TheatreThe Producers review: Richard Kind dazzles in a show more urgent and less indulgent than ever ★★★★★The smash hit musical by Mel Brooks is revived with a raw and dangerous production starring one of the world’s funniest performers as Max BialystockBy John Nathan2 min read
TheatreSummerfolk review: The feckless middle classes on the brink of a rude awakening ★★★★Maxim Gorky’s 1905 full-frontal attack on the demographic is a searing depiction of helplessness in the face of violent changeBy John Nathan2 min read
Israeli theatreWhat is it like to be a queer Palestinian?Yael Breuer speaks to the Israeli playwright of a new drama about the precarious lives of LGBTQ+ PalestiniansBy Yael Breuer3 min read
OperaSiegfried review: Spellbinding Schager is the greatest Siegfried of our age ★★★★★The opera’s flawless cast, set design and music are led by Andreas Shager, who delivers one of the finest theatrical performances London has seen in many yearsBy Stephen Pollard2 min read
Jewish theatreYentl review: ‘Isaac Bashevis Singer would be pleased’ ★★★★The writer was not impressed with the Barbra Streisand adaptation of his short story, but this performance captures its mysticism and humanity so well, he would surely approve itBy John Nathan1 min read
TheatreThe Holy Rosenbergs review: ‘Craig tackles head on the anxiety of being Jewish’ ★★★★‘The sight of a Jewish family being ripped apart by conflicting opinions about Israel and Gaza is more of a thing than it ever was’By John Nathan3 min read
balletGiselle review: Marianela wins hearts with her meltingly beautiful movement ★★★★This traditional production of the great romantic ballet offers a pleasing, if unsurprising, performance, with several standout debutsBy Joy Sable2 min read
TheatreDracula review: Cynthia mesmerises but the show lacks real bite ★★★★The performer’s acting gifts are on full display in this spectacular adaptation of the gothic novel, but the evening never achieves the tension generated by many other West End dabblings in the supernaturalBy John Nathan2 min read
Theatre 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 lifeBy John Nathan2 min read
TheatreWhat Hitler’s henchmen and women did in their time offJohn Nathan meets a writer whose Pulitzer-finalist play, inspired by a Nazi photograph album, is making its UK debutBy John Nathan6 min read
theatreInside the big Jewish theatre fightbackAmid the hurtful cancellations and quiet blockings, a defiant Anglo-Jewry is springing up with shows that celebrate Jewish identity and concernsBy Elisa Bray8 min read
Theatre Arcadia review: ‘gardens, maths and heart in Stoppard’s masterpiece’ ★★★★This play is proof that the late playwright can make you feel as much as thinkBy John Nathan1 min read
TheatreGuess 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 questionableBy John Nathan1 min read
TheatreChallah, humour, the Holocaust and meJohn 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 survivorBy John Nathan4 min read
TheatreWoman 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 mindBy John Nathan1 min read
TheatreInto 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 afterBy John Nathan2 min read
TheatreChristmas 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 – elementsBy John Nathan2 min read
Theatre2025 in review: TheatreJohn 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 CorbynBy John Nathan4 min read
Dance The Red Shoes review: Trademark Bourne wit in an ultimately tragic tale ★★★★★Matthew Bourne’s ballet about a woman who must choose between love and dance is full of passion and self-awarenessBy Joy Sable1 min read
TheatreIt is called Christmas Day but it is about being JewishNigel Lindsay on why he’s pleased to play a Jew on the London stage amid soaring antisemitismBy John Nathan5 min read
TheatreThis version of Roald Dahl’s BFG shows that giants can be small and pathetic ★★★★Unlike The Witches in which Dahl was accused of having Jews in mind when he created the cabal of child-killers, Jewish theatregoers can relax with this adaptationBy John Nathan2 min read
jewish pantomimeOh yes they have! This panto is unashamedly Jewish – and all the funnier for it ★★★★The makers of Cinderella and the Matzo Ball deserve all the praise (naches) for conjuring up something so blissfully unapologetic at a time of Jewish erasure in the artsBy Etan Smallman2 min read
TheatreA Dracula spoof to enjoy, but no fangs for my seat ★★★Excellent music and the jokes come thick and fast. I just wish I could have seen what was happening centre stage!By John Nathan1 min read
