All stories by Clare Brennan on BroadwayStars

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Local Hero review – musical with a moral heart by Clare Brennan

Royal Lyceum theatre, EdinburghBill Forsyth’s adaptation of his 1983 film, with new music by Mark Knopfler, is topical all over again Bill Forsyth’s lighthearted story has a strong moral…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM
Sunday, March 24, 2019

Edmond de Bergerac review – all the fun of the farce by Clare Brennan

Birmingham Repertory theatreA reimagining of the life of Cyrano de Bergerac writer Edmond Rostand is a whirl of can-cans and cavorting in its English-language premiere Panache! The word enca…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:00AM
Sunday, March 17, 2019

God of Chaos review – to delete or not to delete by Clare Brennan

Theatre Royal PlymouthPhil Porter’s new play about social media moderators is a bold attempt to address issues of online censorship but doesn’t quite click “Click the left arrow to del…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:00AM
Sunday, March 10, 2019

The Last Yankee review – Arthur Miller’s haunting delve into despair by Clare Brennan

Library theatre, BoltonMarital tensions and mental health are expertly explored in David Thacker’s production of Miller’s 1993 play Director David Thacker’s setting, as realised in Cia…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:00AM
Sunday, March 3, 2019

The Remains of the Day review – gorgeous but unsubtle by Clare Brennan

Royal & Derngate, NorthamptonNiamh Cusack and Stephen Boxer shine in a clunky adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Kazuo Ishiguro’s 1989 Booker prize-winning novel is narrated by Ste…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM
Sunday, February 24, 2019

Princess and the Hustler review – a crucial slice of black British history by Clare Brennan

Bristol Old VicA beautifully crafted play about a family threatened by racial tensions during the 1960s Bristol bus boycott The Princess, in Princess and the Hustler, is 10-year-old Phyllis …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM

AniMalcom review – faithful adaptation of David Baddiel’s children’s bestseller by Clare Brennan

Broadway theatre, Letchworth Garden CityA mischievous menagerie of six actors have fun down on the farm Mother, father, grandfather, big sister and little brother dance around the bed singin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM
Sunday, February 17, 2019

Mother Courage and Her Children review – canny power from Julie Hesmondhalgh by Clare Brennan

Royal Exchange, ManchesterAnna Jordan’s new adaptation sets Brecht’s anti-war play in a dystopian 2080From the lighting rig are suspended wire grids on to which are fastened ragged cardb…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:18AM
Sunday, February 10, 2019

random review – debbie tucker green’s knife-crime drama hits home by Clare Brennan

Leeds PlayhouseKiza Deen excels in green’s heart-wrenching one-woman play about the killing of a black schoolboyA son and brother dies as a consequence of “something important, not no ra…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:18AM
Sunday, February 3, 2019

The Worst Witch review – a magical baddie makes the production fly by Clare Brennan

Lyceum theatre, SheffieldDastardly Agatha Cackle’s attempts to make witching great again have the young audience almost levitating in their seatsAn onstage banner proclaims that “Miss Ca…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12AM
Sunday, January 27, 2019

Jack Lear review – Shakespeare gets a gripping sea change by Clare Brennan

Hull Truck theatreBarrie Rutter revives Ben Benison’s reworking of King Lear set in a 21st-century fishing community with action-packed successA reworking of King Lear, spliced with legend…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Sunday, January 20, 2019

Life By the Throat review – one man’s story of redemption, told by a woman by Clare Brennan

Home, ManchesterOne man’s life from cradle to grave is the subject of Eve Steele’s intense one-woman playManchester’s annual Push festival celebrates the creative work of the north-wes…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Sunday, December 30, 2018

The week in theatre: Caroline, or Change; Goodnight Mister Tom; Robin Hood – review by Clare Brennan

Sharon D Clarke’s bravura performance in Caroline, or Change reaches London’s West End, tears flow at Goodnight Mister Tom, and a Robin Hood reboot hits the markChristmas is for children…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Sunday, December 23, 2018

A Christmas Carol review – a real Dickens cracker by Clare Brennan

Tramway, GlasgowSound, light and sets brilliantly convey Scrooge’s turn from miserliness to philanthropy in Neil Bartlett’s joyous adaptationCharles Dickens’s 1843 story of the transfo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48AM
Sunday, December 16, 2018

The Producers; Kiss Me, Kate review – rousing goose-stepping and toe tapping by Clare Brennan

Mel Brooks’s classic musical about two swindling impresarios gets a risky reprise, while a brilliant cast carry off Cole Porter“It ain’t no myst’ry. If it’s politics or hist’ry. …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Sunday, December 9, 2018

The Model Apartment review – outrageously funny and breathtakingly horrifying by Clare Brennan

