Chiaroscuro, Bush Theatre review - music, sweet, sweet music

★★★ CHIAROSCURO, BUSH THEATRE Lively revival of a 1980s account of the black lesbian experience

Lively gig theatre revival of a 1980s account of the black lesbian experience

Identity politics has been around for decades. One of the great things about the Bush Theatre in West London is the fact that it not only stages new plays by a diverse range of playwrights, but also successful recent revivals of modern classics such as Winsome Pinnock's Leave Taking and Caryl Phillips's Strange Fruit.

Don Jo, Grimeborn review - conceptual style over musical substance

Queer take on Mozart shines interesting light on the story, but casts music in the shade

Described as a "performer-led re-devising’"of Mozart’s 1787 opera Don Giovanni - a tale of an arrogant and ruthless lothario who seduced countess women - Don Jo certainly played around with many of the norms we encounter in both sexual relationships and in the operatic genre.

The View UpStairs, Soho Theatre review - well-intentioned but needs a rewrite

Name-heavy cast powers baggy, repetitive Off Broadway musical

If good intentions were all, The View UpStairs would be Gypsy. As it is, the European premiere of this 2017 Off Broadway musical set in a New Orleans gay bar firebombed by arson in 1973 serves both as an important reminder of a grievous event in LGBTQ history and as an object lesson in the difficulty of writing a persuasive show.

Gossip, SWG3, Glasgow - a reunion tour worth celebrating

Dance-punk trio bring pre-Pride party vibes to Glasgow

If there was a downer during the giddy, gleeful Glasgow stop of Gossip’s recent run of shows, it was only when front woman Beth Ditto introduced the band as being “not really together but we’re here”. The dance-punk trio - joined, for this short run of reunion shows, by pre-split touring members Chris Sutton on bass and Gregg Foreman on keyboards - were made to front sweaty rooms, with Ditto in particular a gleaming vision in a sleek black wig and metallic pink dress.

Tell It to the Bees review - taboo love in 1950s Scotland

★★★ TELL IT TO THE BEES Taboo love in 1950s Scotland in Annablel Jankel's low-key drama

A woman doctor changes the lives of a struggling factory worker and her young son

In Tell It to the Bees, sex is aberrant unless it’s conducted by a straight married couple. Since Annabel Jankel’s low-key drama is set in a grim Scottish mill town in 1952, you can add “white” to that dictum.

Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner, Royal Court review - memes, memories and meanings

★★★★ SEVEN METHODS OF KILLING KYLIE JENNER, ROYAL COURT Bright new two-hander about an internet troll

Bright new two-hander about an internet troll is intelligent, provocative and funny

Few theatres have done as much to promote new young talent as the Royal Court; few theatres have done as much to stage plays about the pains and pleasures of the digital world; few venues have tackled the themes of race and gender in contemporary society more effectively. Now, once again, it's time for a young writer to make their debut in the upstairs studio space.