Thursday, April 2, 2026
Royal Exchange theatre, ManchesterSparring lovers play a capricious game in Blanche McIntyre's revival " but the cut and thrust is kept witty, rather than curdling into danger
In director Bl…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54AM[SHARE]Thursday, March 26, 2026
York Theatre RoyalJohn Doyle's atmospheric production shrouds Frances Hodgson Burnett's story in the ghosts and secrets of the grownups at Misselthwaite Manor
In this version of Frances Hodg…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:48AM[SHARE]Saturday, March 7, 2026
Crucible theatre, SheffieldA dynamic team of actors capture the spirit of female footballers during the first world war " though the storytelling is sometimes fumbled
The rise of interest in…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:18AM[SHARE]Monday, February 9, 2026
York Theatre RoyalIn Catherine Dyson's absorbing play, the audience become a class of year 9 pupils visiting a Holocaust exhibition with an emotional support animal
Can we ever truly learn f…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:36AM[SHARE]Thursday, February 5, 2026
The Other Place, Stratford-upon-AvonWhitney White's thrilling, song-filled show flips Shakespeare's great characters and asks why we still lap up these tales of sexy men killing sexy women
I…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AM[SHARE]Sunday, February 1, 2026
Hope Mill theatre, ManchesterAmy Gavin's production amps up the dangerous dance of desire and violence between these troubled ex-spouses but loses the delicate balance between comedy and mal…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM[SHARE]Tuesday, December 9, 2025
York Theatre RoyalPaul Hendy's panto includes some silly surprises, well-handled audience interaction and a twinkling dame
Anyone remember the bit in Sleeping Beauty with the velociraptor na…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:24AM[SHARE]Sunday, December 7, 2025
Royal Exchange theatre, ManchesterA charismatic Louis Gaunt stars as Raz Shaw's version of the classic musical hits all the key beats with crowd-pleasing confidence
Raz Shaw's exuberant prod…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:18PM[SHARE]Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Elmet, a novel that was shortlisted for the Booker, is a lyrical, richly written tale of a woodland family on a collision course with an avaricious landowner. Can it work on stage in Bradfor…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:48AM[SHARE]Monday, October 20, 2025
Sheffield PlayhouseSet against the backdrop of Tory rule and Section 28, this rousing musical is based on the real-life hub for feminist and queer protest set up by three pioneering women
Th…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18AM[SHARE]Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Aviva Studios, ManchesterResisting simple titillation, this sprawling four-hour odyssey through often naked rituals has weddings, funerals and eye-popping love potions
Factory International'…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:12AM[SHARE]Thursday, October 9, 2025
Live theatre, NewcastleBased on real-life testimonies, this harrowing tale follows a 17-year-old subject to relentless cruelty at Medomsley Detention Centre
There is a warning on the screen …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:02PM[SHARE]Wednesday, October 1, 2025
Manchester Opera HouseThe stage version of the 2004 film has bright choreography and a likeable lead performance by Lucie Jones, even if the songs are a bit underpowered
The adaptation of mo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM[SHARE]Friday, September 19, 2025
Crucible theatre, SheffieldElizabeth Newman's debut show as artistic director captures the play's humour and heartbreak yet leaves you wishing for more ecstatic abandon
Dancing at Lughnasa b…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:48AM[SHARE]Wednesday, September 17, 2025
York Theatre RoyalPropulsive show with a sometimes cliched script takes inspiration from the choir formed by local women while their husbands were in Afghanistan
In writer-director Debbie Is…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06AM[SHARE]Thursday, July 3, 2025
Royal Exchange theatre, ManchesterNtombizodwa Nyoni's deft and nuanced play balances ideologies and ambition, personality clashes and generational conflict at key 1945 Manchester conference
…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06AM[SHARE]Thursday, April 10, 2025
Royal Exchange theatre, ManchesterThis version of Mike Leigh's classic brings out the boozy claustrophobia, while Kym Marsh as Beverly and Tupele Dorgu as Susan brilliantly draw out the sadn…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24AM[SHARE]Monday, February 17, 2025
Leeds PlayhouseMorgan Bailey's one-man show explores the many lives of Eugene Bullard, but for all its cinematic flourishes, emerges as a frustratingly shadowy character study
How do you cap…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM[SHARE]Friday, July 12, 2024
Crucible, SheffieldThe perseverance of runners Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell is well conveyed with stage and auditorium becoming training ground and racetrack
Sheffield Theatres has reviv…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AM[SHARE]Wednesday, June 12, 2024
In an industry often focused on young debut talent, companies are using creative methods to nurture playwrights of all ages and experiences
'It is really, really awful for playwrights at the…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:02PM[SHARE]Friday, May 3, 2024
Lowry, SalfordJack Godfrey's witty show is about a lovable dreamer who took flight in a garden chair attached to helium balloons
'What makes a man try to fly in a lawn chair?" sing the ensem…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AM[SHARE]Friday, March 29, 2024
Aviva Studios, ManchesterAvant garde director Robert Wilson's adaptation of the classic tale prioritises surreal setups and atmosphere over family friendly narrative
What does it look like w…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:02AM[SHARE]Friday, October 27, 2023
Northern Stage, NewcastleStories from across the world intertwine through activism in an ambitious production, but the delicate threads never quite mesh
The title of Open Clasp's new show re…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:19AM[SHARE]Monday, October 16, 2023
The international theatre jamboree in Yorkshire kicks off with confessions from hundreds of young people and a fancy dress party about grief
International festivals can easily feel detached …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:04AM[SHARE]Thursday, July 20, 2023
King's Manor, YorkLarge-scale community play has Henry VIII cancelling the city's beloved Mystery Plays as a clever framing device in a striking adaptation
There's more than one kind of myst…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:55AM[SHARE]Thursday, July 13, 2023
Leeds PlayhouseDavid West Read's jukebox show brings Orbison's hits together around an earnest but charmingly performed story of grief
Jukebox musicals tend to be all about the feelgood fact…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:04AM[SHARE]Wednesday, May 3, 2023
York Theatre RoyalA long-gestating app romance fails to sync offline in this innovative musical with songs that outshine the dialogue
Mayflies famously live for just a day. But before that t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:18AM[SHARE]Friday, March 24, 2023
Leeds PlayhouseAmy Leach's production evokes a very current crop of anxieties with the castaways excellently played by a young cast
In many ways, Lord of the Flies is safe programming, certa…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42AM[SHARE]Monday, February 27, 2023
Harrogate theatreAdding their own flashbacks, narration and expletive-laced modern language, Imitating the Dog reimagine the Macbeths as damaged teens killing their way to the top of a crimi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM[SHARE]Monday, February 6, 2023
Bramall Rock Void, Leeds Playhouse Garry Lyons gives voice to Knottingley locals in this fierce indictment of how the government has failed our once-thriving industrial communities
Blow Down…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:24AM[SHARE]Friday, December 9, 2022
Royal Exchange theatre, ManchesterA slightly wonky meta structure involving a team of amdram actors muddles this show about the former MP but it has abundant charm
Politics is a kind of perf…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:12AM[SHARE] 
