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For the last time ever, it's a brand new musical from Stephen Sondheim. Here We Are has just opened at the National Theatre, the show Sondheim was working on for almost a decade, and which he finished with writer David Ives and director Joe Mantello just before he died in 2021. Nick, Nick and Nancy give their verdict on the absurdist plight of rich Americans trying to get brunch. Plus, Nick Clark has a chat with Sondheim's biographer David Benedict about who Sondheim was, and why he matters.

The brilliant Beverley Knight natters to Nick Curtis about playing the godmother of rock and roll Sister Rosetta Tharpe in new play Marie and Rosetta.

And the gang review Ava Pickett's debut play 1536 at the Almeida Theatre in which three ordinary Tudor women find out about the death of Anne Boleyn.

Plus we have five questions for Stella Powell-Jones, artistic director of Jermyn Street Theatre.

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After a lovely break, thanks for asking, the gang have taken their seats in the stalls once again to bring you the best (and sometimes the less than best) that London theatre has to offer.

To kick off the new season, it's a Roald Dahl special as Nick, Nick and Nancy review Giant in the West End, an award-winning play starring John Lithgow as Dahl which looks at the fallout of an antisemitic book review written by the children's author. The play's writer Mark Rosenblatt also talks to Nick Curtis about why he chose this highly charged subject, and what it's been like to win so many awards for his first ever play.

And Ewan McGregor returns to the stage for the first time in 17 years in a new play called My Master Builder, based on Ibsen's The Master Builder, by Lila Raicek. He's made his name playing louche Parisian artists, drug addicts and Jedi Knights. How does he fare in his toughest role yet: arrogant architect?

Tell us what you've been seeing by emailing thelondontheatrereview@gmail.com or following us on Insta @thelondontheatrereview.

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We've reached the end of the second season, and to celebrate we're dropping a day early with a bumper Olivers special edition so that you can listen to this episode before the Olivier Awards ceremony on Sunday 6th April. As well as insight, analysis and predictions from Nancy and the Nicks, we've also got a chat with special guest THE Billy Porter talking about what we can expect as he co-hosts the awards on Sunday night (there will be singing and there will be outrageous costumes), as well as his role in Cabaret At The Kit Kat Club in which he's playing the Emcee alongside Marisha Wallace as Sally Bowles. Marisha drops in too to talk to Nick Curtis.

As if that weren't enough the gang have also been out reviewing, and this week they give their views on Eugene Ionesco's absurd play Rhinoceros, being revived at the Almeida, in which everyone turns into rhinoceroses, and John Donnelly's vampire drama Apex Predator at Hampstead Theatre.

We'll be back in a few weeks for season three, but in the meantime thanks to our sponsor Art of London - visit artoflondon.co.uk to find information and tips about the latest plays, exhibitions, and other cultural events in London, as well as places to eat, drink and shop.

Get in touch with us by emailing thelondontheatrereview@gmail.com or by following us on Instagram @thelondontheatrereview...

...and see you in season three!

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The warm, wise and completely wonderful Julie Hesmondhalgh talks to Nancy about playing Joan Scourfield, the woman whose son was killed with a single punch in 2011, in James Graham's incredibly moving play Punch.

And the smell of whiskey and cigar smoke hang in the air as the gang give their views on the West End transfer of Ryan Calais Cameron's play Retrograde, a snappy period thriller in which the actor Sidney Poitier meets a TV lawyer in an office in 1950s New York and is asked to denounce his friends. (If you want to hear about what it takes to step into Poitier's shoes, you can listen to LTR's interview with the man playing him, Ivanno Jeremiah, in Episode 9). They also take in Azuka Oforka's unflinching debut play The Women of Llanrumney at Theatre Royal Stratford East.

Thanks to Art of London for sponsoring the podcast. Visit artoflondon.co.uk for inspiration about brilliant things to do in London. And if you want to get in touch with the LTR team, email us thelondontheatrereview@gmail.com or follow us on Insta @thelondontheatrereview.

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Another iconic 90s movie gets the musical treatment as KT Tunstall and Amy Heckerling turn Clueless into a stage show. Nancy and the Nicks review. And there have been more than 200 adaptations of Bram Stoker's Dracula - but there's always room for one more. The gang visit high-camp comedy Dracula: A Comedy Of Terrors at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Plus, Nancy talks to Tom Burke, currently playing Trigorin in The Seagull at the Barbican.

Thanks to Art of London for sponsoring the podcast. Find out about brilliant things to do in London at artoflondon.co.uk.

And drop us a line at thelondontheatrereview@gmail.com or follow us on Insta @thelondontheatrereview.

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As Thomas Ostermeier's very starry Seagull hits the Barbican - Cate Blanchett, Tom Burke, Emma Corrin and more! - Nancy and Producer Tim give their opinions. Nick Clark and Nick Curtis join Nancy to review James Graham's devastating play Punch at the Young Vic. And Nancy talks to Ivanno Jeremiah as he prepares to reprise his role as Sidney Poitier in the West End transfer of Ryan Calais Cameron's play Retrograde.

Thanks to Art of London for sponsoring the podcast. Find out about brilliant things to do in London at artoflondon.co.uk.

And drop us a line at thelondontheatrereview@gmail.com or follow us on Insta @thelondontheatrereview.

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The great Brian Cox transforms himself into Johann Sebastian Bach for Oliver Cotton's play The Score at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Music to our ears, or a bum note? Nick, Nancy and Producer Tim give their views. We've also got a review of the National Theatre production of Michael Abbensetts's seminal play Alterations, set in a tailoring shop in 1970s London, plus Nick Curtis pulls himself away from his poolside holiday to speak to its star, the brilliant Arinzé Kene.

Thanks for Art of London for sponsoring the podcast. Find out about brilliant things to do in London at artoflondon.co.uk.

We love hearing from you, so follow us @thelondontheatrereview on Insta or email thelondontheatrereview@gmail.com to get in touch.

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