Fiona Mountford
@fionalondonarts.bsky.social
As I am the i Paper's theatre critic, I am probably in the theatre. Or the garden. For all queries, please contact Alice the cat.
'Bryan Cranston offers a magnificent performance of craggy, rugged resilience'. It's five shiny stars from me for All My Sons, Ivo Van Hove's triumphant return to Arthur Miller:
Bryan Cranston is magnificent in All My Sons
Cranston is a shoo-in for an Olivier for this immensely powerful production at Wyndham’s Theatre
inews.co.uk
November 22, 2025 at 11:22 AM
'Bryan Cranston offers a magnificent performance of craggy, rugged resilience'. It's five shiny stars from me for All My Sons, Ivo Van Hove's triumphant return to Arthur Miller:
'All good things must come to an end. Or, in this case, End, as David Eldridge concludes his poignant and perceptive trilogy tracing the course of a relationship'. There's beautiful work from Clive Owen and Saskia Reeves in End @NationalTheatre. My review:
Clive Owen and Saskia Reeves are devastating in this beautiful show
David Eldridge brings his perceptive trilogy, which traces the course of a relationship, to a poignant End
www.telegraph.co.uk
November 21, 2025 at 5:40 PM
'All good things must come to an end. Or, in this case, End, as David Eldridge concludes his poignant and perceptive trilogy tracing the course of a relationship'. There's beautiful work from Clive Owen and Saskia Reeves in End @NationalTheatre. My review:
Reposted by Fiona Mountford
Took me a second to work out the logistics here, Fred does like to fold himself into boxes in odd ways. Obviously I went in for danger tickles.
#catsofbluesky
#catsofbluesky
November 20, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Took me a second to work out the logistics here, Fred does like to fold himself into boxes in odd ways. Obviously I went in for danger tickles.
#catsofbluesky
#catsofbluesky
Reposted by Fiona Mountford
Absolute carnage in the family group chat as my cousin posts a Christmas riddle from her fiancé’s office that no one can figure out, only to find that someone in the office got ChatGPT to make up the riddle and it’s gibberish that doesn’t have a solution
November 12, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Absolute carnage in the family group chat as my cousin posts a Christmas riddle from her fiancé’s office that no one can figure out, only to find that someone in the office got ChatGPT to make up the riddle and it’s gibberish that doesn’t have a solution
'For once, the now inevitable standing ovation come the curtain call is entirely justified'. Othello, starring David Harewood and Toby Jones, marks a triumphant West End return for Shakespeare:
David Harewood's suave Othello will delight Shakespeare purists
With Toby Jones as Iago, the story plays out as an intimate domestic tragedy
inews.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 12:23 PM
'For once, the now inevitable standing ovation come the curtain call is entirely justified'. Othello, starring David Harewood and Toby Jones, marks a triumphant West End return for Shakespeare:
Reposted by Fiona Mountford
The "why do you care so much about the NY mayoral election" takes strike me as pretty obtuse. The world's sole superpower is being taken over by fascists, and this was part of the struggle to define what the opposition to that will look like. That obviously has major implications for all of us?
November 5, 2025 at 10:06 AM
The "why do you care so much about the NY mayoral election" takes strike me as pretty obtuse. The world's sole superpower is being taken over by fascists, and this was part of the struggle to define what the opposition to that will look like. That obviously has major implications for all of us?
The 1980s gay lives and class envy of Alan Hollinghurst's Booker Prize winner make an accomplished transition to the stage @AlmeidaTheatre:
The Line of Beauty is a classy portrait of gay life in the Thatcher years
A stage adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst's Booker Prize-winning novel powerfully evokes time and place
inews.co.uk
October 30, 2025 at 6:37 PM
The 1980s gay lives and class envy of Alan Hollinghurst's Booker Prize winner make an accomplished transition to the stage @AlmeidaTheatre:
'We've both given up smoking/
'Cos it's fatal/
So whose matches are those?'
'Cos it's fatal/
So whose matches are those?'
October 4, 2025 at 7:55 PM
'We've both given up smoking/
'Cos it's fatal/
So whose matches are those?'
