Fiddler on the Roof, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre review - dazzling gem of a production marks its diamond anniversary

★★★★ FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, REGENT'S PARK THEATRE Dazzling gem of a production

Unique venue adds a new dimension to canonical musical

If I were a rich man, I'd be inclined to put together a touring production of Fiddler on the Roof and send it around the world, a week here, a week there, to educate and entertain. But, like Tevye, I also have to sell a little milk to put food on the table, so I’ll just revel in the delights of this marvellous show in the theatrical village nestling within Regent’s Park.

DVD/Blu-ray: Cabrini

Alejandro Monteverde directs solemn biopic about the first American saint

“Begin the mission and the funds will come,” says feisty, tubercular nun Francesca Cabrini (Christiana Dell’Anna; Patrizia in Gomorrah) to Pope Leo XIII (Giancarlo Giannini) in 1889. She specialises in defying expectations, especially when men tell her she should stay where she belongs. She became the first American saint, canonised in 1946.

Immaculate review - grisly convent horror is timely but flawed

★★ IMMACULATE Grisly convent horror is timely but flawed

Sydney Sweeney impresses, but director Michael Mohan is too eager to scare

Immaculate marks Sydney Sweeney’s complete takeover of the big screen. This year alone she has brought back the rom-com with Anyone But You, showed off her acting chops in whistle-blower drama Reality, and joined the Marvel universe with Madame Web. Immaculate is her headfirst dive into horror, and it’s a grisly convent story that aims for Rosemary’s Baby meets Suspiria, but sometimes feels like The Nun 2.

The New Boy review - a mystical take on Australia's treatment of its First Peoples

★★★ THE NEW BOY A mystical take on Australia's treatment of its First Peoples

Warwick Thornton's parable is too mysterious for its own good

This is writer-director Warwick Thornton’s third feature film, his first since 2017's excellent Sweet Country, and it took him 18 years to bring it to the screen. He describes it as “a really special one” with “a lot to say”, though viewers may find themselves having to ponder long and hard to figure out The New Boy’s layers of meaning.

The Most Precious of Goods, Marylebone Theatre review - old-fashioned storytelling of an all-too relevant tale

★★ THE MOST PRECIOUS OF GOODS, MARYLEBONE THEATRE A story of love's triumph in an ocean of hate

An account of one family's near-destruction in the Holocaust given added strength by an uncluttered staging

As last week’s news evidenced, genocide never really goes out of fashion. So it’s only right and proper that art continues to address the hideous concept and, while nothing, not even Primo Levi’s shattering If This Is a Man, can capture the scale of the depravity of the camps, it is important that the warning from history is regularly proclaimed anew – and heeded.

The Good John Proctor, Jermyn Street Theatre review - Salem-set drama loses some of its power in London

★★ THE GOOD JOHN PROCTOR, JERMYN STREET THEATRE Witch Hunt play fails to fly

An overdue response to 'The Crucible', but very much rooted in its place, if not its time

It is no surprise that the phrase “Witch Hunt” is Donald Trump’s favoured term to describe his legal travails. Leaving aside its connotations of a malevolent state going after an innocent victim whilst in the throes of a self-serving moral panic, it plays into a founding psychodrama of the USA - the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.

Surprised by Oxford review - wishy-washy romance ticks the sightseeing boxes

★★ SURPRISED BY OXFORD Wishy-washy romance ticks the sightseeing boxes

Ryan Whitaker's film of Carolyn Weber's memoir of Christian conversion pulls its religious punches

The misty streets and lofty spires of Oxford star in this adaptation of Carolyn Weber’s 2011 memoir, Surprised by Oxford, in which she finds God while studying for an MPhil in English literature.

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 reviews: Without Sin / An Alternative Helpline for the End of the World / Two Strangers Walk into a Bar...

Three one-on-one shows offer absolution, advice and a choreographed blind date

With its throbbing crowds and its performers baying for attention (and for audiences), the Edinburgh Fringe can be a hectic, raucous place. But for anyone who needs a break from the crammed-full, in-your-face stand-up gigs, thankfully three shows provide far calmer, more intimate experiences – involving just you and one other.

The Pilgrim's Progress, Three Choirs Festival review - revelatory performance by young musicians

★★★★ THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, THREE CHOIRS Revelatory performance by young musicians

Vaughan Williams opera that continues to echo in the mind

Whatever your opinion of Vaughan Williams, it’s unlikely that you think of him as an essentially theatrical composer. Yet he did write at least three important (as well as several less important) works for the stage: a ballet (not so-called), Job, a one-act opera (also not so-called), Riders to the Sea, and a full-length music drama, The Pilgrim’s Progress, based of course on Bunyan’s famous but probably no longer much read allegory of that name.