Five star - Latest Top Rated Stage Reviews from the Guardian

Giselle review – the stuff of dreams from the Royal Ballet
Six hundred performances of Giselle and counting, the Royal Ballet’s peerless dancers continue to make this once revolutionary work their own - Sarah Crompton
Life Is a Dream review – this roaring tale of revenge is extraordinary
Wils Wilson’s perception-bending production highlights the artifice of a prince’s world, exposing the thin veneer of riches and respectability - Mark Fisher
The Dante Project review – bold, beautiful and utterly engaging
Wayne McGregor, Thomas Adès and Tacita Dean’s dream-team Divine Comedy is a fitting farewell to its star, Edward Watson - Sarah Crompton
A Christmas Carol review – a clever, Cardiffian spin on the Christmas classic
Panto tropes are happily pooh-poohed with a gender-swapped Scrooge and properly terrifying puppetry in Joe Murphy’s triumphant Dickens redo - Gareth Llŷr Evans
Beauty and the Beast review – a sumptuous reboot of the festive-season fairytale
Director Theresa Heskins might give us more beast than beauty but, even so, this dark, Disney-divergent adaptation is superb - Mark Fisher
Cinderella review – up the workers and boo to the ruling class!
Buttons unleashes some magical social chicanery in this enjoyable egalitarian twist on the rags-to-riches tale - Mark Fisher
Aladdin review – emperor Boris on a magic carpet ride with a splash of TikTok
Satire has a disconcerting consequence in Vikki Stone’s punchy and superbly sung version of the traditional panto - Brian Logan
The Glass Menagerie review – Ivo van Hove’s subterranean home blues
Isabelle Huppert stars in a shrewd staging of Tennessee Williams’s autobiographical memory play - Chris Wiegand
Yes So I Said Yes review – prepare to be appalled
David Ireland’s provocative, surreal, intensely brutal farce finds a former loyalist paramilitary seeking mediation from Eamonn Holmes for a dispute with his neighbour - Mark Lawson
Very Special Guest Star review – sex, lies and bigotry in suburbia
Shocking truths are revealed when a middle-aged gay couple bring home a man half their age for a threesome - Arifa Akbar
Moulin Rouge! review – ridiculously entertaining Broadway hit opens with opulence in Australia
Almost brought to its knees by the pandemic, this show has pulled off an endearingly trashy, sensual tribute to theatre - Tim Byrne
The Boomkak Panto review – Virginia Gay’s playful love letter to small-town Australia
A blossoming queer romance sits at the heart of this show-within-a-show that embraces slapstick and song-and-dance silliness - Cassie Tongue
Redemption review – a powerful journey of hope, grief, grime and soul
This immersive show creates a raucous energy as Maz runs away from her care home and tries to carve her place in the music scene - Kate Wyver
Luisa Omielan: God Is a Woman review – faith, feminism and family
The comic’s swaggering take on religion is ebullient before a handbrake-turn brings emotional candour too - Brian Logan
Past Present/Connecting to Cohan – an inspirational journey into dance history
The extraordinary work of the late choreographer Robert Cohan finds full expression in two heartfelt tribute shows by Yorke Dance Project - Sarah Crompton
Julius Caesar review: Shakespeare’s tragedy goes viral for era of smartphone narcissism
Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 1, SydneyThe satire might be laid on a bit thick in this contemporary retelling by Kip Williams, but you can sense the audience loving the mad ride - Steve Dow
La Clique review – intimate alt cabaret full of giddy thrills
From a sword-swallowing fire-breather to high-risk rollerskaters and the Incredible Hula Boy, this is sexy, edgy, head-exploding stuff - Lyndsey Winship
Bridget Christie: Who Am I? review – a comic ahead of the crowd
The standup’s rich and playful show about the menopause combines ingenious silliness with campaigning ferocity - Brian Logan
Straight White Men review – modern male psychology spotlit
Young Jean Lee’s satire, unfolding at a family Christmas, finds brothers struggling with midlife - Anya Ryan
Aladdin review – a breathless and brilliant panto
Gags, raps and forceful female energy boost this production, which has a huge sense of silliness and good cheer - Mark Fisher
Little Scratch review – superb staging of Rebecca Watson’s novel
