Other People's Money, Southwark Playhouse review - onetime Off Broadway hit retains its sting

★★★★ OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Greed is good in feisty revival of Eighties period piece

Greed is good or at least entertaining in feisty Off West End revival

Deft and funny and nicely cast, what's not to like about Other People's Money, the era-defining Jerry Sterner play in revival at Southwark Playhouse? The play's 1989 premiere Off Broadway allowed for a contemporary skewering of the roaring, rapacious, uncaring 1980s.

Ain't Misbehavin', Southwark Playhouse review - a jazz-hot musical revue

★★★★ AIN'T MISBEHAVIN', SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE A jazz-hot musical revue

Dancing, singing and plenty of swinging in this joyful tribute to Fats Waller

The joint is jumpin’ at Southwark Playhouse, now hosting an irresistible Fats Waller-inspired, Manhattan-set musical revue (a co-production with Colchester’s Mercury Theatre, where it opened last month).

The Rubenstein Kiss, Southwark Playhouse review - slick spy drama doesn't quite come together

★★★ THE RUBENSTEIN KISS, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Slick spy drama doesn't quite come together

Excellent performances aren't enough to cover the holes in this fictionalised account of the Rosenbergs

It's an ideal time to revive James Phillips's debut The Rubenstein Kiss. Since it won the John Whiting Award for new writing in 2005 its story, of ideological differences tearing a family apart, has only become more relevant. Joe Harmston directs a slick production at the Southwark Playhouse, which never quite manages to coalesce into something great.

Bodies, Southwark Playhouse review - shaky revival misses the mark

Last seen 40 years ago, James Saunders' four-hander never quite gets off the ground

Bodies is the latest in Two's Company's series of what they deem "forgotten masterworks", this one making a less-than-triumphant return to the London stage after almost 40 years away. Written by James Saunders in 1977, it opened at the Orange Tree in Richmond before transferring to the Hampstead Theatre and then on to the West End.

Aspects of Love, Southwark Playhouse review - discourse keeps passion at bay

★★★ ASPECTS OF LOVE, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Strengths and weaknesses in Lloyd Webber revival

An intimate Andrew Lloyd Webber revival lays bare both strengths and weaknesses

“Love Changes Everything”, as immortalised by Michael Ball, is the most enduring feature of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black and Charles Hart’s 1989 musical – a moderate West End success, and a Broadway flop.

The Sweet Science of Bruising, Southwark Playhouse review - boxing clever

★★★★ THE SWEET SCIENCE OF BRUISING, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Original and timely Victorian pugilistic drama

 

Victorian pugilistic drama: thoroughly heartfelt, highly original and completely timely

There are not that many plays about sport, but, whether you gamble on results or not, you can bet that most of them are about boxing. And often set in the past.

The Country Wife, Southwark Playhouse review – knowing Restoration update

★★★ THE COUNTRY WIFE, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Knowing Restoration update

Wycherley’s sexy comedy transplanted to the Roaring Twenties

Even in its successful early days Wycherley’s 1675 comedy was notorious, but it was considered too lewd to be staged at all between the mid-Eighteenth Century and 1924. Although the play has found an affectionate place in the canon in more recent times, it makes a kind of sense to transpose the goings on of louche Restoration aristocrats to the era of the Bright Young Things, the time of its rediscovery.

Angry, Southwark Playhouse review – wondrously roaring Ridleyland

★★★★ ANGRY, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Six monologues about extreme emotions offer trips to outer space and dystopia

Six monologues about extreme emotions offer trips to outer space and dystopia

Monologues are very much the flavour of the start of this theatrical year. At the Royal Court, we have Carey Mulligan in Dennis Kelly’s brilliant Girls & Boys, coming hot on the tottering heels of Anoushka Warden’s My Mum’s a Twat, while at the Bush a season of solo plays is currently disturbing psyches with Monica Dolan’s B*easts.