Five star - Latest 1 Star Stage Reviews from the Guardian

Blithe Spirit review – Judi Dench presides over a deathly farce
Dan Stevens, Leslie Mann and Isla Fisher mug spiritedly but there is little life in this unfunny Noël Coward adaptation - Peter Bradshaw
The Taming of the Shrew review – misogynistic comedy is a rotten apple
Flat insults, bland puns and painful verse let down this staging of Shakespeare’s problematic play, which charges ahead without a trace of satire - Kate Wyver
Jack Whitehall review – puerile, inauthentic and by-numbers jokes
The comic, who doesn’t seem to have any interest in people or the world, puts on a weak show with anecdotes that ring untrue - Brian Logan
Sunday review – Jack Thorne's book group drama is an empty misfire
The Tony-winning writer of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stumbles with a navel-gazing show about an unconvincing group of twentysomethings - Alexis Soloski
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
Mrs Brown's Boys D'Musical? review – where are d'jokes and d'good songs?
Brendan O’Carroll and co cheerfully gurn their way through two hours’ of weak gags, unmemorable songs and wasted opportunities - Peter Ross
Rumpelstiltskin review – on mute, it could be fantastic
A king’s daughter sells her unborn baby to a wicked fashion designer in a patronising show with abrasive songs - Kate Wyver
Over the Top review – suffragettes panto staggers from music hall to front line
A well-intentioned comedy show about female war heroes unintentionally undermines its own ambitions - Kate Wyver
King Kong review – Broadway kills the beast in monstrously bad musical
Despite the spectacle of a 2,400lb puppet, a shambolic production doesn’t know what to do with him and any magic quickly evaporates - Alexis Soloski
An Execution (By Invitation Only) review – obtuse philosophical games
Camden People’s Theatre, LondonInspired by Vladimir Nabokov, this patience-trying piece about a prisoner awaiting execution is full of lazy surrealism and tired games - Kate Wyver
Pretty Woman review – Broadway romcom transfer is a tasteless disaster
The dated gender politics of the Julia Roberts hit fail to receive an upgrade in a shallow musical that falls apart on stage - Alexis Soloski
The Exorcist review – West End horror show is as spooky as a wet sock
This stage version of the classic movie deploys blackouts, special effects and the voice of Ian McKellen to do the devil’s work, but possesses no fearful thrills - Lyn Gardner
(The Fall of) The Master Builder review – knock it down and start again …
Needlessly fleshed out and lacking focus, this Ibsen adaptation feels sadly jerry-built - Clare Brennan
Performers/Creatives reviews – Irvine Welsh's two plays are exercises in tedium
Had they not had Welsh’s name attached, these tired, clumsy and slackly directed works would surely never have seen the light of day - Lyn Gardner
I Loved Lucy review – Lucille Ball is diminished by this needy bioplay
Sandra Dickinson’s heroic portrayal of the once world-famous TV comedian brings a pulse to this stage corpse - Lyn Gardner
A Tale of Two Cities review – roll on the revolution…
A Tale of Two Cities mashup nearly does for Dickens - Susannah Clapp
Common review – a land-locked drama that fluffs all its lines
Words fail everyone in a play about the loss of common land in the early 1800s - Susannah Clapp
Salomé review – heads will roll
Yaël Farber’s turgid take on the biblical story leaves some fine actors stranded in the desert - Susannah Clapp
Romeo and Juliet review – the Globe's perverse show vandalises Shakespeare
This risible production butchers the language, turns Juliet into a squawking, pampered princess and makes everyone dance to the Village People - Michael Billington
The Braille Legacy review – woefully corny account of visionary inventor
This new French musical about the teenager who came up with a new system of reading and writing is busy, dizzy and emotionally overwrought - Lyn Gardner
Much Ado About Nothing review – Sh!t-faced Shakespeare does the Bard blotto
This tipsy performance of giggly, off-script improvisation is pointless if put-on, cruel if it’s real, and staggeringly bad if you’re sober - Mark Lawson
Rumpy Pumpy! review – WI's brave sex crusaders trivialised by lewd jokes and crass songs
Union theatre, LondonThe story of Women’s Institute members fighting to decriminalise sex work did not deserve the Carry On treatment - Michael Billington
Bits of Me Are Falling Apart review – Leith's midlife memoir makes dull drama
William Leith’s book has been turned into an uninspiring monologue delivered by a softly spoken Adrian Edmondson - Lyn Gardner
The Greater Game review – glaring miss in front of an open goal
The story of players from Clapton Orient who joined the ‘football battalion’ in the first world war is worth telling, but this production borders on the inept - Lyn Gardner
Her Name Was Carmen review – stunningly inappropriate
St Petersburg Ballet’s take on the refugee crisis is undone by poor plotting, weak choreography and some astonishingly ill-judged costumes - Luke Jennings
Vamos Cuba! review – tedious, cliched and not remotely sexy
Nilda Guerra’s feeble attempt to portray the spirit of her country reduces the vibrant history of Cuban dance to a parade of tourist stereotypes - Judith Mackrell
The Stripper review – Richard O'Brien's tediously sleazy musical is a grind
A sex-obsessed cop chases an investigation all the way to a burlesque dive in a preposterous, nastily misogynistic show that quickly runs out of steam - Lyn Gardner
Doctor Faustus review – where’s the soul?
