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Britain World Editorial Features Culture Sport
Gaza Climate Crisis workers' rights Austerity far right Labour
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Back to school with Mr Yusuf and his ‘remoralisation’ mission
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Gaza Climate Crisis Workers' rights Austerity Far right Labour
Mary Conway
builder
Theatre review / 2 May 2025
Wooden bourgeois cliché
2 May 2025

MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a star-studded adaptation of Ibsen’s play that is devoid of believable humanity

dealers
Theatre Review / 30 April 2025
Men doing capitalism
30 April 2025

MARY CONWAY applauds the revival of a tense, and extremely funny, study of men, money and playing cards

BRUTAL PERSONIFICATION: Rosie Sheehy (Billie) and Hannah Morrish (Lydia) in The Brightening Air / Pic: Manuel Harlan
Theatre review / 29 April 2025
A masterpiece from a superb dramatist
29 April 2025


MARY CONWAY applauds the study of a dysfunctional family set in an Ireland that could be anywhere

Matchless: Samuel Barnett and Victoria Yeates in Ben and Imo / Pic: Ellie Kurttz
Theatre Review / 28 April 2025
Virtuoso two-hander
28 April 2025

MARY CONWAY relishes two matchless performers and a masterclass in tightly focused wordplay

A JOY TO WATCH: (l-r) Gabby Wong (Lan Ping, Jiang Qing) and
Culture / 14 April 2025
Bereft of insight into Chinese culture and politics
14 April 2025
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production that panders – if inadvertently – to Western prejudice against China
RAVISSANT! 12. Romola Garai, Gina McKee, Deborah Findlay, Ha
Theatre review / 7 February 2025
The drama of a woman’s life
7 February 2025
MARY CONWAY recommends a beautifully judged performance that shines a light on the experience of all female war babies and boomers
MASSIVELY RELEVANT: The company in Cable Street
Best of 2024 / 18 December 2024
Best of 2024: Theatre with Mary Conway
18 December 2024
A nervous year, showing that the theatre, like the world, stands on a precipice and seems uncertain where to jump
DEADLY DYNASTICS: Mark Bonnar, Steffan Rhodri, and Stanley M
Theatre Review / 12 December 2024
The horrible Hubbards
12 December 2024
MARY CONWAY applauds a worthy revival of the US 1939 classic drama that studies the dehumanising consequences of affluence
GAME CHANGER: Billy Howle (Jimmy) and Ellora Torchia (Alison
Theatre review / 4 October 2024
Still angry
4 October 2024
MARY CONWAY relishes the revival of two classics for the naked expression of truthful thoughts and class anger
CAMPUS ACTIVISM: Phoebe Campbell in Alma Mater
Theatre review / 18 July 2024
The necessity of activism
18 July 2024
MARY CONWAY evaluates a polemical play whose actors, rather than the writer, introduce the humanity and the light and shade
MONSTROUS: Laura Donnelly with Nicola Turner, Nancy Allsop,
Theatre Review / 9 February 2024
Mother trouble
9 February 2024
The relationship between an over-ambitious mother and her damaged daughters makes for a muddled evening of drama, finds MARY CONWAY
DEVASTATING: Sinead Matthews (Sylvia), Lorraine Ashbourne (A
Theatre Review / 5 February 2024
Mansfield Polak
5 February 2024
In communities where exploitative warehouses have replaced coal mines, Beth Steel has fashioned an uproarious state-of-the-nation comedy, says MARY CONWAY
LUCID CLASS ANALYSIS: David Sturzaker and Olivia Le Andersen
Theatre Review / 13 November 2023
How class trumps love
13 November 2023
MARY CONWAY is in awe of an immaculately orchestrated analysis of inequality, rendered with precise and simple clarity
AN ASTONISHING FEAT: Andrew Scott
Theatre Review / 25 September 2023
Theatre as art and artifice
25 September 2023
A kaleidoscope of human emotions offered by Andrew Scott’s virtuoso performance as multiple characters gets the thumbs up from MARY CONWAY
Paapa Essiedu (Tristan) and Taylor Russell (Connie) in The E
Theatre Review / 11 August 2023
Ineffective
11 August 2023
MARY CONWAY points out that superb acting and production can't remedy a contrived idea
The cast of Grenfell: in the words of survivors
Theatre Review / 4 August 2023
After such knowledge
4 August 2023
MARY CONWAY salutes an outstanding play with a firm moral compass that transforms the audience
Theatre Review / 29 May 2023
Glitz Glitch
29 May 2023
MARY CONWAY feels that well-meaning audiences deserve more than exploitation
Luke Thompson (Willem), James Norton (Jude)
Theatre Review / 6 April 2023
Jude the abused
6 April 2023
Mary Conway is put through the mill and ultimately enlightened by an unrelenting portrayal of a cruel all-male world
Jonathan Hansler as Joseph Stalin and David Malcolm as Harry
Theatre / 17 February 2023
Human Sacrifice
17 February 2023
MARY CONWAY applauds a new play that explores the compromised relationship between Harry Pollitt and Stalin
SKILFUL: Aidan Turner as Oliver and Jenna Coleman as Bernade
Theatre Review / 5 February 2023
Words words words
5 February 2023
MARY CONWAY wonders if a single absurd concept is enough to sustain a drama, however beautiful the actors
Cast in-rehearsal
Theatre Review / 31 January 2023
Dragged into the limelight
31 January 2023
MARY CONWAY contemplates a landmark show that raises questions of identity, not class
(left) Ada opens a playground by planting a tree, Alfred is
Theatre Review / 27 January 2023
By the people, for the people
27 January 2023
MARY CONWAY is inspired by a community theatre project that explores the remarkable life of Ada Salter
Martin Crimp 'defies expectations but leaves us wondering wh
Theatre Review / 7 November 2022
An exhibit rather than a play
7 November 2022
‘Don’t expect a play, or even to know what it was you saw or why,’ is MARY CONWAY’S uncomfortable verdict
REVELATORY POWER: (L to R) Elliot Levey, David Tennant and S
Theatre Review / 17 October 2022
A necessary meditation on the corrosiveness of fascism
17 October 2022
MARY CONWAY applauds the timely restaging of a play premiered to world-wide acclaim in 1981