Susannah Clapp
Susannah Clapp is the theatre critic of the Observer. She is the author of With Chatwin and A Card from Angela Carter and a regular broadcaster. Follow her on Twitter:
@susannahclapp/
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The Machine Stops review – EM Forster’s chilling visionThis adaptation of the novelist’s prescient 1909 short story is impressively nimble
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The Philanderer review – tribute to the modern womanGeorge Bernard Shaw’s satirical attack on the divorce laws (and the medical profession) rather outstays its welcome
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream review – the wildest of dreamsEmma Rice’s first production as artistic director at the Globe is a glittering, unnerving comic triumph
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An Enemy of the People review – all society on a stageHugh Bonneville as a whistleblower shows how Ibsen’s play switches emphasis with every staging
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Doctor Faustus review – where’s the soul?Kit Harington gets his kit off and Jenna Russell sings Bat out of Hell… but no one profits from this deal with the devil
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The Flick; Another World: Losing Our Children to Islamic State; The Suicide – reviewNational Theatre roundup: romantic flutterings in a cinema ignite Annie Baker’s brilliant The Flick; and why do children join Isis?
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Cyprus Avenue review – bigotry laid absurdly bareStephen Rea is superb as an Ulster loyalist suspicious of his ‘Fenian’ baby granddaughter
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Boy review – see the city in a different lightLeo Butler’s new play brings the capital in 2016 indoors and on to the stage, with help from a set design that’s practically installation art
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Sunset Boulevard review – sandblasting panache from Glenn CloseA glittering Glenn Close is ready once again for her close-up as Norma Desmond
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Long Day’s Journey Into Night review – volcanic excitement and breakneck paceEugene O’Neill’s partly autobiographical play of family dysfunction careers towards its tragic outcome with terrific energy
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The Painkiller review – a farce without forceKenneth Branagh and Rob Brydon labour for laughs as hotel guests thrown together by circumstance
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Hamlet review – a fresh prince makes his markPaapa Essiedu paints a young and striking Hamlet, torn by indecision in an African military state, in Simon Godwin’s stirring interpretation
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The Maids review – TV star power can’t revive Genet’s murderous rompUzo Aduba, Zawe Ashton and Laura Carmichael make a striking cast, but the declamatory dialogue is heavy-handed
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Cleansed review – the first cut was the deepestIt may be too gruesome much for some, but Sarah Kane’s 1998 horror show feels depleted in Katie Mitchell’s revival
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Uncle Vanya review – Chekhov rewiredUncle Vanya is snapped into focus in a fine-tuned new version by Robert Icke
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Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom review – a terrific August Wilson revivalSharon D Clarke as the ‘mother of the blues’ leads a superb cast in Dominic Cooke’s knockout production
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Escaped Alone review – small talk and everyday terror from Caryl ChurchillCaryl Churchill’s magnificent new play unleashes an acutely female view of the apocalypse
Romeo and Juliet review – Branagh’s star-crossed lovers fail to soar