Reflections on early preview discourse, critical division, and my own reviews of Dracula, Josh Sharp: Ta-Da!, and Here There Are Blueberries.
OHMYGOD HEY!
Welcome back to my weekly collation of the various reviews, opinion pieces and theatre news updates I’ve shared across multiple social media platforms.
The biggest news of the week is undeniably the opening of one of this year’s most anticipated West End plays – a cinematic, one-actor production of Bram Stoker’s vampiric horror, Dracula starring Cynthia Erivo, directed and adapted by Kip Williams. Dividing both audiences and critics, this polarising piece of theatre began to generate conversation in its earliest, still developing performances, before prompting London’s reviewers to draw wildly different conclusions.
As a side note, on a handful of occasions recently people have taken pleasure in letting me know my own reviews have been out of step (read: a little more critical) with a handful of other responses (in each instance I’ve not actually been as much of an outlier as they’d have me believe), but for the avoidance of doubt I don’t consider the extent to which a review is in line with the general critical consensus to be the mark of a job well done – and neither should you.
Perhaps that’s why I so enjoyed my return visit to Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club last week, my thoughts on which I’ve now shared as the production welcomed new stars Matt Willis and Katie Hall. In a time where the notion of stunt casting is being held up as a moral shortcoming rather than a financial reality, it’s rewarding to see such theatrically realised, top-tier turns.
Of course one of the most profoundly impactful theatregoing trips of this week was to the press night performance of Deep Azure, the UK premiere of the 2005 lyrical play by the late Chadwick Boseman, given the perfect stage at Shakespeare’s Globe’s candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. More to be said about this production in a London play review roundup coming soon, but it was impossible not to be struck by how staggeringly timely it felt in spite of its publication date.
The week concluded with an emerging tradition – a Sunday night concert at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. A gorgeous, classy and rapturously performed tribute to the composer Maury Yeston was this week’s venue hire, while a new musical Sea Witch (for which I recently attended a preview event) readies to play there on 1st March.
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This Week’s Videos
Can we talk about shows during previews? My thoughts about early feedback for new theatre openings…
There has recently been a lot of online conversation about a couple of new stage productions in the UK, both of which were, at the time, in previews.
The online criticism of early performances of Dracula starring Cynthia Erivo, and curtain call footage of Legally Blonde on tour starring Amber Davies has reignited the debate about whether or not a show’s earliest performances should be criticised.
So, here are my thoughts as a full-time critic about when it is respectful or appropriate to review a show and how much responsibility falls to a show’s producers…
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Why did DRACULA divide the critics? Review Roundup for the West End play starring Cynthia Erivo
One of the most anticipated West End productions of 2026 has finally arrived, as Dracula starring Cynthia Erivo opened last night at the Noël Coward Theatre in London.
The production, which has already been seen in Australia, has been adapted and directed by Kip Williams and comes on the heels of his previous staging of The Picture of Dorian Gray starring Sarah Snook.
The production has divided critics, with some outlets giving 2* critiques while others delivered 4* praise. Check out a selection of the critical responses in this review roundup…
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Will GAME OF THRONES work on stage?! Everything we know about the 2026 play at the RSC…
It was announced recently that a stage play based on the stories by George RR Martin, a prequel to Game of Thrones, would receive its world premiere this Summer at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The play, titled Game of Thrones: The Mad King, will debut in Stratford Upon Avon, with full details to be confirmed, and will be written by Duncan Macmillan and directed by Dominic Cooke.
Check out my thoughts on this announcement as well as how the play is likely to fare alongside other IP adaptations such as Stranger Things: The First Shadow, or The Hunger Games.
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
I saw Matt Willis and Katie Hall in CABARET – My thoughts on the musical revival’s new West End cast…
I was recently invited to attend a gala night at the West End production of Cabaret, currently running at the Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre in London.
The production, which has been directed by Rebecca Frecknall and originally starred Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley has recently welcomed new stars Matt Willis (Waitress, Little Shop of Horrors) and Katie Hall (Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera) as The Emcee and Sally Bowles.
Check out my thoughts on what the production is like with these brand new stars as well as the continuing supporting cast…
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
This Week’s Reviews
Dracula at Noël Coward Theatre, West End, London
★★★★ Review available on YouTube / Spotify / Apple Podcasts
Here There Are Blueberries at Theatre Royal Stratford East, London
★★★★★ Review available on YouTube / Instagram / TikTok
Josh Sharp: Ta-Da! at Soho Theatre, London
★★★★ Review available on YouTube / Instagram / TikTok
A week of West End opening nights!
Check out another week in our life of seeing theatre almost every day!
This week, we headed to the West End opening nights of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Here There Are Blueberries, Shadowlands, and a gala night for the new cast of Cabaret.
Check out this brand new vlog to find out what a week in our lives looks like!
What’s coming up this week?
In an uncharacteristic move (and in spite of my best efforts to find a last minute travel destination), the next few days will be spent at home, feverishly catching up on the reviews and opinion pieces I’m eager to share.
As the week draws to a close, however, I’m looking forward to visiting one very talked about new production of a fan-favourite musical, as well as conducting a handful of sit down interviews for the first time in a few months – and not just with performers!
Until next week, I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey… week! – Mickey-Jo
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