Kit Harington gets his kit off and Jenna Russell sings Bat out of Hell… but no one profits from this deal with the devil - Susannah Clapp
Goosebumps Alive review – as immersive as a puddle
This lazy, unimaginative stage version of RL Stine’s creepy children’s stories relies on cheap effects and barely qualifies as theatre, let alone horror - Lyn Gardner
Jeepers Creepers review – who was the real Marty Feldman? You'll be none the wiser
Monty Python’s Terry Jones fails to get under the skin of the British comic known for his Round the Horne scripts - Lyn Gardner
The Picture of Dorian Gray review – Wilde staging gets ugly
It’s the work of his grandson, but this adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s great novella is miscast, plodding and dull - Lyn Gardner
Cirque du Soleil: Amaluna review – as erotic as a wet wipe
A liberty-taking acrobatic rendering of The Tempest is sexualised but emotionally empty, while demoting the circus to incidental thrills - Lyn Gardner
Dusty review – a painful failure of a jukebox musical
This jukebox biography of Dusty Springfield is forlorn and misguided - Alex Clark
Dusty review – dire, perfunctory tribute to the 60s pop star
This jukebox musical is a clumsy, opportunist show with bad wigs, ill-fitting costumes – and nothing new or meaningful to say about Dusty Springfield - Lyn Gardner
Hula House at Edinburgh festival review – show about sex workers is seriously misguided
The audience are taken to a secret venue for some misjudged party games in a well-intentioned but clumsy and confusing piece about prostitution - Lyn Gardner
Doctor Faustus review - Marlowe's classic loses its soul in a lackluster slog
This production of the mortality play falls flat with diabolical sing-alongs, awful fight choreography and star Chris Noth wishing he were somewhere else - Alexis Soloski
The Lady of the Lake review – swords, sorcery and tin-eared couplets
This verse drama claiming King Arthur as a son of Cumbria is turgid, oblique and alarmingly misogynistic - Alfred Hickling
Oysters review – screamingly obvious problems
Perhaps if the same person hadn’t written and directed this look at the decline of Essex oyster industry, the myriad inconsistencies and plotholes might not have slipped through the net - Lyn Gardner
Hello/Goodbye review – romance with all the depth of a coffee advert
Two strangers move in together, flirt and fall in love in this pointless romcom that raises questions about Hampstead’s new-writing policy, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Truth, Lies, Diana review – tawdry drama commits crimes against theatre
Charing Cross theatre, LondonJon Conway’s tabloid-style play about the death of the ‘people’s princess’ mixes fact and fiction to suit itself, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Paul Chowdhry review – tawdry gags about Gypsies, gay people and the French
The standup’s PC’s World seldom strays from xenophobia in a show full of poor jokes and weak puns, writes Brian Logan - Brian Logan
Rainbows from Diamonds review – Dell'Olio's debut is unexpectedly dull
The glamour and the gossip promised much, but in Nancyland it's just lazy lines and free limoncello - Lyn Gardner
Simon Callow in Juvenalia: a major misjudgment – Edinburgh festival 2014 review
Callow's dinner-jacketed jog through the writings of the classical poet and grump can't compete with the more vibrant satire on show all over the festival, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Clinton review – this musical should be impeached
Want to know a good rhyme for fellatio? Or saxophone? Or Arkansas? So do the writers of this puerile musical comedy - Alexis Soloski
Krapp's Last Tape review – simplistic and unimaginative
Too much technical intervention lets Richard Wilson down – not to mention Samuel Beckett, writes Clare Brennan - Clare Brennan
The Glass Supper review – objectionable people shrieking loudly
Gay and straight relationships alike provoke wine-soaked spite in a play that veers between soap opera and dismal Joe Orton black comedy, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Water Babies review – chimney-sweep musical is a mess
This show based on a sermonising Victorian story has a fatal mix of blandness and mawkishness, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
The Club 3.0 review: theatre troupe tries to get audience to fight each other
A Belgian company's attempt to create a real-life fight club causes more embarrassment than insurrectionary fervour, writes Jane Howard - Jane Howard
The Seagull review – a tremendous drama lacking in direction
Adelaide festival: State Theatre Company of South Australia Scenic Workshop. Coarse-grained performances mar Hilary Bell’s adaptation of Chekhov’s Seagull - Jana Perkovic
