John Nathan

Latest from John Nathan

Here There Are Blueberries review: ‘What makes a Nazi a Nazi?’ ★★★★★

This forensic Pultizer-finalist docu-play settles the question of what allows a person to perpetrate atrocity while enjoying the normal pleasures of life

2 min read

Framed horror: a scene from Here There Are Blueberries (Photo: David Cromer)

Writing pair: Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich

What Hitler’s henchmen and women did in their time off

6 min read

Friends with benefits: Morfydd Clark as Ophelia and Riz Ahmed as Hamlet in this London-set version of the play

Hamlet review: ‘watchable but wearying’★★

1 min read

Stellar performance: Isis Hainsworth as Thomasina in Arcadia at The Old Vic

Arcadia review: ‘gardens, maths and heart in Stoppard’s masterpiece’ ★★★★

1 min read

Send Help review: gruesomely enjoyable modern-day castaway tale ★★★★

The master-slave tables are turned upside down in this tropical island thriller

2 min read

February 4, 2026 15:49

The bully and the bullied: Dylan O'Brien as Brad in Send Help

Guess How Much I Love You?: ‘the acting elevates the writing’ ★★★

The performances in this portrait of a pregnancy in crisis are marvellous. But whether the play reveals anything about love is questionable

1 min read

February 3, 2026 15:38

Masters of their craft: Rosie Sheehy and Robert Aramayo

Mercy review: ‘less high-tech whodunnit and more Paw Patrol’ ★★

This thriller about AI wants to be taken seriously, but it’s too short on class for that

1 min read

January 30, 2026 13:45

Chris Pratt (right) plays a cop called...Chris (Credit: Justin Lubin)

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple review: ‘a knuckle-whitening climax to the trilogy’ ★★★★

The series has always had a higher IQ than most other horror franchises, and this instalment is no exception

1 min read

January 30, 2026 09:25

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple review: ‘a knuckle-whitening climax to the trilogy’ ★★★★

Challah, humour, the Holocaust and me

John Nathan meets a writer-performer whose latest show is inspired by her encounters with Leonard Bernstein, Leonard Cohen – and being the daughter of a Shoah survivor

4 min read

January 20, 2026 18:07

Hamnet review: ‘needs a middle ground between modern and Elizabethan English’ ★★★

The film’s climax is stunning, but producers Steven Spielberg and especially Sam Mendes have directed enough Shakespeare on stage to make the archaic language accessible to a contemporary audience

2 min read

January 12, 2026 13:14

Grieving process: Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare (centre) in Hamnet

Woman in Mind review: Sheridan Smith sparkles in Alan Ayckbourn’s dark comedy ★★★★★

The actor will surely be in line for an umpteenth Olivier nomination for her quicksilver performance of Susan and her disintegrating mind

1 min read

January 11, 2026 21:11

Mad release: Sheridan Smith and Sule Rimi as Susan and Andy (Photo: Marc Brenner)

Into The Woods review: Goyishe Brothers Grimm gloriously reinvented by a Jewish creative team ★★★★★

Jordan Fein’s masterpiece interpretation of this European fable draws from real life to subvert the idea of happily every after

2 min read

January 6, 2026 12:59

Katie Brayben as the baker's wife in Into The Woods. (Credit: Johan Persson)

Marty Supreme review: ‘Timothée Chalamet is monumental’ ★★★★★

The Jewishness of Chalamet’s Marty is both defining and lightly worn in Josh Safdie’s classic American fable

2 min read

December 29, 2025 18:27

Ping pong prodigy: Chalamet's bespectacled Marty is inspired by real-life Marty Reisman

Christmas Day review: A not-quite-realised effort at Jewish catharsis ★★★

Arguments over Jewish identity become super-heated in this dark comedy full of timely – although unfortunately random – elements

2 min read

December 24, 2025 14:41

Christmas Day at Almeida Theatre. (Photo: Marc Brenner)

2025 in review: Film

From a superhero to the very worst Friday night dinner – John Nathan picks his favourite Jewish representations on the silver screen

4 min read

December 24, 2025 13:35

2025 in review: Theatre

John Nathan chooses the best plays of the year, from a new stage adaptation of Mel Brooks’s musical The Producers to a comic revenge fantasy about the kidnap of Jeremy Corbyn

4 min read

December 24, 2025 13:09

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John Nathan

Latest from John Nathan

Here There Are Blueberries review: ‘What makes a Nazi a Nazi?’ ★★★★★

What Hitler’s henchmen and women did in their time off

Hamlet review: ‘watchable but wearying’★★

Arcadia review: ‘gardens, maths and heart in Stoppard’s masterpiece’ ★★★★

More from John Nathan

Send Help review: gruesomely enjoyable modern-day castaway tale ★★★★

Guess How Much I Love You?: ‘the acting elevates the writing’ ★★★

Mercy review: ‘less high-tech whodunnit and more Paw Patrol’ ★★

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple review: ‘a knuckle-whitening climax to the trilogy’ ★★★★

Challah, humour, the Holocaust and me

Hamnet review: ‘needs a middle ground between modern and Elizabethan English’ ★★★

Woman in Mind review: Sheridan Smith sparkles in Alan Ayckbourn’s dark comedy ★★★★★

Into The Woods review: Goyishe Brothers Grimm gloriously reinvented by a Jewish creative team ★★★★★

Marty Supreme review: ‘Timothée Chalamet is monumental’ ★★★★★

Christmas Day review: A not-quite-realised effort at Jewish catharsis ★★★

2025 in review: Film

2025 in review: Theatre