Favourite stage direction: “Both faint laugh.”

New epic from Jerusalem playwright Jez Butterworth is a breathtaking, if heartless experience

Great new history play about Elizabethan England is not only insightful, but also full of contemporary parallels

All-star cast — including a gently charismatic Christian Slater — in American classic that celebrates the ideal of the deal

Quote of the day: “Our working lives will be longer than those of our parents.”

A humorous and perceptive look at masculine identity from a new perspective by new talent Ishy Din

New play about an illicit encounter between a teen student and an older teacher is powerful and challenging

In the Brexit era, this site-specific revival of Agatha Christie’s 1953 courtroom drama works like a treat

Censorship appears to be simple, but is actually quite complicated.

The longest-running play in world history is in good shape, despite the lackluster and mechanical cast

Travel back to the 1970s for a political docu-drama that’s high on circumstantial detail, but low on drama

American writer explores issues of belief and redemption during the New Orleans floods

Even this clear and sympathetic revival of Stoppard’s 1988 Cold War spy thriller can’t quite take off like a rocket

West End star vehicle gets a new lease of life from Kristin Scott Thomas, but her cool performance cannot mask the piece’s flaws

Text of the day: “Lonely people are twice as likely to go to A&E as non-lonely people.”

Text of the day: “I want us to make a quilt of her husband’s clothes.”

Text of the day: “So I made a decision.”

New comedy by a debut writer about a West Indian wake is lively, full of spirits, but a bit undercooked

Thrilling revival of Black Panther Danai Gurira's 2012 play about Christianity and imperialism is a heartfelt cry for justice

The death of David Bowie provokes the Critic to take a trip down the motorways and side alleys of memory

David Hare’s latest is set in an alternative reality that is more 2008 than 2018

National Treasure Maxine Peake stars in a brilliantly imagined and terrifically satirical nightmare fantasy

The fraught relationship between Thatcher and the Queen creates hilarious theatrical sparks

This time, I have time travelled with my companion Lia Ghilardi, crossing four hundred years of British theatre history.

Pix of the week: sneak preview of The Time Traveler’s Guide to British Theatre.

More overviews of British new writing from the In-Yer-Face Theatre archive.

New immersive experience tells its story of people trafficking with considerable power and imagination

Martin Crimp’s latest experiment is a fabulously enjoyable anti-Christmas entertainment

The Critic releases a howl of anguish as he goes against the will of the people

Mark Ravenhill’s comeback play is a brilliant, complex and mature account of the abuse of power

Mike Bartlett explores Englishness with enormous metaphoric zeal — and only a touch of preposterousness

New drama about the downfall of Margaret Thatcher is theatrically exciting and immensely enjoyable

Text of the day: “What good’s first woman if it’s her?”

Text of the day: “Damned bad luck.”

Explore the work of a handful of British theatre’s brightest and most exciting writing talents