Crucible, SheffieldTransformative puppetry, design and direction, and a great human lead, make this adaptation of Yann Martel’s book unmissable A tip for playwrights: when you want to fiel…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AMVarious venues, ManchesterIrish company Anu’s site-specific modern stories of struggle bring the radical spirit of 19th-century protesters to life This production is billed as a response t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:36AMCurve, LeicesterAlice Walker’s novel is transformed into an exuberant celebration of community and female empowerment Incest. Child abuse. Rape. Domestic violence … the foundations of A…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:24PMNew Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeThis dizzylingly funny drama boasts a tremendous cast, witty costumes and surprising set ‘This is not a ballad,” says Prudencia Hart early on in David Greig�…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AMAs his bold new Oedipus heads to Edinburgh, the director discusses revamping Sophocles and the ‘poisonous nostalgia’ behind Brexit The teenagers in the audience are all squirms and giggl…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AMJessie Cave’s intimate standup, a beatbox Frankenstein and a twist on the star-crossed lovers are among the Edinburgh shows we’ve previously reviewed. Here’s what we said … Pleasance…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:48AMThere’s a Belle and Sebastian play, a show in a hair salon, Frances Barber performing Pet Shop Boys songs and top comics including Josie Long and Stephen Fry. Here’s our guide to the wor…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06AMAlbert Halls, BoltonDespite the cast’s best efforts, Oscar Wilde’s comedy gets almost no laughs in a production that tries too hard to be funny With a good Oscar Wilde aphorism, you can�…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18AMRoyal Exchange, ManchesterRelocating Harold Brighouse’s classic to Manchester’s Hindu community, Tanika Gupta finds some sharp political parallels and a very funny new cultural context I…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AM★★★★☆/★★☆☆☆ Theatre by the Lake, KeswickCharlotte Keatley’s 1987 work about mothers and daughters is a wonderful gesture of empathy, while a staging of the Ealing black…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:03AMVarious venues, Edinburgh Inventive stagings keep young minds enthralled as detectives test their bravery, dancers evolve and superheroes fall out There’s an extraordinary moment in the mi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48AMPrestonpans Town HallCutting between austerity-hit East Lothian today and the battlefields of the 1930s anti-fascist volunteers, this gutsy play reveals the complexity of righteous crusading…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:03PMRoyal Lyceum, EdinburghZinnie Harris reframes the tragedy to take in the consequences of male violence, as Kirsty Stuart’s duchess provides a defiant centre They’re a pathetic lot, the m…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18PMTron, GlasgowJemima Levick revives this tale about three sisters coming of age with wit and charm The clue is in the socks. We’re faced by three girls, identical in their yellow coats, red…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:18PMSSE Hydro, GlasgowThe renaissance man’s song-and-dance spectacular skips merrily through his acting career with celebrity pizzazz and unashamed sentimentality Is there a market Hugh Jackma…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:03PMPerth theatreMorna Young’s personal tale of trawlermen risking their lives for pay evokes the romance and brutal realism of the sea Margaret Thatcher’s greed-is-good ethos left its mark …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:06AMNew Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeIn this revival of Lizzie Nunnery’s debut about a family in the 19th-century Liverpool slums, misery is piled upon misery – for the audience and the characte…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:00PMRoyal Exchange, ManchesterSarah Frankcom and Aletta Collins ditch Jerome Robbins’ choreography and keeps the stakes high in a superb production For more than 60 years, productions of West …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:10AMTheatre By the Lake, KeswickHoward Brenton’s no-nonsense translation of Strindberg’s astute drama charts the marriage of a failed artist and his more successful wife Adolf is in the mid…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:00AMSWG3, GlasgowOriginally planned to coincide with the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the National Theatre of Scotland’s night of cabaret and comedy was performed under a sombre cloud Imagin…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:21AMIn a defiant riposte to president Bolsonaro and intolerance, performers at São Paulo’s international theatre festival are reclaiming the rights to be seen and to be different If ever ther…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:41AMTramway, Glasgow Stef Smith’s excellent adaptation has Noras experience economic and emotional pressures through history There are three door frames and three cavernous pathways to an unce…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:47PMYang Sing restaurant, ManchesterThis rich, dreamlike play feeds body and soul as it chronicles the complex lives of migrants from China Cheung Wing is looking back over his life. He’s been…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:04AMDukes, LancasterThree young fighters grapple with a world of blue-eyed heroes and foreign-looking villains in Nick Ahad’s witty play Real life has a way of sneaking into the theatre. Only …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:46AMTraverse, EdinburghKwaku Mills is a revelation as a boy growing up amid poverty in this touring revival of Arinzé Kene’s crackling, compelling monologueImagine an inner-city version of Un…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:54AMNew Vic theatre, Newcastle-under-LymeBeatrice and Benedick engage in heartwarming hostilities in Northern Broadsides’ rich and rewarding productionRobin Simpson’s Benedick has just been …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AMThe Manipulate festival in Scotland has surreal square dances, puppetry without puppets and jaw-dropping human landscapesIn between shows at the Manipulate festival, a veteran arts producer …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:54AMDerby theatreSabrina Mahfouz has impressively distilled the inspired novel about a world where the power rests with the black populationAt the heart of Malorie Blackman’s young adult novel…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AMHull TruckDementia drama and Jacobean bloodbath sit uneasily alongside each other in a reworking of King Lear during the fishing industry’s dying daysThey’re a hard-bitten lot, the Lear …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:04AMThe national theatres of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland have all caused a stir about what they represent. How should they reflect a country’s identity?They had Richard Eyre on the ra…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:42AMNew Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeAn immersive show for the under-fives strikes gold and acts as a primer for Peter Leslie Wild’s inventive and boisterous main stage productionAs is often the c…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:54AM