'Cos it's fatal/
So whose matches are those?'
Reposted by Fiona Mountford
respect to the weather today for confirming that September 19 is still technically summer
September 19, 2025 at 5:29 PM
respect to the weather today for confirming that September 19 is still technically summer
I admired David Lan's new play The Land of the Living @NationalTheatre, which tackles the subject of displaced children in 1945 Germany, but I must confess that I 'struggled to become emotionally invested':
I wanted to like The Land of the Living more than I did
It's an ambitious play about the moral maelstrom surrounding displaced children in postwar Germany - but it was difficult to become emotionally invested
inews.co.uk
September 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM
I admired David Lan's new play The Land of the Living @NationalTheatre, which tackles the subject of displaced children in 1945 Germany, but I must confess that I 'struggled to become emotionally invested':
Andrew Lincoln and Alicia Vikander make a 'phenomenal central pairing' in this not fully convincing modern adaptation of Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea @_bridgetheatre:
Alicia Vikander is mesmerising in The Lady from the Sea
This modern adaptation of Ibsen’s more difficult, less performed dramas has great momentum - it tries to cram too much in, though
inews.co.uk
September 19, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Andrew Lincoln and Alicia Vikander make a 'phenomenal central pairing' in this not fully convincing modern adaptation of Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea @_bridgetheatre:
'A sweeping, episodic, epic examination of the last century of British masculinity', Romans: A Novel @AlmeidaTheatre is a mighty evening of theatre from Alice Birch:
Romans: A Novel is a mighty evening of theatre
A century of British masculinity is explored in an uneasy and sometimes terrifying story by 'Succession' and 'Normal People' writer Alice Birch
inews.co.uk
September 18, 2025 at 3:06 PM
'A sweeping, episodic, epic examination of the last century of British masculinity', Romans: A Novel @AlmeidaTheatre is a mighty evening of theatre from Alice Birch:
There's very much to admire in The Party Girls @marlowetheatre (and soon to be on tour), Amy Rosenthal's perceptive revisiting of the Mitford sisters and their political leanings. Decca takes centre stage here, leaving Nancy to fling witty aphorisms about in the background.
September 5, 2025 at 10:01 AM
There's very much to admire in The Party Girls @marlowetheatre (and soon to be on tour), Amy Rosenthal's perceptive revisiting of the Mitford sisters and their political leanings. Decca takes centre stage here, leaving Nancy to fling witty aphorisms about in the background.
Reposted by Fiona Mountford
My car insurance has gone down by £2 annually so I am buying TWO Greggs sausage rolls to celebrate
September 4, 2025 at 8:59 AM
My car insurance has gone down by £2 annually so I am buying TWO Greggs sausage rolls to celebrate
'An exploration of creativity, rivalry and subterfuge'. Ncuti Gatwa is on sparkling form as the 'mischief-making' Christopher Marlowe, lording it over Shakespeare in Born with Teeth. It's lovely to see The RSC in the West End with a straight play. My review:
Born With Teeth is too cerebral - but Ncuti Gatwa saves the day
The Doctor Who star carries this swashbuckling drama about William Shakespeare and his underappreciated rival Christopher Marlowe
inews.co.uk
September 3, 2025 at 5:01 PM
'An exploration of creativity, rivalry and subterfuge'. Ncuti Gatwa is on sparkling form as the 'mischief-making' Christopher Marlowe, lording it over Shakespeare in Born with Teeth. It's lovely to see The RSC in the West End with a straight play. My review:
I am greatly looking forward to my first ever visit to @marlowetheatre, to see a story of those ever-fascinating Mitford sisters, The Party Girls by Amy Rosenthal.
September 3, 2025 at 4:45 PM
I am greatly looking forward to my first ever visit to @marlowetheatre, to see a story of those ever-fascinating Mitford sisters, The Party Girls by Amy Rosenthal.
My prize for line of British journalism of the week goes to @LucyMangan for 'Whither the rogue pachyderms of yesteryear?' Brilliant stuff.