Ustinov, BathDiana Quick and Ian Gelder star as Holocaust survivors moving from New York to Florida in this superb production of Donald Margulies’s 80s black comedyFinely directed by Laure…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06AM
Sunday, December 2, 2018

Billionaire Boy review – bring on the Mintybumfresh by Clare Brennan

NST City, SouthamptonJon Brittain’s musical adaptation of David Walliams’s tale of Joe Spud, the richest boy in the country, has plenty to sing aboutDavid Walliams’s book titles give m…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06AM
Sunday, November 25, 2018

The Maids review – Genet’s poetry breaks free by Clare Brennan

Home, ManchesterThough prison metaphors threaten to oversimplify this nuanced tale of sinister role-play, great performances win outWhen Mistress is out, her two maids, sisters Claire and So…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48AM
Sunday, November 18, 2018

They Don’t Pay? We Won’t Pay! review – Dario Fo's farce for our times by Clare Brennan

York Theatre RoyalPantomime gags drive home the betrayal of the working class in this deft update of Fo’s comic caperHunger is the starting point for Italian Nobel prize winner Dario Fo’…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:42AM
Sunday, November 11, 2018

The Madness of George III review – Mark Gatiss is sensational by Clare Brennan

Nottingham PlayhouseThrough Gatiss, the audience feels the agonies of Alan Bennett’s tormented monarchKing George III is not mad, but he is ill. However, the porphyria from which he suffer…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48AM
Sunday, November 4, 2018

Close Quarters review – a brave battle of preconceptions by Clare Brennan

Crucible, SheffieldA crack ensemble delivers Kate Bowen’s timely new play exploring identity and gender through female officers on their first tour of dutyLast month, the defence secretary…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48AM
Sunday, October 28, 2018

Clear White Light review – Edgar Allen Poe meets the NHS by Clare Brennan

Live theatre, NewcastleA fantastical reworking of The Fall of the House of Usher set in a Tyneside psychiatric ward hits all the right notesA large, bright clock face looms over double doors…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:48AM
Sunday, October 21, 2018

Europe review – David Greig’s Yugoslav war play still resonates by Clare Brennan

Leeds PlayhouseCharacters stranded in a transitional land exchange stories, fears and hopes in this timely productionPremiered during the Yugoslav wars, the action of David Greig’s first f…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AM
Sunday, October 14, 2018

Mother Courage and Her Children review – shockingly contemporary by Clare Brennan

Albion Electric Warehouse, LeedsThe audience becomes part of the action in this tremendous promenade production of Brecht’s antiwar, anti-capitalist playRed Ladder is 50 this year. For a c…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:12AM
Sunday, September 30, 2018

Rebus: Long Shadows review – Rankin’s dour detective takes to the stage by Clare Brennan

Birmingham Rep, and touringThe now-retired inspector returns in a new story by Ian Rankin and playwright Rona MunroIn one of Ian Rankin’s Rebus stories, the curmudgeonly Edinburgh detectiv…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18AM
Sunday, September 23, 2018

Steel review – sisters beaten by the system by Clare Brennan

Crucible Studio, SheffieldThin characterisation and half-formed scenes mar this play about women, race and Labour politics set in a northern cityChris Bush’s new play, directed by Rebecca …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Sunday, September 16, 2018

Better Off Dead review – an elegy for the written off by Clare Brennan

Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughAlan Ayckbourn blurs the lines as an ageing crime writer’s life invades his fictionFor three of its four acts, the tone of Alan Ayckbourn’s new play, h…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:18AM
Sunday, September 9, 2018

The Habit of Art review – Alan Bennett’s profound play within a play by Clare Brennan

York Theatre RoyalA stunning cast and unshowy direction do full justice to Bennett’s far-reaching play imagining a meeting between Auden and BrittenIt’s 1972. To the Oxford college rooms…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:06AM
Sunday, August 26, 2018

Huff review – into Canada’s heart of darkness by Clare Brennan

CanadaHub at King’s Hall, EdinburghCliff Cardinal’s visceral tale of addiction, violence and abuse is a shape-shifting tour de force“It’s a tough watch,” said the man handing …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Sunday, August 19, 2018

The Approach review – a stunning study of everyday relationships by Clare Brennan

Assembly Rainy Hall, Edinburgh Mark O’Rowe’s compelling new work draws breathtaking performances from Aisling O’Sullivan, Cathy Belton and Derbhle Crotty“People are sitting at a tabl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AM
Sunday, August 12, 2018

Swallows and Amazons review – sadly lacking the magic of the original by Clare Brennan

Grosvenor Park Open Air theatre, ChesterThe fun moments cannot lift Bryony Lavery’s workaday productionSharks surge between the banked tiers of the temporary auditorium, dorsal fins glide …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:12AM

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
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre