All stories by Clare Brennan on BroadwayStars

Sunday, December 1, 2024

The Three Musketeers review – a swashbuckler without a dramatic cutting edge by Clare Brennan

New Vic theatre, Newcastle-under-LymeTheresa Heskins’s Dumas adaptation provides fantastic action yet reduces the scheming servant Milady to a plot device Flashing swords, swirling capes a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM
Sunday, November 24, 2024

The Sound of Music review – a joyous blast of song and hope that speaks to today by Clare Brennan

Pitlochry Festival theatreThis captivating production of the evergreen musical is a fitting swansong from Pitlochry’s outgoing artistic director, Elizabeth Newman Light breaks through dark…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AM
Sunday, November 10, 2024

Kenrex review – co-writer Jack Holden plays an entire town in ‘true’ crime thriller by Clare Brennan

Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, SheffieldHolden and Ed Stambollouian’s one-man drama based on a real-life murder in 80s America uses film tropes to great effect – but it plays with the fac…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:12AM
Sunday, November 3, 2024

Summer 1954 review – Rattigan double bill packs an intellectual and emotional punch by Clare Brennan

Theatre Royal, BathMen struggling to hide their feelings are uncloaked in James Dacre’s astute revival of the playwright’s Table Number Seven and The Browning Version Director James Dacr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AM
Sunday, October 27, 2024

The New Real review – the spin doctors fight it out in David Edgar’s sweeping political satire by Clare Brennan

The Other Place, Stratford-upon-AvonTwo American strategists compete to influence an eastern European election in a nuanced new play that suffers from tackling too many subjects In the 21st …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AM
Sunday, October 20, 2024

Becoming Nancy review – 70s-set coming-out musical radiates optimism by Clare Brennan

Birmingham RepTerry Ronald’s true-life tale of a bullied gay teenager who prevails in the school production of Oliver! is performed with affecting verve Today, Terry Ronald is a successful…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AM
Sunday, October 13, 2024

Reverberation review – Matthew López’s romcom is rooted in violence and rejection by Clare Brennan

Bristol Old VicFussy filmic visuals hobble fine performances in the European premiere of the Inheritance writer’s study of three characters struggling for connection London-based American …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06PM
Sunday, October 6, 2024

Bright Lights Over Bentilee review – UFO show shines a light on Stoke by Clare Brennan

The Dipping House, Stoke-on-TrentClaybody Theatre’s show about a famed flying saucer sighting on a housing estate is whimsical fun Back in 1967, the most extraordinary thing about Bentilee…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AM
Sunday, September 29, 2024

Angela Carter’s The Company of Wolves review – a moving variation on Red Riding Hood by Clare Brennan

New Vic theatre, Newcastle-under-LymeChoreography accentuates the otherness of the creatures in a fluid take on the dark coming-of-age fable Form thrillingly matches content in this new stag…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:12PM

The Lieutenant of Inishmore review – savage sectarian satire that lacks real bite by Clare Brennan

Everyman, LiverpoolMartin McDonagh’s black comedy about a violent republican terrorist can feel like a parody of 007 in its action but it is hard to be stirred by the dully repetitive scen…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:12PM
Sunday, September 22, 2024

Romeo and Juliet review – diversity doubles the power of Shakespeare’s tragedy by Clare Brennan

Shakespeare North Playhouse, PrescotA cast of deaf, disabled and neurodivergent actors throw new light on the star-crossed lovers in Graeae’s uneven yet often thrilling show Actors appear,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:32AM
Sunday, September 15, 2024

Show & Tell review – Alan Ayckbourn’s clever, very funny 90th play by Clare Brennan

Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughA ‘sprightly comedy’ isn’t all it seems in this beautifully performed drama, which the playwright directs On one level, Alan Ayckbourn’s 90th play …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM
Sunday, September 1, 2024

Stones in His Pockets review – immersive revival of the rural Ireland film shoot tragicomedy by Clare Brennan

Barn theatre, CirencesterMarie Jones’s 1996 hit play is given a spectacular, Hollywood-style makeover by her son Matthew McElhinney, though the momentum of the drama suffers Throw a stone …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:54AM
Sunday, August 25, 2024

Bedroom Farce review – deliciously funny production of Ayckbourn’s 1975 classic by Clare Brennan

The Mill at Sonning, ReadingA fine ensemble cast deliver plenty of laughs and more in Robin Herford’s terrific production of the playwright’s intertwined tale of three couples Reviewing …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54AM
Sunday, August 18, 2024

The Birthday Party – Pinter’s strangeness reframed by Clare Brennan

Ustinov Studio, BathDirector Richard Jones tries to capture the menace felt by the play’s first audiences, but the result is overmannered Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party was almost un…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:30AM
Sunday, August 4, 2024

