Simon Parsons | Morning Star

IMPASSIONED: Phoebe Thomas and Matt Whitchurch / Pic: Ellie Kurttz

Theatre review / 25 May 2025

Novel take on climate change

25 May 2025

SIMON PARSONS is taken by a thought provoking and intelligent play performed with great sensitivity

Theatre review / 16 May 2025

Night terrors

16 May 2025

SIMON PARSONS is gripped by a psychological thriller that questions the the power of the state over vulnerable individuals

CLASS AND SEXUALITY: Sesley Hope and Synnove Karlsen in Laura Lomas’s The House Party / Pic: Ikin Yum

Theatre Review / 24 April 2025

Stunning Strindberg update

24 April 2025

SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic

Lizzie Watts and Andre Squire in Jane Upton’s (the) Woman

Theatre review / 19 February 2025

No woman no cry

19 February 2025

SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials

IT'S BEHIND YOU: The cast of A Good House, Amy Jeptha's Sout

Theatre review / 18 February 2025

Neighbourhood black watch

18 February 2025

SIMON PARSONS applauds an insightful state-of-the-nation play that explores the growing class divide in South Africa

Hiba Medina as Antiya in Antigone (On Strike)

Theatre Review / 4 February 2025

If Shamima Begum had a sister

4 February 2025

SIMON PARSONS applauds a tense and thoughtful production that regularly challenges our political engagement and prejudices

(L to R) Cat McKeever as Olivia's Attendant, Daniel Millar a

Theatre Review / 13 December 2024

Winter gloom

13 December 2024

SIMON PARSONS questions whether a dark take on Shakespeare’s Seasonal comedy is in harmony with the original text

Ross Tomlinson as Smash and Waj Ali as Valdez in The Unseen

Theatre review / 22 November 2024

Strategies of resistance

22 November 2024

SIMON PARSONS applauds the psychological study of prisoners dealing with a frighteningly oppressive world endured by far too many

Diyar Bozkur, Safiyya Ingar and Meera Syal in King Troll

Theatre review / 9 October 2024

Surrealistic take on plight of migrants

9 October 2024

Using magic realism to highlight the problems of migrants does not sit easily with the harsh reality, says SIMON PARSONS

Miles Molan, Rosie Day and Tok Stephen in When It Happens to

Theatre review / 7 August 2024

The after effects of rape

7 August 2024

SIMON PARSONS salutes drama that registers how the impact of the sexual assault ripples out through every element of a family’s existence

Chiten perform their adaptation of Osamu Dazai's Good Bye

Theatre Review / 6 March 2024

Suicidal head-bashing

6 March 2024

SIMON PARSONS is dazed by the unremitting discordance of an immersive rendition of the work of Japanese author Osamu Dazai

URGENT: Chris Thorpe in A Family Business

Theatre review / 13 February 2024

90 seconds to midnight

13 February 2024

SIMON PARSONS applauds an informative show that reminds us of the need to keep the threat of nuclear destruction, accidental or intentional, in the headlines

DYNAMIC: The full company in Anna Karenina

Theatre Review / 9 June 2023

Sex, lies and samovars

9 June 2023

SIMON PARSONS applauds an ambitious and relevant dramatisation of the the great Russian classic

EMPOWERING: Abbie Purvis in Waldo's Circus of Magic and Terr

Circus / 24 March 2023

Eloquent body language

24 March 2023

Simon Parsons admires the ambition of a spectacular show that pits disabled performers against Nazis

(L to R) Amanda Lawrence as the teacher Wainwright, Ramesh M

Culture / 13 December 2022

2022 Bristol Old Vic highlights with SIMON PARSONS

13 December 2022

Sam Hoare, in Press, as a self-centred journalist with littl

Theatre Review / 2 December 2022

Pitting the personal against the state

2 December 2022

SIMON PARSONS reviews two plays in which the manipulation of facts for the sake of the drama produces uneven results

Theatre Review / 24 November 2022

A brilliant dismantling of the American Dream

24 November 2022

SIMON PARSONS applauds the energy and humour of a riveting show

BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED: Stephen Kennedy as Ray and Matthew Blan

Theatre Review / 11 November 2022

To be Irish or not to be Irish

11 November 2022

SIMON PARSONS recommends an engrossing, Belfast-based, inter-generational two-hander

(L to R) Theo Fraser Steele as George and Miles Molan as Jim

Theatre Review / 25 October 2022

A profound meditation on loss of identity

25 October 2022

The once controversial book A Single Man receives an excellent stage adaptation, writes SIMON PARSONS

Theatre Review / 24 October 2022

Medusa’s take on the Trojan Wars reveals a startling modern relevance

24 October 2022

Romeo and Juliet recreated 30 years on, desperate to recaptu

Theatre Review / 23 September 2022

A self-confessed epic mash up

23 September 2022

Romeo and Juliet rehashed 30 years on is full of disparate ideas and feels like a production on steroids, writes SIMON PARSONS

WARMTH AND VITALITY: Maureen Lipman as Rose

Theatre Review / 19 September 2022

Poignant reflections on being Jewish

19 September 2022

SIMON PARSONS recommends a production in which experiences of war and life as an immigrant become horrifyingly contemporary

A journey of self-discovery and exploration of how national

Theatre Review / 22 August 2022

An exploration of migration conundrums

22 August 2022

SIMON PARSONS recommends an award-winning production of rare simplicity, graceful beauty and profound significance about Sri Lankan immigrants to Australia

POWERFUL ACTING: Abigail Hood as Kayleigh Grey and Emma Keel

Theatre Review / 4 August 2022

Shock tactics fail to generate empathy

4 August 2022

SIMON PARSONS recommends a thought-provoking play about the long-term impact of traumatic childhoods and the morality of accepting the rehabilitation of social outcasts