This adaptation of the day-in-a-life book, directed by Katie Mitchell, achieves the same lingering power using a quartet of actors - Chris Wiegand
Dick Whittington: A New Dick in Town review – innuendo a go-go
The gags come thick and fast in this bawdy adult panto, which is set in a funeral parlour and channels Joe Orton - Ryan Gilbey
Patti Harrison review – whip-smart comic amps up the irony
The American standup delivers so-bad-they’re-good music parodies and sends up millennial entitlement in a bright UK debut - Brian Logan
Alfie Brown: Sensitive Man review – contrarian comic with a devilish twinkle
The twisty satirist considers mental health, white privilege and youth with vividly acted, wittily phrased jokes - Brian Logan
Samskara review – Lanre Malaolu’s gem weaves Shakespeare with Sisqó
This ingenious dance-play hybrid makes use of a richly talented cast to interrogate black masculinity and dismantle stereotypes - Lyndsey Winship
tick, tick … BOOM! review – Lin-Manuel Miranda’s heartfelt tribute to Broadway
Andrew Garfield plays Rent composer Jonathan Larson in Miranda’s sugar rush of showbiz highs and lows - Peter Bradshaw
Josephine review – Baker’s story packed with rhythm and blues
With a brilliantly physical performance from Ebony Feare, this toe-tapping show for over-sevens doesn’t shy away from the stage star’s tough times - Chris Wiegand
Ballet Black review – conflict and connection in spellbinding double bill
Will Tuckett makes visual poetry of love, war and the work of Adrienne Rich, while Mthuthuzeli November journeys to a glitter-coated land of showtime - Sanjoy Roy
Life Is a Dream review – an existential celebration to die for
Royal Lyceum theatre, EdinburghWils Wilson delivers a high-energy version of the 17th-century play about a monstrous prince faced with the ultimate question - Clare Brennan
Ballet Black: Then or Now/The Waiting Game review – dynamic anniversary celebration
The company celebrates 20 years of challenging, creative work with an eclectic double bill including a thrilling new piece from one of its own dancers - Sarah Crompton
Footfalls and Rockaby review – Beckett double bill casts a chilling spell
Pacing endlessly and rocking towards the big sleep, Siân Phillips and Charlotte Emmerson’s performances make this evening deeply affecting - Chris Wiegand
Royal Ballet: Giselle review – a supernatural tour de force from Natalia Osipova
Supported by a talented cast in Peter Wright’s acclaimed production, the principal makes an astounding return to the role she has made her own - Lyndsey Winship
The Ocean at the End of the Lane review – Neil Gaiman’s monsters will leave you cowering
Shapeshifting creatures take centre stage in Katy Rudd’s production that terrifyingly evokes childhood nightmares and family trauma - Claire Armitstead
Bobby & Amy review – gripping drama about foot-and-mouth disease
Will Howard and Kimberley Jarvis portray more than 20 characters with ease in this superb tale set against the 2001 disaster - Mark Lawson
Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) review – silliness and sensibility
Rough-hewn but joyous musical take on the classic novel works in everything from Carly Simon to Chris de Burgh - Arifa Akbar
Prime_Time review – memorably unsettling Amazon takedown
This anarchic discourse on the power of the e-commerce giant takes place behind a plastic curtain, as fresh produce section gets destroyed - Ryan Gilbey
Mum review – Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s unnerving look at motherhood
This play daringly switches tone as it follows three mothers and explores exhaustion, panic and feelings of inadequacy - Mark Lawson
Merrily We Roll Along review – Sondheim’s ‘flop’ is a musical delight
The 110-seat Hayes theatre is an intimate setting for this character-driven production that rolls back the clock on three friendships - Cassie Tongue
The Lemon Table review – love and death with Julian Barnes
Ian McDiarmid wryly contemplates mortality in his engaging new adaptation of two Julian Barnes short stories - Clare Brennan
Wuthering Heights review – Emma Rice’s audacious riff on Emily Brontë’s classic
Retelling the gothic novel with intelligently charming humour and a live band, this is a bold and ingenious production - Arifa Akbar
Jitney review – August Wilson’s subtle dissection of the American dream
