Triumphant climax to Roy Williams and Clint Dyer’s brilliant tetralogy about race is thrillingly and abundantly alive

Artificial Intelligence is much hyped — but can it review a theatre show?

Can theatre habituate us to extreme violence? Blasted is both a denunciation of the horrors of war and maybe a domestication of them

Favourite stage direction: “The funeral procession of Queen Elizabeth II goes past.”

Bad stuff and change in a time of pandemic: a derivative lockdown poem

Joe Penhall’s latest is a timely look at the conflict between a local MP and a troubled ex-soldier

Masterly revival of Inua Ellams’s 2016 autobiographical one-man show is both poetic and engaging

Anecdote of the day: “During one Shakespeare production Hazel Terry, who was an alcoholic, had been smoking in her dressing-room and had set fire to her costume.”

Excellent revival of Tom Stoppard’s 1982 drama about love and infidelity cannot shrug off its dodgy politics

New two-hander about a contrasting pair of gay Pakistanis is beautifully written and superbly staged

Quote of the day: “It took me a few drafts back and forth with Mitchell before I found a form for the play — three thought strands, one obsessive, one depressive, and one determine…

Epic but touching revival of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s modern classic has music by Cerys Matthews and some very fine acting

It’s not often that I get to say a heartfelt thank you to any newspaper, but I really must acknowledge the good work of the Guardian, and especially its arts website.

Director Max Stafford-Clark revisits Timberlake Wertenbaker’s contemporary classic and again liberates its potential

Text of the day: “Healthcare is part of the entertainment industry.”

Fabulously queer extravaganza: London transfer for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s riotous comedy Western

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

Provocative one-man show about a stalker and complicit victimhood by stand-up comedian Richard Gadd is darkly exciting

Thrillingly epic account of a defining American institution delights in three superb performances

Joseph Fiennes is mesmerizing as Gareth Southgate in James Graham’s sport-of-the-nation docu-drama

In their companion play to Death of England, Roy Williams and Clint Dyer explore the world of Michael’s best mate — and how

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

Can the stranglehold of naturalism and social realism in British theatre ever be broken?

Take an imaginative ride through 400 years of British theatre with our fictional guides

New drama about addiction and acting is highly subjective, but also very powerful, informative and moving

Marius von Mayenburg’s latest is a satire on art and anti-Semitism — both absurdist and unsettling

Frantic Assembly’s latest is a moving meditation on war and masculinity — thanks to playwright Anna Jordan

New verbatim drama offers a fascinating instant response to this summer’s nationwide madness

Text of the day: “We do not exist after all.”

One of the most important characteristics of contemporary British new plays is that they aim to provide a forum for the discussion of ideas.

The Royal Court’s international season continues with savage Ukrainian play about women and war

The poet laureate’s verbatim play about Brexit sinks into journalistic and untheatrical banality

Text of the day: “And do the migrants not understand Europe is fucked?”

New monologue about rage, racism and national identity is magnificent in its fury and perception: grreeaatt!

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

Return of the emotionally intense exploration of Palestinian identity — both personal and political

Superbly plotted family drama beautifully explores the relationships between the personal and political

Text of the day: “This is a story of a city; rolling fog and moonlight.”

Text of the day: “We shall never have all we need.”

Here is a sample from the introduction to my latest book about postwar British theatre — an alternative history

Text of the day: “I don’t personally know any Jew who doesn’t want a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem.”

Nick Stafford’s sturdy beast rides again — and retains its colt-like freshness and wild beauty

The love affair between playwright and actor lasted far beyond their early divorce

Maxine Peake struggles to make the voice of reason heard in a rather reactionary feminist history play

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

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

Julia Pascal’s new play is an epic story of Jewish identity from Dublin to Jerusalem in the 1930s and 1940s

Feminist account of British imperialism is energetic and passionate, but rather slender — is it a play or a lecture?

Martin Crimp’s Not One of These People has been staged using help from AI — but what does AI think of the show?

Playwright or director? Who is ultimately responsible for a piece of theatre? Our Critic attempts to find out

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

Pulitzer Prize-winning play shows the impacts of learning a second language on identity — but never really catches fire dramatically

Will love tear us apart yet again? New play about love and memory is exquisitely written and beautifully acted