Four stars for Spend Spend Spend!

This glorious account of one woman’s inglorious career is a belter, bursting with energy, appetite and coarse humour

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt

The tots around me had no difficulty buying the idea behind this adaptation of Michael Rosen’s book, so nor should I

Eight

Ella Hickson’s nascent talent, on the evidence of this assured debut, will grow into something well worth watching

Jonathan Miller: dying is a full-time occupation

The director's capacity for invective is as virile as ever, as Sky Arts 2 dedicates a season to his 75th birthday

The Browning Version/Swansong

Peter Bowles manages to display an elegance and delicacy that show his range and defy shallow expectations of his image

End of the Road

Members of the Young@Heart Chorus defy the years with a moving performance

Death of Long Pig

Some strange but impressive flavours straight from the cultural melting pot

Dame Helen Mirren is worthy of the Epidaurus

The National Theatre's production of Phedre, particularly its stars, has been well received on the ancient Greek stage

It Felt Like a Kiss

Adam Curtis, Damon Albarn and theatre company Punchdrunk produce a frightening and memorable piece, but it's also a bit silly

Last Seen

An imperfect work, but wonderfully inventive, and transporting in every sense

The Importance of Being Earnest

Mannered and artificial throughout, Irina Brown’s too-knowing production loses much of the play’s humour

The Wicked Lady

Endowed with an ample sense of fun, Lavery’s text tempers bodice-ripper broadness with a feminist sensibility

The Rover

In trying to capture Behn’s wry and liberated tone, Naomi Jones’s production starts off bold and likeable

Laurel & Hardy

A blend of biography and skit that reveals disappointingly little about the men behind the onscreen personae

Playwright David Storey’s knights of passion

Two great classical actors helped to make David Storey’s name, he says. Now his play Home returns to the stage in Bath

New Connections

David Mamet disappoints, and William Boyd does better, though his lack of theatrical experience shows

Everybody Loves a Winner

Neil Bartlett’s funny, touching, atmospheric and surely very realistic piece left one full of admiration

Forbidden Broadway

The show feels inward-looking, especially when it’s transposed to our less self-infatuated theatrical city

Mackenzie Crook: from The Office to Jerusalem

Preparing for his latest stage role, the actor is happy to acknowledge his debt to The Office

It Felt Like a Kiss

The target of this ambitious, elaborate example of site-specific work is America 50 years ago; yet it remains an ordeal