Wilson’s play eavesdrops on the lives of an African American taxicab crew in a quietly compelling snapshot of men on the margins in the 1970s - Catherine Love
What’s New Pussycat? review – high-voltage collision of two Tom Joneses
The 18th-century novel and Welsh crooner meet on 1960s Carnaby Street in a spirited jukebox musical - Arifa Akbar
Dorian review – dizzying descent into Oscar Wilde’s masterpiece
This experimental adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray is a riotous homage to queer culture - Miriam Gillinson
Treasure Island review – BSL production a sign of progress
Derby theatreJim Hawkins becomes a young woman (or two) in this joyous but flawed adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale - Nick Ahad
The Tempest review – Michael Pennington’s mighty magician lends spark
Pennington plays Prospero in Tom Littler’s production, with a bewitching, naughty Ariel in Whitney Kehinde - Arifa Akbar
Outwitting the Devil review – Akram Khan’s dancers defy all limits
The plot of this reworked Gilgamesh myth may be near-impossible to follow – but its dazzling performers are hard to resist - Lyndsey Winship
Ten Things to Do in a Small Cumbrian Town review – delightfully deadpan coming-of-age tale
With the irony of a young Victoria Wood, Hannah Sowerby presents a love-hate relationship with Penrith in an inventive one-woman show - Mark Fisher
The Bolds review – Julian Clary’s hyena family will have you in cackles
Clary’s joke-filled books make for a vibrant stage show, replete with slapstick laughs, daft songs and a wholesome message - Miriam Gillinson
Interruptions review – Stephen Jeffreys’ powerful inquiry into democracy
Through intriguing group scenarios, the impressive Represent cast consider politics and tyranny without resorting to pat solutions - Arifa Akbar
Botis Seva: Blkdog review – a skilful, relentless dive into depression
The choreographer draws on his own experiences to create a powerful evocation of alienation, oppression and memory - Sanjoy Roy
My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored review – vital voices on racism
The arrest of a man outside a shop provides the framework for a dramatic investigation of black people’s experiences - Clare Brennan
The Brothers Grimm Present: Cinderella review – a turbo-charged fairytale
This bewitching but at times confusing adaptation offers a spin on the familiar story before swerving into panto mode - Arifa Akbar
Rob Brydon review – croons and lampoons from the affable uncle of showbiz
The clubbable comic casts himself as master of ceremonies in a self-effacing musical story of his life – with celeb mimicry - Brian Logan
Little Women: The Musical review – a high-energy show fired with charm
Lydia White is magnetic as the aspirational Jo in an uneven but stirring adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic - Emma John
The Wife of Willesden review – Zadie Smith’s boozy lock-in is a bawdy treat
Kiln theatre, LondonThe author’s debut play lets one of Chaucer’s most revolutionary characters loose in modern-day Kilburn in a celebration of community and a life well-lived - Kate Wyver
Rare Earth Mettle review – secret deals and wordy debates
Everything here is plot as Al Smith’s play speeds over many huge issues with little time to register their impact - Kate Wyver
Gardenia 10 Years Later review – a drag cabaret’s frail, moving swansong
The performers of the Belgian company Les Ballets C de la B revive a decade-old stage show with added poignancy - Lyndsey Winship
The Drop review – escape-room theatre show cranks up the fear factor
Swamp Motel’s latest immersive experience has an intriguing set design and cracking sound effects but might just be too scary for some - Miriam Gillinson
Yorke Dance Project: Past Present review – torque and tension, confusion and change
Yolande Yorke-Edgell and company join the dots between the founder-mother of American modern dance Martha Graham and the late Robert Cohan - Sanjoy Roy
Abigail’s Party review – the original cringe comedy returns
Mike Leigh’s 1970s masterpiece of aggressive hospitality, embarrassing silences and gauche behaviour is back in a slightly more naturalistic portrayal - Emma John
My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored review – intense and urgent
