Monday, October 27, 2014
The Royle Family star was jailed after the national construction workers strike of 1972. As a satirical show about the Shrewsbury 24 arrives in Shropshire, he looks back on the controversial…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AMWednesday, October 22, 2014
Octagon, BoltonThe story of Private James Smith, executed by his colleagues for desertion in 1917, plays like a classical tragedy in Les Smiths dramatisation Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:39AMThursday, October 16, 2014
Dukes, LancasterThe authors tough-guy take on the first world war is transferred to the stage with outstanding technical and dramatic flair Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:23AMWednesday, October 15, 2014
Lyceum, SheffieldEvery song in this hugely enjoyable production, centred on a family camping holiday, has a ring of truth to it Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:20PMTheatre Royal, YorkElizabeth Mansfields caustic, cockney Nell has the manners of a costermonger, but tempers her ambition with a winning sense of self-awareness Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:16PMTuesday, October 14, 2014
Everyman, LiverpoolJeff Youngs drama about a gang occupying an abandoned cinema feels not unlike Blue Remembered Hills meets Boys from the Blackstuff Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:22AMTuesday, October 7, 2014
Royal Exchange, ManchesterLee Mattinsons post-apocalyptic domestic tale takes its cue from Punch and Judy, but Ng Choon Pings production could do with a dose of restraint Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:23AMFriday, October 3, 2014
This production, which superimposes the era in which the play was written upon the period in which it is set, resonates with our times Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:33AMMonday, September 29, 2014
Belgrade theatre, CoventryThis fascinating Weimar-era musical is strongest at its most subversive Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:51AMWednesday, September 24, 2014
Winter Gardens, MorecambeA montage of historical and abstract images plays across the peeling surfaces of a derelict theatre in this haunting tone poem Sea Breeze breathes new life into the …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:52AMTuesday, September 23, 2014
Derby theatreRoy Williamss adaptation of the Greek classic is riotously comic and makes a strong case for its contemporary parallels Roy Williams on Antigone Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:15AMFriday, September 19, 2014
Northern Stage, Newcastle upon TyneAfter lead Daragh OMalley took ill, the director and cast stepped in to fill Big Daddys immense shoes with an illuminating production James Dacre: Theatre…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:03AMThursday, September 18, 2014
Victoria Baths, ManchesterAn Edwardian water palace provides an impressive air of genteel if chlorinated decay for Homes innovative promenade performance Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:35AMWednesday, September 17, 2014
Ukrainian Centre, BradfordWith a strong story and a standout ensemble, this community show challenges the stereotypes of old age Stage-struck older people get chance to realise their acting …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:12AMTuesday, September 2, 2014
Guildhall, YorkThe audience put their detective skills to use in an interactive show that reunites BFFs Holmes and Watson Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:11AMThursday, August 28, 2014
Theatre-by-the-Lake, KeswickBrendan Murray's play succeeds because he has an acute and compassionate understanding of families Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:15AMTuesday, August 26, 2014
Theatre-by-the-Lake, KeswickJez Butterworth followed the advice of his hero in writing this curio, which is ultimately just a step on the road to Jerusalem Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:17AMWednesday, July 30, 2014
Grosvenor Park Open Air theatre, ChesterKate Saxon's adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel boasts heart, charm and a thoroughly convincing cast Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:46AMTuesday, July 29, 2014
Grosvenor Park Open Air theatre, ChesterAlex Clifton hacks at the text of the Scottish play fearlessly but the cuts don't always work Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:16AMMonday, July 28, 2014
LiverpoolCrowds fill the city's streets to marvel at puppetry of colossal proportions, in an emotional tribute to lives lost in the first world war Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AMWednesday, July 23, 2014
Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughThe musical version of Alan Ayckbourn's play for young people is an ideal introduction to the pleasures of reading and the power of the theatre Continue re…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:31AMWednesday, July 9, 2014
Williamson Park, LancasterThis outdoor play featuring a feminist frog and a vaudevillian witch owes as much to Shrek as it does to the Brothers Grimm Lancaster's Dukes theatre: the great out…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:25AMTuesday, July 8, 2014
Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughThis adaptation of and sequel to Arthur Sullivan's comic operetta nails its satirical targets brilliantlyPay attention because this is complicated and I…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:46PMThursday, July 3, 2014
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds Commissioned to coincide with the Tour de France, this compassionate homage exposes the motivations of Beryl Burton, the greatest woman on two wheelsIt has be…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AMWednesday, July 2, 2014
Crucible, SheffieldThe dark set and amplification of Wilson's voice serves as a reminder that Beckett's play is one of the earliest examples of a sound installationThe great irony of going t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:07AMTuesday, July 1, 2014
Everyman Playhouse, LiverpoolSwapping 18th-century street ballads for ska and dubstep, Kneehigh's reworking of The Beggar's Opera is bright, bold and curiously timelessYou can be fairly cert…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:01AMMonday, June 30, 2014
Rowntree Park, YorkThe show suggests that for many people the first giddy experience of remaining upright on a bike is a moment to rank with your first kiss or the birth of a childYorkshire …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:22AMThursday, June 26, 2014
The performances take place backstage, the cast have dinner with the audience and you won't be able to buy interval drinks with real money. This year's festival is as experimental as everThe…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:10AMThursday, June 19, 2014
Royal Exchange, ManchesterHarry McEntire is wonderfully fidgety as Keith Waterhouse's hero, who would be a Twitter phenomenon todayBilly Liar is unavoidably a play of its time: it takes appr…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:49AMWednesday, June 11, 2014
West Yorkshire Playhouse, LeedsReece Dinsdale is the ultimate doppelganger and Marjorie Yates delights as Mam in this staging of the author's childhood memoirs An A-Z of Alan BennettIf one w…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AMIn the 19th century, the Ancoats slum Angel Meadow was called 'hell on earth'. Now Anu Productions have re-imagined it for a startling site-specific productionThe shabby Irish pub in Ancoats…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM 
