Crucible, SheffieldDirector Robert Hastie makes the most of the now-nostalgic shared space between audience and cast Writing a review, today, feels strange. Coriolanus was the last performan…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42AMRoyal Lyceum, EdinburghThe comic talents of Elaine C Smith and Steven McNicoll can’t save Denise Mina’s stilted, gender-switching adaptation of a Bertolt Brecht comedyBertolt Brecht and …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24AMStoryhouse, ChesterFour female undergraduates in 1890s Cambridge struggle for equality in this buoyant production of Jessica Swale’s 2013 classroom classicA renowned expert has come to the…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:06AMViaduct theatre, HalifaxThis adaptation of JM Barrie’s 1901 romcom doesn’t always hit the mark, but it roars to the sweetest conclusionTo some readers, the name Quality Street may conjur…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54AMNorthern Stage, Newcastle upon TyneSet against the upheaval of world events, music from folk trio the Young’uns and animation combine to tell the story of the young anti-fascist activist …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:04AMLeeds PlayhouseDavid Greig’s 2001 drama about the doctor who founded an orphanage in the Warsaw ghetto continues to educate in this atmospheric production The first thing we see as we ente…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24AMBelgrade theatre, CoventryFine performances carry this tale of a young African girl’s arrival in Queen Victoria’s court interlaced with a modern family’s move from London to Cheshire J…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:18PMThe Studio, Royal Exchange, Manchester; the Bunker; Barbican, LondonTwo young Somali women find themselves on opposite sides of the FGM argument in a fine revival of Charlene James’s 2016 …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12AMCrucible, Sheffield; Kiln, London; Leeds PlayhouseRobert Hastie’s new Guys and Dolls is an instant classic, Mike Bartlett’s arguments are a slow burn, and for a thrilling trip to Oz, the…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:54AMPlayhouse theatre, LiverpoolA cracking score and an energetic cast can’t disguise an unconvincing romance in Gemma Bodinetz’s update of the seasonal classic Kris Kringle believes he is S…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AMTraverse theatre, EdinburghPu Songling’s weird stories are brought to life with a hit-and-miss mixture of cutting-edge video and live performance A demon with a paintbrush retouches the fe…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54AMWardrobe theatre, BristolThe cast sinks its teeth into this extremely adult seasonal mashup of Dracula, Jack and Jill and The Sound of Music A generalised power cut delayed curtain up(metaph…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54AMUstinov Studio, Theatre Royal BathHansol Jung’s tale of two lonely Koreans who meet online is witty but overstuffed with ideasWe are in Seoul. Guk Minsung is a “goose father”, one of t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:12AMYork Theatre RoyalJo Mousley and Emilio Iannucci excel in this engrossing production of Fugard’s tale of a brother and sister’s ambiguous reunion “I am a regional writer,” claimed So…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:18AMCrucible, SheffieldSilence is both golden and frustrating in Charlotte Keatley’s play about four generations of women featuring deaf actors Fingersmiths theatre company specialises in “w…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:18AMNew Wolsey theatre, IpswichNewcomers Jim Barne and Kit Buchan have written a classic Christmas romance enhanced by confident production “Even impossible dreams come true,” sings the wond…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:03AMSwan theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonHannah Khalil’s ambitious play, set in 1926 and 2006, struggles to dramatise questions of power and gender A museum is a site of encounter between past and…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:36AMPaisley Arts CentreWinning performances deliver a heartbreaking and unsentimental tale about asbestos poisoning in the workplaceFrances Poet’s latest play is a condemnation of an atrocious…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:48AMByker Community Centre, Newcastle upon TyneThe audience is invited to attend a mock UK arms fair in this laudable but underdeveloped production Travelling to Common Wealth and Northern Stage…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:48PMStephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughOliver Emanuel’s Canadian log cabin drama goes nowhere slowly ’Tis a dark and snow-stormy night somewhere in Canada. After many years of separation, a …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:06AMCrucible, SheffieldBy rendering its hero completely passive, Steve Waters loses a key aspect of Giles Foden’s novelGiles Foden describes the narrator-hero of his 1998 multiple prize-winnin…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:33AMSherman theatre, CardiffWriting, acting and design combine brilliantly in Ed Thomas’s new, semi-autobiographical playJohn Daniel (Rhys Ifans) fears that daily wearing of his only pair of t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:54AMCrucible, SheffieldMatt Haig converses with his younger self in this engaging take on his memoir about depression The novelist Matt Haig wrote his award-wining, bestselling 2015 memoir about…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42AMRoyal and Derngate, NorthamptonThis fine revival of August Wilson’s 1992 play finds seven people in 60s Pittsburgh struggling with a turbulent world Double Pulitzer prize-winning writer Au…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:42AMStephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughAlan Ayckbourn directs this excellent revival of his 1980 comedy of a family suffering a less than festive Christmas Playwright Alan Ayckbourn remembers a …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:36AMVarious venues, Derry and DonegalThe annual celebration of the work of Brian Friel carries powerful reminders of the work of building community “Politics are so obtrusive here.” The grea…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:36AMWharfhouse, Cropredy, OxfordshireMikron’s second world war show follows two female navy recruits as they battle the enemy and colleagues “Theatre anywhere for everyone, by canal, river a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:33AMKing’s theatre; Lyceum, Edinburgh; Minerva, ChichesterEnglish settlers terrorise Indigenous Australians in an unflinching production from Sydney; the aftermath of a homophobic killing is e…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:42AMTheatre Royal Bath; Royal Exchange, Manchester; Passenger Shed, BristolRupert Everett’s astute direction of Chekhov results in a meeting of minds, and a luddite history is given a modern e…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:33AMTheatre by the Lake, KeswickLucy Kirkwood’s domestic-seeming drama has the steely underpinning of a Greek tragedy A visitor arrives at a cottage by the sea – unexpected but not unknown. …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AMCrucible, SheffieldLolita Chakrabarti’s superbly acted adaptation of Yann Martel’s Booker-winner makes dazzling use of its interplay of illusions Everything about this production is amaz…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AM