Alice in Wonderland review – a perfect promenade show for children by Clare Brennan

Williamson Park, LancasterAndrew Pollard turns Lewis Carroll’s classic into a delightful quest, tirelessly acted and cleverly designed We are sitting in a wooded dell, ranged on felled tre…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:30AM
Sunday, July 28, 2024

Barnum review – dazzling all-singing, all-juggling musical by Clare Brennan

Watermill theatre, NewburyThere are somersaults, pivots and tumbles aplenty in this gleeful tribute to the 19th-century circus showman turned politician Barnum dances a tightrope between con…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AM
Sunday, July 21, 2024

Galway international arts festival: Reunion; Endgame – review by Clare Brennan

Black Box; Town Hall theatre, GalwayA family reunion unravels with viciousness and humour in Mark O’Rowe’s new play. And Garry Hynes’s searing direction makes Beckett new Since it laun…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18AM
Sunday, July 14, 2024

The School for Scandal review – a triumph of style over substance by Clare Brennan

Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonSheridan’s comedy of manners is given an all too knowing makeover in Tinuke Craig’s fitfully amusing new production Richard Brinsley Sherida…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32AM
Sunday, July 7, 2024

Radiant Vermin review – cartoonish descent into property hell by Clare Brennan

Tron, GlasgowA couple stop at nothing to secure their first home in Johnny McKnight’s deliciously fast-paced production of Philip Ridley’s Faustian black comedy The theme underpinning Ph…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM
Sunday, June 23, 2024

Yes festival review – a marvellous appreciation of Molly Bloom by Clare Brennan

A two-year celebration of the centenary of James Joyce’s Ulysses culminates in a women-led, cross-border, multidisciplinary festival dedicated to the novel’s main female character On a g…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AM
Sunday, June 16, 2024

My Fair Lady review – an abso-bloomin’-lutely loverly musical by Clare Brennan

Leeds PlayhouseOpera North brings shimmering music to this gorgeous and crisply choreographed co-production, which preserves Shaw’s critique of the British class system Some have called it…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM
Sunday, June 9, 2024

Fanny review – a fun-packed outing for the other Mendelssohn by Clare Brennan

Watermill, NewburyCalum Finlay’s fast-moving comedy about the composer and her struggles to be recognised is pitch-perfectly performed Felix is working out an idea at the piano. What does …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:42AM
Sunday, June 2, 2024

The Bounds review – tale of 16th-century politics and football misses its target by Clare Brennan

Live theatre, NewcastleStewart Pringle’s new play set in Northumberland in 1553 has the bones of something great, but at present teeters on parody Newcastle’s Live theatre is 51 this yea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36AM
Sunday, May 26, 2024

Swim, Aunty, Swim! review – a funny, touching tale of female friendship by Clare Brennan

Belgrade theatre, CoventryThree women push themselves beyond the local swimming pool and into the unknown in Siana Bangura’s buoyant, enlightening new play Three women “in their prime”…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM
Sunday, May 19, 2024

English review – acclaimed Iran-set classroom drama is a bit too well-behaved by Clare Brennan

The Other Place, Stratford-upon-AvonThe RSC’s European premiere of Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer prize-winning play tailors its intriguing characters a little too neatly Daniel Evans and Tamar…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48AM
Sunday, May 5, 2024

York International Shakespeare festival review – the bard without borders by Clare Brennan

York St John University, YorkFootsbarn Travelling Theatre’s Twelfth Night and a Turkish Macbeth rubbed shoulders with manga, memoir and a Ukrainian scratch show at this boundary-defying fe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54AM
Sunday, April 28, 2024

Sunset Song review – a lively if melodramatic take on Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s classic novel by Clare Brennan

Dundee RepMorna Young’s new adaptation, directed by Finn den Hertog, captures the earthiness of rural life in early 1900s Scotland, but it needs to dig deeper In front of a backdrop sugges…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM
Sunday, April 21, 2024

One Man, Two Guvnors review – this exemplary staging outdoes the original by Clare Brennan

New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeA first-rate cast delight in controlled chaos of the highest order in Conrad Nelson’s seamless revival of Richard Bean’s hit play A couple on the stairs behi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM
Sunday, April 14, 2024

James V: Katherine review – queer love in the time of the Scottish kings by Clare Brennan

The Studio, Edinburgh, and touringThe fifth of Rona Munro’s James plays fails to develop an interesting premise about a hidden romance A dark stage is lapped by flickering candles. Here, f…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32AM
Sunday, March 31, 2024

Frankenstein review – Imitating the Dog’s experiment never quite comes to life by Clare Brennan

Leeds Playhouse and touringThe company’s trademark fusion of live performance and digital wizardry doesn’t quite hang together in a radical take on Mary Shelley The structure of Mary She…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic
TBA: Ragtime