Theatre Lockdown Special 12: An American rarity, a British savoury, and fresh Apples

Nigel Slater is back, as is Richard Nelson's Apple family for a second time via Zoom

Can this weekly lineup really now be three months old?  As we move towards at least some degree of relaxation on the social restrictions that have long been in place, the offerings of theatre online continue to afford many a reason not to leave your laptop.

Theatre Lockdown Special 11: Shakespeare-as-rave, a starlit Old Vic, and, yes, those singing nuns

THEATRE LOCKDOWN SPECIAL 11 Shakespeare-as-rave, a starlit Old Vic, and those singing nuns

Some celeb-heavy revivals and a kids-friendly showstopper feature amongst this week's lineup

Might we be nearing light at the end of the lockdown tunnel? It definitely seems that way, with the news in recent days that social life beyond the home may be resuming soon, at least after a fashion. All the while, theatrical offerings continue to come thick and fast, all the while offering up a cheeringly broad away of online prospects.

Wise Children, BBC online review – beautifully bizarre

★★★ WISE CHILDREN, BBC Emma Rice’s version of Angela Carter’s last novel is a celebration of alternative families

Emma Rice’s version of Angela Carter’s last novel is a celebration of alternative families

Reviewing theatre now means reviewing film. Knowing that Emma Rice’s Old Vic 2018 production of Wise Children, her typically rambunctious version of Angela Carter’s last novel, published in 1991, has been recorded by The Space immediately raises expectations of high quality. After all, this company specializes in digitally bringing good art to wider audiences.

Endgame/Rough for Theatre II, Old Vic review - Beckett played for laughs

★★★ ENDGAME / ROUGH FOR THEATRE II, OLD VIC Beckett played for laughs

Alan Cumming and Daniel Radcliffe lead a lively double bill

“Nothing is funnier than unhappiness.” Director Richard Jones has certainly taken Beckett’s words to heart in this vividly comic, star-cast Old Vic double bill, pairing Endgame with a lesser-known short play – which acts as a sort of stylistic and thematic amuse bouche.

A Christmas Carol, Old Vic Theatre review - the festive favourite mixes gloom with merriment

★★★ A CHRISTMAS CAROL, OLD VIC A vigorous Paterson Joseph meets the Christmas spirits

A vigorous Paterson Joseph meets the Christmas spirits

"Dickensian" commonly means both sentimental Victorian, apple-cheeked family perfection (especially at Christmas) and abject poverty. The story of Scrooge encompasses both as the old curmudgeon learns to mend his miserly ways and open his heart to others in a tale of redemption.

Lungs, Old Vic review - deluxe casting and slick delivery

★★★ LUNGS, OLD VIC Claire Foy and Matt Smith elevate toothless parenting drama

Claire Foy and Matt Smith elevate Duncan Macmillan's rather toothless parenting drama

Playing our monarch and her husband in The Crown has made actors Claire Foy and Matt Smith into TV drama royalty, so reuniting the pair onstage guarantees a hot ticket. What’s less clear is why Lungs, Duncan Macmillan’s rather thin 2011 play, merits a major revival at the Old Vic.

A Very Expensive Poison, Old Vic review – bold evocation of a post-truth world

★★★★★ A VERY EXPENSIVE POISON, OLD VIC Bold evocation of a post-truth world

The evening is as devastatingly moving as it is bitingly funny

If Russia is, as Winston Churchill once so memorably said, “a riddle, wrapped inside a mystery, wrapped inside an enigma”, then this play is an outrage, wrapped inside a farce, framed by a bittersweet love story.

Present Laughter, Old Vic review - Andrew Scott continues his rise and rise

★★★★★ PRESENT LAUGHTER, OLD VIC Andrew Scott continues his rise and rise

The Irish star is sublimely funny - and moving, too - in Noël Coward classic

"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" can be heard pulsating through the Old Vic auditorium as the curtain rises on its wondrous revival of Present Laughter: a decisive feather in the cap of artistic director Matthew Warchus's regime. But all Garry Essendine, the vainglorious actor at the whirling centre of Noël Coward's 1942 play, really wants is to make it through the day (and night) intact.

All My Sons, Old Vic review - starry but disappointingly uneven

★★★ ALL MY SONS, OLD VIC Arthur Miller's classic family drama has one outstanding performance - and one dud

Arthur Miller's classic family drama has one outstanding performance - and one dud

Superstar Sally Field has come to town. With two academy awards and countless other accolades, the actor who played Forrest Gump's mother and dozens of other roles, from Frog to Mrs Lincoln, in Hollywood blockbusters and on television now returns to the stage to play a delusional and deceitful matriarch in Arthur Miller's All My Sons, part of the Old Vic's continuing tribute to the American playwright.

The American Clock, Old Vic review - Arthur Miller's musical history lesson drags

★★★ THE AMERICAN CLOCK, OLD VIC Arthur Miller's musical history lesson drags

Rachel Chavkin's creative revival can't quite tame this sprawling epic

This year’s unofficial Arthur Miller season – following The Price and ahead of All My Sons at the Old Vic and Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic – now turns to his 1980 work, The American Clock, inspired in part by Miller’s own memories of the 1929 Wall Street Crash and subsequent Great Depression.