When a pupil confronts his teacher after she fails to defend him from police, more questions are raised than can be contained in this drama - Catherine Love
We Are Not Finished review – youth manifesto has anger but no activism
Devised piece presenting the hopes and fears of its young, untrained cast contemplates a burning world severed by divisions - Lyndsey Winship
Wherever She Wanders review – bold new Australian play about rape culture on campus
Griffin theatre, SydneySet in one of Australia’s oldest university colleges, playwright Kendall Feaver proffers big ideas and prowling debates – with no easy answers - Cassie Tongue
Sessions review – slowly searing drama on male mental health
Ifeyinwa Frederick’s monologue is delivered with humour and energy by Joseph Black as a man nearing 30 when depression seeps in - Arifa Akbar
David Suchet: Poirot and More, A Retrospective review – the man behind the moustache
The actor revisits his life and craft – not least playing Hercule Poirot – in neat but affecting touring show - Chris Wiegand
Milk and Gall review – new mother at sea in Trump’s America
This striking and lively story of a young woman dislocated both by her baby and the warping of American politics has a confident, surreal swagger - Miriam Gillinson
The Sugar House review – a tough story of poverty’s legacy
Alana Valentine’s drama about a struggling family in New South Wales is superbly performed - Arifa Akbar
Blue/Orange review – Joe Penhall’s power battle in the care system
Penhall’s 2000 play, set in the world of psychiatric care, is revived by James Dacre in a production with some riveting debate - Arifa Akbar
Ahir Shah: Dress review – laughs about life under lockdown
Coronavirus and woke capitalism lead to pleasing, if patchy, polemics in the comic’s latest show - Brian Logan
A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story review – Mark Gatiss’s witty dash through Dickens
Gatiss’s delayed rework amps up the ghostly effects while drawing out the overlooked dark comedy in the classic tale - Arifa Akbar
Brian & Roger: A Highly Offensive Play review – podcast duo’s OTT exploits
The misadventures of a hapless hero led astray by his false friend are funny but don’t quite fill three dimensions - Brian Logan
The Tempest review – stirring all-female Shakespeare on the cusp of Cop26
The climate change meeting inspires a production emphasising the land-grab aspects of Shakespeare’s late play in an imaginative staging - Mark Fisher
Simon Brodkin: Troublemaker review – quality jokes hide man behind the prankster
The comic who showered Fifa’s Sepp Blatter with banknotes takes his time to reveal the person under the mask - Brian Logan
Jitney review – August Wilson’s cab drivers do the talking
A strong cast and the world-weary Pittsburgh cab drivers they portray are all battling circumstances in this overly busy production of Wilson’s 1982 play - Clare Brennan
Family/Love Chapter 2; Transverse Orientation review – from one extreme to another
While Sharon Eyal’s repetitive works writhe with energy, Dimitris Papaioannou’s new piece lacks momentum but not beauty - Sarah Crompton
Old Bridge review – star-crossed lovers in war-torn Yugoslavia
Igor Memic’s prize-winning debut is an affecting if slightly uneven conflict romance brought to life by vivid detail - Mark Lawson
The Magician’s Elephant review – a puppet you’ll never forget
It is spirited and witty, with superb puppetry and comedic performances, but this new musical’s songs don’t stay with you and the messages are overdone - Chris Wiegand
Last Night in Soho review – Edgar Wright’s entertaining Valhalla of toxic 60s glitz
Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy and Matt Smith star in a horror-thriller that takes a trip to the sleazy heart of London’s past - Peter Bradshaw
Beauty and the Beast: The Musical review – old-fashioned pleasures and irresistible set-pieces
A refreshed version of the Disney perennial begins a tour of the UK with some spectacular visual feasts and a heart-stopping performance by Courtney Stapleton as Belle - Mark Fisher
Who Are You? review – Wertenbaker’s eco-parable invites us to think differently
A solitary woman finds a strange new presence in her remote house in this audio play which debates people v the planet, nature v culture - Catherine Love
Albatross review – liars and lovers collide in a challenge to middle-class do-gooders
