pickett’s canny reworking of the story a gift of a show - Anna Winter
Catherine Cohen review – stellar strychnine-laced cabaret
Cohen crackles with attitude as she serves up an alarming but entertaining song-and-chat about sex, love and self-image - Brian Logan
La Reprise: Histoire(s) du Theatre (I) review – compassion and curiosity in recreation of a murder
Director Milo Rau asks disturbing political questions while attempting to honour the real-life victim of a senseless homophobic crime - Michael Billington
John Robins review – dating and DIY from standup's funniest fall-guy
Robins delivers a masterclass in tone, tempo and character as he shares his failed attempts at flirting and home improvement - Brian Logan
It'll Be Alt-Right on the Night review – punk, trumpets and far-right friends
Matthew Greenhough’s buzzy one-man show clashes comedy, factionalism and jazz trumpet into a plea for tolerance between the echo chambers - Brian Logan
Sarah Keyworth review – one of comedy's most engaging new voices
In a thoughtful sophomore fringe show, the standup reflects on her relationship with a fellow comic - Brian Logan
Jack Tucker review – washed-up standup pans for comedy gold
Sounds and samples are tailored to the hack comic’s every comment, punchline and flirtatious wink in this fun character show - Brian Logan
Before the Revolution review – a beguiling anatomy of Egypt's uprising
Ahmed El Attar’s bruising two-hander dives into the long lead-up to 2011 in an attempt to determine what causes mass revolt - Mark Fisher
Desiree Burch review – a scorching, sweat-soaked odyssey to nowhere
A hallucinogenic trip through the desert provides the basis for a standup show teeming with ideas but lacking true cohesion - Brian Logan
Tales of the Turntable review – a musical magical history tour
The terrific teenage dancers of ZooNation’s youth company crank up a gramophone time machine and zip through styles from Charleston to hip-hop - Lyndsey Winship
The Canary and the Crow review – a vibrant schooling in identity issues
Daniel Ward’s bold autobiographical show for Middle Child Theatre describes life for a working-class black kid at an otherwise posh white grammar school - Kate Wyver
STYX review – rock'n'roll and memory loss
Using music, Greek myth and family history to explore dementia, this rousing gig/show is intimate and epic - Kate Wyver
The Argument review – no winners emerge from William Boyd's couple at war
A whole set of relationships unravel in a shrewdly observant play showing the ripple effect of marital hostilities - Michael Billington
Sara Barron: Enemies Closer review – brassy, sassy standup
Parading her sex life, friendships and militant subjectivity, the triumphantly profane comedian takes a step into the big league - Brian Logan
Tom Rosenthal: Manhood review – dick jokes, demons and diatribes
The standup, who was circumcised as an infant, gets het up in a show where the polemic overshadows the comedy - Brian Logan
Actually review – two sides of the story about a date gone wrong
Photograph 51 playwright Anna Ziegler returns with a problematic two-hander that asks us to decide where the truth lies - Michael Billington
Kai Samra review – shrewd standup puts his industry through the wringer
Society’s ‘follow your dreams’ mantra is pulled apart in a poignant show that tackles race, class and brotherly love - Brian Logan
Janine Harouni review – a standup attempt to forgive Trump-voting dad
Politics and family tensions fuel a warm debut show that fuses the mundane with the terrifying to smart effect - Brian Logan
Roots review – whimsical 'folk jokes' and a very greedy cat
The 1927 company became darlings of the festival scene after their first fringe outing, but this showcase of traditional tales lacks urgency - Mark Fisher
Four Woke Baes review – masculinity interrogated around the campfire
A group of friends have their worldviews picked apart by a seductive stranger in Jonathan Caren’s well-acted drama - Brian Logan
F Off review – all rise for the people vs Mark Zuckerberg
The National Youth Theatre’s dynamic and maximalist meditation on social media puts the Facebook CEO on trial – and makes him tap dance - Kate Wyver
Zoë Coombs Marr review – a brazen hour of mind-bending meta-comedy
The Australian absurdist lays waste to standup convention with glee and skill – but is she too clever for her own good? - Brian Logan
George Fouracres review – sketches of childhood by a poetic pen-portraitist
The most physical third of the sketch group Daphne makes his solo standup debut with a considered rumination on class identity and social mobility - Brian Logan
Daughterhood review – a subtle account of the ties that bind
Charley Miles’s tightly focused but multifaceted play is about the complex, envy-laced relationship between siblings - Catherine Love
Evita review – Argentina's queen of hearts as a high-school mean girl
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s epic gets a rock-concert revival that features pom-poms and twerking but lacks central chemistry - Arifa Akbar
Go Bang Your Tambourine review – family, faith and Oedipal feuds
A grieving father and son lock horns over an alluring visitor in a magnetically acted revival of Philip King’s Freudian drama - Michael Billington
The Last of the Pelican Daughters review – haunting tale of sisterly solidarity
There’s lots to love about the polished and fizzy scenes of this family drama, but too many themes leave its message unclear - Mark Fisher
Scottee: Class review – check your privilege, row A
The unflinching artist skewers prejudice against working-class people as he puts the audience through an uncomfortably abrasive hour of soul-searching - Kate Wyver
Parakeet review – punk eco-musical promotes DIY activism
Brigitte Aphrodite and Quiet Boy’s colourful show follows a trio of teens in Margate who form a punk band and campaign to save a tree - Chris Wiegand
Courtney Pauroso: Gutterplum review – the latest sexy clown from Dr Brown
More anarchic comedy, sexual frankness and in-yer-face clowning from the director behind Natalie Palamides - Brian Logan
Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs: The Magic Cutlass review – timber-shivering fun
This musical for over-threes adapted from the eponymous picturebooks comes with delightful puppets and lashings of puns - Chris Wiegand
#HonestAmy review – warmth and stoical wit in ukulele ditties
Kathy Burke directs Amy Booth-Steel’s feelgood, if cliched, chronicle of cancer and PTSD - Brian Logan
The Accident Did Not Take Place review – all aboard in search for the post-truth
Volunteers are game in YESYESNONO’s lively show that uses drama-school exercises to investigate the nature of truth - Mark Fisher
Daniel Kitson review – seat-of-the-pants caper funnier than it has any right to be
Kitson delivers a last-minute set of quarter-baked routines, but it’s still a pleasure to be entertained by his unique humour - Brian Logan
Anguis review – what if Cleopatra went on Desert Island Discs?