Mozart Undone review – 'makes Cirque du Soleil seem radical'
Cascades of glitter, soap and water drown out the Mozart in Betty Nansen Teatret's madcap Danish 'theatre concert' - Lyn Gardner
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – review
This limp adaptation of Hunter S Thompson's 1971 novel suffers from clumsy design and a lack of theatrical imagination, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Travelling North, Sydney Theatre Company – review
David Williamson’s lacklustre play has been brought back from the 70s for no apparent reason, leaving its talented cast shuffling in quicksand - Jessica Keath
Much Ado About Nothing – review
Michael Billington: one of the most senseless Shakespearean productions I have seen in a long time - Michael Billington
Afraid of the Dark – review
This supposed fright-fest is incoherent, poorly written and as scary as a wet sock, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Histoire d'Amour – Edinburgh festival 2013 review
This eerie fusion of theatre and film gives voice to a rape fantasy, while denying the victim her own voice, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Wag! The Musical! – review
Set expectations to zero for this dreary trawl through the shopping habits of footballers' wives and girlfriends, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Aladdin: A Wish Come True – review
A sorry script leaves Lily Savage's waspish dame all dressed up in the O2's 'upturned wok' with nowhere to go, says Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
The Architects – review
Shunt seem unable to translate their jostling ideas into a satisfying theatrical experience in their latest show, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Scrooge: The Musical – review
Tommy Steele stars in this cheery but dreary spectacle, which is too sweet by half, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour – review
Cirque du Soleil's bombastic tribute show comes with so much syrup that it looks less like a celebration of Michael Jackson's talent than a spectacular parody of it, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Jesus Christ Superstar – review
Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical is revived with plenty of spectacle, but let down by a lack of variety and flat acting, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Save Me – review
The life of Zelda Sayre may have been fascinating, but this inept and poorly paced depiction disappoints in so many ways, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Dora the Explorer Live! – review
This depressing show feels like it was conceived by accountants, not artists, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Ex – review
In this dire play-with-songs, old flames spark like a couple of damp matches at a drizzly barbecue, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Rock of Ages – review
Don't stop believin'? I never started, writes Michael Hann - Michael Hann
Dom Joly – review
There's not much in my career I'm proud of, says Dom Joly – and this, his first live show, is unlikely to extend that short list, writes Brian Logan - Brian Logan
Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark – review
Broadway's most expensive musical is a lesson in the art of financial mismanagement, writes <strong>Hadley Freeman</strong> - Hadley Freeman
Jim Jefferies – review
Even if you like off-colour comedy, don't bother with this sexist, witless misanthrope, says Brian Logan - Brian Logan
Compagnie Thor – review
This dull collage of badly recorded Bach scores is hard to forgive becuase it lacks any justifying choreographic or theatrical point, writes Judith Mackrell - Judith Mackrell
Onassis – review
This ridiculous play treats a delusional tycoon like a figure of epic grandeur, writes Michael Billington - Michael Billington
In the Penal Colony
Linbury Studio, LondonThis Kafka adaptation isn't one of Philip Glass's finer moments in opera, writes Guy Dammaan - Guy Dammann
While You Lie
Traverse, EdinburghSam Holcroft's play about power relations between the sexes begins brilliantly, but tails off preposterously, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Rob Schneider
Udderbelly, Southbank, LondonRob Schneider's standup teems with the kind of race and gender stereotypes, and lame one-liners, that haven't passed muster in the UK since the 1970s, writes Brian Logan - Brian Logan
Rough Crossing
Pitlochry Festival theatreEven by the standards of daft comedy, Tom Stoppard's smug and tedious play simply fails to entertain, writes Mark Fisher - Mark Fisher
