Mary Conway | Morning Star

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

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

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

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

(L to R) Sophia Brown (Tituba), Fisayo Akinade (Rev. Hale),

Theatre Review / 4 October 2022

No real catharsis offered

4 October 2022

This production’s bland ‘let’s not offend anybody’ approach could not be less appropriate in a work with such piercing and targeted acumen, writes MARY CONWAY