Playwright Sheila Atim puts a female scientist on stage with the pharaoh to chat about music, men and misrepresentation - Mark Fisher
If You're Feeling Sinister review – Belle and Sebastian inspire eccentric drama
Eve Nichol’s play combines songs from the Glasgow band’s well-loved album with an ambiguous narrative - Mark Fisher
The Chosen review – dancing in the face of futility
Company Chordelia’s show confronts the certainty of non-existence and evokes the brevity of a dancer’s onstage life - Anna Winter
Beach Body Ready review – laughing and loving beyond body shame
It’s not a new message but it’s made with charm and comedy in this three-hander about how women’s bodies are policed - Catherine Love
The Incident Room review – Yorkshire Ripper retelling puts police in the spotlight
New Diorama’s beautifully crafted play casts doubt on titillating tales of the notorious serial killer, but can’t escape the clutches of morbid fascination - Catherine Love
For All I Care review – the spirit of Nye Bevan breathes life into NHS tale
This vivid production shows both sides of the care system through the eyes of a nurse and a patient - Mark Fisher
How Not to Drown review – an adolescent adventure story of a Kosovan refugee
Dritan Kastrati’s journey as an 11-year-old to the UK with people smugglers is a survival story that speaks to what it is like to be caught between two cultures - Michael Billington
Enough review – the unstoppable force of women
Stef Smith’s latest production depicts the two female leads rejecting male classification and raising themselves up - Michael Billington
Like Animals review – sweet two-hander challenges limits of language
With a flurry of feathers and splash of water, Kim Donohoe and Pete Lannon ask how much can ever know another creature - Catherine Love
Working on My Night Moves review – it's hard to find meaning in the dark
Julia Croft’s performance art piece takes you from the edge of a black hole to the eye of the hurricane in The Wizard of Oz. It’s all very confusing - Kate Wyver
Rose McGowan: Planet 9 review: 'She can hold a note – but not always the right one'
Assembly Hall, EdinburghThe #MeToo activist made herself a refuge, where orbs shimmer and we can be our best selves. What a pity she spends this frustrating show wafting around like a refugee from 1970s sci-fi - Brian Logan
Red Dust Road review – Jackie Kay adaptation loses its way
Sasha Frost sparkles as a curious and vulnerable Kay searching for her birth parents, but this unfocused production fails to capture the intimacy of the soul-searching memoir - Mark Fisher
Moot Moot review – an hour of absurdist talk radio filler
British sign language interpretation adds energy to a dreary show in which doppelganger radio hosts mock an echo chamber of debate - Kate Wyver
A Table Tennis Play review – ping-pong puzzler
This slight drama, in which a woman sifts through old possessions and memories, leaves so much unsaid one wonders if there is any meaning to it at all - Mark Fisher
Fox review – new mum's obsession with a stranger
A woman with postnatal depression fixates on a homeless man in this uncomfortable drama in which only one of the characters seems real - Catherine Love
IvankaPlay review – the Trumps are no laughing matter in limp comedy
Despite a solid solo performance from McLean Peterson, there’s little funny about the president’s refusal to act on gun control - Kate Wyver
Drowning review – earnest look at true-life tragedy rings false
Jessica Ross doesn’t come anywhere close to making moral or dramatic sense of why four nurses killed elderly patients - Mark Fisher
Conspiracy review – would-be detectives try to crack the case
Barrel Organ are on the trail of something in this bewildering piece of devised theatre, but something’s not right - Kate Wyver
Titania McGrath review – Twitter avatar proves less substantial in 3D
The incarnation of a woke social media caricature raises a few smiles but mostly pokes predictable fun at the softest of targets - Brian Logan