Steve, Seven Dials Playhouse review - everything’s charming, except the script

Award-winning hymn to Stephen Sondheim leans too heavily on in-jokes

Steven (David Ames) is having a birthday party. He’s invited his closest friends – two of whom have recently started dating their personal trainer, Steve – and his partner, of course: Stephen (Joe Aaron Reid). Their eight-year-old son, Stevie, is being babysat by his grandma. Even the handsome Argentine waiter (Nico Conde) is called Esteban.

Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story, Jermyn Street Theatre review - True Crime musical gets West End showcase

★★★ THRILL ME: THE LEOPOLD & LOEB STORY Child killers seduce us with charisma and song

Child killers seduce us with charisma and song

There's a lot of True Crime stuff about, so it's hardly a surprise to see Stephen Dolginoff's 2003 off-Broadway musical back on the London stage, a West End venue for the Hope Theatre's award-winning 2019 production. Whether one needs to see a pair of charismatic child killers given a platform to explain their crimes while the victim, Bobby Franks, is merely a name, his face as absent as it was after the acid was poured all over it – well, you can make your own judgement about that.

Antony Sher: 'I discovered I could be other people'

ANTONY SHER Brilliant actor knight who revealed himself on stage and in performance diaries

Remembering the brilliant actor knight who revealed himself both on stage and in pioneering performance diaries

The energy of Antony Sher, who has died at the age of 72, was prodigious. He not only acted like a fizzing firecracker. He wrote books about his most celebrated roles, and several novels set in his native South Africa. He also wrote plays, and he painted. It was as if the stage could not contain him.

Album: Arca - KICK ii / KICK iii / KICK iiii

★★★ ARCA - KICK II / KICK III / KICK IIII Gothic darkness, ultrapop, high art, street music and haughty aloofness collide

Gothic darkness, ultrapop, high art, street music and haughty aloofness collide

Alejandra Ghersi – Arca – is one of the most influential musicians on the planet in the last decade. Even aside from working with huge names like Björk and Kanye West, her ultra-detailed, high drama, electronic abstractions have set the pace for a legion of artists from very underground to ultra-pop.

Grace Petrie, Summerhall, Edinburgh review - songs of solidarity

★★★★★ GRACE PETRIE, SUMMERHALL, EDINBURGH Protest songs for survival at twice-rescheduled show

Protest songs for survival at twice-rescheduled show

“How to explain Theresa May?” Grace Petrie muses from the Summerhall stage as she introduces decade-old opener “Farewell To Welfare”. “Well, in 2010, she was as bad as we thought it was going to get.”

Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of), Criterion Theatre review - bursting with wit, verve, and love

★★★★★ PRIDE & PREJUDICE* (*SORT OF), CRITERION THEATRE Bursting with wit, verve & love

Bombastic karaoke adaption of Jane Austen classic gives the spotlight to the servants

“We haven’t started yet!” Hannah-Jarrett Scott, dressed in Doc Martens under a 19th-century shift, reassures us as she attempts to dislodge a yellow rubber glove from a chandelier in the middle of the set of Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of).

Album: Lil Nas X - Montero

★★★ LIL NAS X - MONTERO Georgia-born star brings consistency to an extraordinary sound array

For better or worse, the Georgia-born star brings consistency to an extraordinary array of sound

Lil Nas X is good at being a pop star. Like, what could pop culture need more than a young, flamboyant, witty gay rapper from the deep south who can top the US country charts then just when it appeared he might not be able to live up to the success of “Old Town Road” lap dance Satan in the video for the Latin-tinged “Call me by Your Name” and storm to mega sales all over again?

Twelfth Night, Shakespeare's Globe review - foot-stompingly good fun

★★★★★ TWELFTH NIGHT, SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE Foot-stompingly good fun

Michelle Terry is gunning for a second Olivier with her first Viola

The best version of Twelfth Night I’ve seen is not called Twelfth Night. For sheer knockabout entertainment, nothing beats the 2006 film She’s the Man. But Sean Holmes’ production for the Globe’s summer season, brimming with song and physical comedy, comes a worthy second.