Lyn Gardner's Weekly Picks
Published on 13 April 2026
Interest in The Beatles remains undimmed, and Tom Wright’s Please Please Me (Kiln) offers a slightly different spin on the story of the Fab Four, focusing instead on Brian Epstein, the gay manager who engineered their rise but did not live to enjoy their fame or see the fallout. The Kiln’s artistic director Amit Sharma directs the hidden story of the “fifth Beatle” in a show which has already been extended because of demand before it has even opened. Not just for Beatles fans.
The Marylebone Theatre has definitely raised its game this year, and now it attracts Henry Goodman, directed by Jonathan Munby in The Price, Arthur Miller’s semi-autobiographical play about two estranged brothers meeting in their dead dad’s apartment to dispose of all his things. With ruthless delicacy it tots up the price we all pay in middle age for the decisions we took so casually when we were young and blithe. It is also one of the best plays ever written about sibling rivalry and its fallouts.
Some shows get overlooked by bigger, starrier, noisier West End offerings but are more than worthy of your attention. The gently uplifting musical The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, a quiet heartbreaker of a show, finishes its run at the Theatre Royal Haymarket next Saturday (April 18). Make sure that, unlike Harold, you have no regrets.
Coming up soon, this one is definitely not one for Pony Club members. Equus, which arrives at the Menier Chocolate Factory in May, tells of teenager Alan Strang who has blinded six horses. Why? That is the question at the heart of Peter Shaffer’s 1973 play in which psychiatrist Dr Martin Dysart, a dry old stick, must discover the reasons behind the boy’s violent act. It is a play which pitches reason against passion and one which has attracted significant talents over the years, including Daniel Radcliffe, who played Alan in the West End in 2007. Here Alan is played by Noah Valentine with Toby Stephens as Dysart. Recalling its initial success in both the West End and on Broadway, Shaffer quipped: “If it was a success in Britain it was because it was about horses, and if it was a success in America it was because it was about psychiatrists.”
By Lyn Gardner
Lyn Gardner is an acclaimed theatre journalist and former critic with decades of experience covering British theatre, from off-West End and fringe theatre to major West End productions.