‘You don’t want to help. You just want to say you’ve helped’ … this series of heated and occasionally heavy-handed dialogues illuminate social hypocrisy and class barriers - Kate Wyver
Isla review – a touching and troubling inquiry into our relationship with AI
Mark Lambert is superb as a widower given a digital assistant in Tim Price’s rumination on loneliness, privacy and ethics - Gareth Llŷr Evans
Grayson Perry: A Show for Normal People review – embracing eccentricity
The artist’s energetic live show splices together standup, anecdotes and singing – all inspiring us to flee the monochrome and mundane - Brian Logan
Transverse Orientation review – beauty and disgust from Dimitris Papaioannou
Fake babies waving to the audience, an imposing puppet bull and an optical illusion of entwined limbs combine in a cocktail of contradictions - Lyndsey Winship
The Shark Is Broken review – biting drama about the making of Jaws
Ian Shaw plays his film star father Robert in this behind-the-scenes tale of Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster - Ryan Gilbey
The Body Remembers review – powerful exploration of trauma
Heather Agyepong uses improvised movement, set to a soundtrack of real women’s testimonies, to search for equilibrium amid pain - Lyndsey Winship
The Lemon Table review – Julian Barnes’ stories of mortality and musicality
Ian McDiarmid is outstanding in two pieces, one as an angry audience member and one a composer’s coda, directed by Michael Grandage - Brian Logan
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical review – a powerful spirit
It’s the music that carries the emotional weight in this tale of love, loss and roots rock, starring the superb Arinzé Kene - Arifa Akbar
The Drifters Girl review – sensational songs but flat storytelling
Beverley Knight excels as trailblazing manager Faye Treadwell in a musical that skips hastily through history and lacks emotional drama - Arifa Akbar
Encanto review – blandly frictionless Disney fairytale that misses the magic
Walt Disney’s 60th animation boasts songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda and a fine voice cast, but it’s hampered by contradictory messages and a lack of sparkle - Peter Bradshaw
Lost Origin review – big-budget interactive adventure gets into a muddle
Despite impressive technical illusions, this immersive journey into an evil mastermind’s headquarters feels too aimless to live up to its potential - Anya Ryan
The Seven Pomegranate Seeds review – Euripides tied in knots
Overly stylised theatrics mar this revival of Colin Teevan’s monologues featuring Medea, Phaedra and others from ancient tragedies - Arifa Akbar
The Choir of Man review – testosterone on tap
This lads-together jukebox show is well sung and should go down well with office outings, but the synthetic bonhomie has a strangely cultish feel - Ryan Gilbey
Jacaranda review – bereavement drama leaves questions unanswered
Taking refuge in nature helps a Londoner process the loss of a child in a production that, for all its charm, fails to convince - Mark Fisher
Indecent Proposal review – middling musical remake of 90s hit thriller
Jazzy vocals come to the rescue of the latest throwback blockbuster to land on the London stage - Lyndsey Winship
’Night, Mother review – dark family saga with Stockard Channing is a dramatic misfire
Compelling performances aren’t enough to save Roxana Silbert’s staid restaging of this Pulitzer-winning suicide drama - Arifa Akbar
The Trial review – even a tale of alienation needs an emotional anchor
Proper Job’s staging of Kafka’s unfinished novel has a watchable lead and some cracking jokes, but leaves us short on connection - Nick Ahad
The Offing review – soft-pedalled adaptation of Benjamin Myers novel
Janice Okoh’s version of the 2019 novel waters down the culture clash at its heart and suffers for the lack of the author’s rich prose - Mark Fisher
Manor review – this state-of-the-nation satire is clumsy, crass and unconvincing
There is a prevailingly saggy sitcom vibe as characters shelter in an English country house in a production with many failings - Arifa Akbar
Titania McGrath: Mxnifesto review – Twitter activist misfires on all cylinders
Andrew Doyle’s Twitter creation – played by Alice Marshall – takes predictable aim at Greta, Meghan and trans athletes with jokes that just aren’t funny - Rachael Healy