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Hull TruckJohn Godber is steeped in the techniques of European expressionist theatre, yet the big surprise is how literal his vision becomes, writes Alfred Hickling - Alfred Hickling
Forever in Your Debt
Jackson's Lane, LondonThis absurdist fantasy spirals into silly puns and wacky storylines that are as hard to believe as to care about, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Empty
Tron, GlasgowEmpty is like a tedious night at party full of teenage drunks. It bashes on from one act of domestic destruction to the next, but nothing changes, writes Mark Fisher - Mark Fisher
Warnings
St Pancras Church Crypt, LondonAll is not what it seems in Warnings, a torturous production that feels like being buried alive for 90 minutes with no possibility of clawing your way out, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Medea
Playhouse, Oxford: A company that has done much good work takes a misstep with this deeply unengaging Medea, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Peter Pan
Curve, LeicesterThis charmless Peter Pan adds clumsy flying but loses the original's sense of loss and grief, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Glasshouse
Tobacco Factory, BristolPonderous metaphors and overambitious themes give this climate-change play no chance with the sceptics, writes Elisabeth Mahoney - Elisabeth Mahoney
Who Broke Fred Goodwin's Windows?
Sweet Heart Theatre, Edinburgh Lyn Gardner is less than impressed by Guardian feature writer Stephen Moss's attempt at producing and appearing in his own play - Lyn Gardner
Diaspora
Playhouse, Edinburgh An excruciatingly turgid 100 minutes that feels like a cross between a travelogue and a very earnest educational video, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
The School for Scandal
Pleasance, EdinburghA host of big-name comics embarrass themselves in this under-rehearsed and desperately unfunny version of Richard Sheridan's 1777 comedy of manners, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Blondes
Udderbelly's Pasture, EdinburghDenise Van Outen's 'celebration' of golden goddesses comes off more like character assassination, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Too Close to the Sun
Comedy Theatre, LondonThis out of tune musical fails to explain the importance of Ernest Hemingway, writes Michael Billington - Michael Billington
Medea/Medea
Gate, LondonIt's like having teeth pulled slowly without anaesthetic, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Amongst Friends
Hampstead, LondonThere are some brittle one-liners but this preposterous comedy opts for kitchen-chic realism rather than something more surreal and edgy, writes Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Underdrome
The Roundhouse, LondonIt's a mystery how artist-in-residence Darren Johnston could have produced something so inconsquential, says Judith Mackrell - Judith Mackrell
Soho Streets
Soho, LondonThis wild goose chase appears to have been conceived on the back of a postcard and executed in 24 hours, says Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Purgatorio
Barbican, London: Initially, the scene looks set for some kind of upmarket kitchen-sink drama, says Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Horne and Corden
Royal Albert Hall, LondonHorne and Corden who are going down - and fast. Surely they can't sink further, says Brian Logan - Brian Logan
Scar Stories
BAC, LondonPatrizia Paolini's meandering style is more soporific than intriguing, says Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Dirty Dusting
Royal Court, LiverpoolThis comedy sets the bar so low it's incredible that thos involved can limbo dance beneath it - Alfred Hickling
The Naked Truth
Perth TheatreMark Fisher is unconvinced by a play about female female bonding – and pole dancing - Mark Fisher
Obama On My Mind
Hen and Chickens, LondonThis campy election campaign musical doesn't get Lyn Gardner's vote - Lyn Gardner
Hippolytus
Riverside Studios, LondonThis version of Euripides' tragedy seems caught in a no-man's-land between reverence and modernity, says Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
The Taming of the Shrew
Novello, LondonMorrison's revival is no laughing matter - not in its tedious Carry On Shakespeare buffoonery, says Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Where There's a Will
Rose, Kingston A production of hammy acting, missed timing and overall laboriousness, says Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner
Romeo & Juliet Docklands
The Space, LondonThe real tragedy of this misguided revival is that a youngster may see it and be put off Shakespeare for life, says Lyn Gardner - Lyn Gardner