Man of La Mancha, London Coliseum review - historical work better left in the past

★★ MAN OF LA MANCHA, LONDON COLISEUM Historical work better left in the past

Kelsey Grammer leads a muddled musical take on Don Quixote

English National Opera continues its run of semi-staged musicals, in commercial collaboration with Grade Linnit, with a revival of this vintage oddity. Mind, commercial might be a stretch, as Dale Wasserman, Joe Darion and Mitch Leigh's 1965 work – it quickly transpires – is a tough sell, particularly in a quixotically cast revival that struggles to find a coherent tone.  

Three Sisters, Almeida Theatre review - middle of the road with flashes of magic

★★★ THREE SISTERS, ALMEIDA THEATRE Middle of the road with flashes of magic

Chekhov classic from the team behind the West End hit Summer and Smoke

About a year ago, director Rebecca Frecknall electrified this venue with an award-winning revival of Tennessee Williams's Summer and Smoke, rescuing the play from obscurity and showcasing the star qualities of actor Patsy Ferran.

A German Life, Bridge Theatre review - Maggie Smith triumphs again

★★★★★ A GERMAN LIFE, BRIDGE THEATRE Maggie Smith in the theatre event of the year

This memoir of a Berlin secretary in the Nazi era is the theatre event of the year

Maggie Smith is not only a national treasure, but every casting director's go-to old bat. Now 84 years young, she is our favourite grande dame, or fantasy grandma.

Pet Sematary review - spine-jolting shocks, but a disappointing ending

★★★ PET SEMATARY Spine-jolting shocks, but a disappointing ending

Stephen King adaptation leaves you pondering what might have been

The wilds of Maine have been favourite country for novelist Stephen King, and they form the setting for this new version of his 1983 supernatural thriller (previously filmed in 1989). Dr Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) moves his wife and two kids from big-city Boston and his stressful job as an ER medic to a rambling house in Ludlow, looking for more family time and a better quality of life. Dream on, doc.

Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, Barbican Theatre review - Cillian Murphy soars and sweeps

★★★ GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS, BARBICAN THEATRE Cillian Murphy soars and sweeps

Adaptation of Max Porter's contemporary classic gets the big-stage treatment

Wow, what a collection of talent: this show stars Peaky Blinder Cillian Murphy, and Enda Walsh's adaptation, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, is based on Max Porter's award-winning novel of the same name.

Dumbo review - does Tim Burton’s new adaption take flight?

★★★ DUMBO Does Tim Burton’s new adaption take flight?

There’s a great deal to love, but it's over-packed with unnecessary try-hard plot details

At its heart, Disney’s fourth-feature, Dumbo, was about the love between mother and child, and defying expectations. The 1941 animation was based on Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl’s short story and told the tale of a baby circus elephant with oversized ears and big blue eyes, who is given the cruel nickname of ‘Dumbo’, until those that tormented him realise his ears are magical and enable him to fly.

The Twilight Zone, Ambassadors Theatre review – retro wit for our new space age

★★★★ THE TWILIGHT ZONE, AMBASSADORS THEATRE Retro wit for our new space age

Anne Washburn's play for the Almeida achieves lift-off in the West End

As China and the US arm-wrestle for world domination in everything from trade to military power, we find ourselves in the throes of a space race again. After China became the first nation to land on the dark side of the moon this January, it seems particularly apt to revisit The Twilight Zone in all its retro glory to examine what aliens can – among other things – reveal to us about our humanity.

Alys, Always, Bridge Theatre review - mildly perverse but rather dispiriting

Adaptation of Harriet Lane's psychological and satirical bestseller never quite takes off

Okay, so this is the play that will be remembered for the character names that have unusual spellings. As in Alys not Alice, Kyte not Kite, etc. Anyway, Lucinda Coxon's adaptation of journalist Harriet Lane's 2012 bestseller for the Bridge Theatre starts off with Frances (Downton Abbey's Joanne Froggatt) coming across a fatal car crash in which Alys, a woman she doesn't know, is killed.