August 31, 2025 at 6:32 PM
My prize for line of British journalism of the week goes to @LucyMangan for 'Whither the rogue pachyderms of yesteryear?' Brilliant stuff.
Lily Allen 'offers a furious portrait of the self-loathing of depression' in this modern adaptation of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler'. My review:
Lily Allen paints a furious portrait of self-loathing in Hedda
The musician makes a triumphant return to the stage in one of theatre's seminal roles for women
inews.co.uk
August 15, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Lily Allen 'offers a furious portrait of the self-loathing of depression' in this modern adaptation of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler'. My review:
'Productions of Brigadoon are as rare as, well, sightings of the fictional Scottish Highlands village that bears the same name'. This revival @OpenAirTheatre is a real cracker:
Brigadoon is a musical great – this sparkling revival proves it
After 35 years, the musical has found a perfect new home in Regent's Park
inews.co.uk
August 12, 2025 at 3:50 PM
'Productions of Brigadoon are as rare as, well, sightings of the fictional Scottish Highlands village that bears the same name'. This revival @OpenAirTheatre is a real cracker:
'I don't think that theatre awards should be given out for piano playing'. I was underwhelmed by the Tony Award-winning Good Night, Oscar @BarbicanCentre:
Good Night, Oscar is a Tony Award winner, but nobody this side of the Atlantic will care
Doug Wright has serious points to make but it’s a tricky proposition in Britain
www.telegraph.co.uk
August 8, 2025 at 5:16 PM
'I don't think that theatre awards should be given out for piano playing'. I was underwhelmed by the Tony Award-winning Good Night, Oscar @BarbicanCentre:
'A brilliant addition, in the optimum venue, to the West End landscape'. I got on very well with Lenny Henry as the first of the five performers in
Every Brilliant Thing @sohoplacelondon :
Every Brilliant Thing @sohoplacelondon :
Lenny Henry twinkles with joy and mischief in Every Brilliant Thing
The actor is the first of a juicy quintet of stars to lead a 'one-person comedy about suicidal depression with audience participation'
inews.co.uk
August 8, 2025 at 4:59 PM
'A brilliant addition, in the optimum venue, to the West End landscape'. I got on very well with Lenny Henry as the first of the five performers in
Every Brilliant Thing @sohoplacelondon :
Every Brilliant Thing @sohoplacelondon :
It's been ages since I have enjoyed a summer blockbuster film as much as I did Jurassic World: Rebirth. I screamed, I laughed and I admired Jonathan Bailey's valiant attempt at an American accent.
July 15, 2025 at 7:36 PM
It's been ages since I have enjoyed a summer blockbuster film as much as I did Jurassic World: Rebirth. I screamed, I laughed and I admired Jonathan Bailey's valiant attempt at an American accent.
'Cavils aside, this remains a very special piece of theatre'. I saw Girl from the North Country @oldvictheatre again, eight years after being astounded by its premiere:
Bob Dylan musical Girl From the North Country is unmissable
Conor McPherson's shimmering revival of his own play is heartbreaking and darkly humorous
inews.co.uk
July 11, 2025 at 9:44 AM
'Cavils aside, this remains a very special piece of theatre'. I saw Girl from the North Country @oldvictheatre again, eight years after being astounded by its premiere:
Public service announcement: at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket tonight I have just seen Trevor Nunn in something other than a blue denim shirt.
Everything I thought I knew about theatre has been demolished in one fell swoop.
Everything I thought I knew about theatre has been demolished in one fell swoop.
July 8, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Public service announcement: at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket tonight I have just seen Trevor Nunn in something other than a blue denim shirt.
Everything I thought I knew about theatre has been demolished in one fell swoop.
Everything I thought I knew about theatre has been demolished in one fell swoop.
I am so very much looking forward to catching the West End transfer of Till the Stars Come Down. I enjoyed and admired it immensely @NationalTheatre last year.
July 8, 2025 at 5:54 PM
I am so very much looking forward to catching the West End transfer of Till the Stars Come Down. I enjoyed and admired it immensely @NationalTheatre last year.