Sunday, February 18, 2024
Royal Exchange, ManchesterPhoebe Eclair-Powell’s prize-winning play is about three related relationships which seem increasingly characterised by powerlessness, menace and dislocation
Phoe…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12PMThursday, February 15, 2024
Hope Mill theatre, ManchesterJim Cartwright’s riches-to-rags comedy reunites an abrasive northern couple who turned to sex work for survival in a hedonistic London adventure
The lust for l…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AMWednesday, February 14, 2024
New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeRon Hutchinson’s comedy marks 100 years since the first radio play but succumbs to cliches and jarring humour
Playwright Ron Hutchinson sets his tribute to the…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AMOctagon, BoltonIqbal Khan’s production lays bare the uncomfortable parallels between a mid-20th century Soviet Union and today’s marauding politicians
How George Orwell would despair at …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AMSunday, February 11, 2024
Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne David Almond’s young adult novel is brought to life in a soulful production that weaves its mythical elements with imagination
There are three intangibl…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AMMonday, February 5, 2024
The annual festival of visual theatre delivers an inventive mix of wry commentary, daft puppetry and high-precision performance
You can rely on Edinburgh’s Manipulate festival to give you …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AMSunday, February 4, 2024
Theatre Royal, DumfriesThe well-crafted jokes are a cover for reflections on sectarianism, asylum seekers, Scottish independence, inequality, Covid conspiracy theories and pandemic isolation…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:06AMThursday, January 4, 2024
Playwright and radio dramatist whose imaginative productions explored grief and lossOliver Emanuel, who has died aged 43 from brain cancer, was a playwright, teacher and radio dramatist who …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:48AMWednesday, December 13, 2023
Traverse, EdinburghRobbie Gordon and Jack Nurse’s tale follows a team of Scots women’s footballers, but its most powerful scenes move well beyond the game
There is plenty of talent on th…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:36PMMonday, December 11, 2023
Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughNick Lane’s witty and rounded adaptation stars a no-nonsense Rosabelle, and manages to convey fear and fun with pop hits
If ever you find yourself in a s…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:02PMSunday, December 10, 2023
Northern Stage, NewcastleThis production rows back on panto excess, but boisterous audience interaction and bright songs keep it lively
Directors Katy Weir and Jake Smith think it is time to…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AMFriday, December 8, 2023
Live theatre, NewcastleThese one-act plays covering passion, acceptance and obsession are connected by a seasonally warming theme about community
In their trilogy of one-act plays, Laura Lin…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12PMFriday, December 1, 2023
Byrne, who has died aged 83, used his life as a constant source of inspiration for exuberant plays and paintings
If John Byrne had been known only for The Slab Boys, he would be considered o…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18AMWednesday, November 29, 2023
Hull TruckEliza Blair plays the puppet-child on an adventure of self-discovery in this slightly muddled yet well-performed version
When Ivor MacAskill and Rosana Cade staged The Making of Pi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AMMonday, November 27, 2023
Royal Lyceum, EdinburghYoung Gerda is sent on an epic quest across mythical Scotland by steam train, cross-country skis, fishing boat and unicorn in Morna Young’s version
When the curtain …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:03AMWednesday, November 22, 2023
Theatre by the Lake, KeswickRiches-to-rags tale is set against the backdrop of Indian independence, amplifying the injustice and adding extra texture to this rewarding show
‘I didn’t pro…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AMThursday, November 16, 2023
Royal Court, Liverpool Traditional tale is recast as a daft quest across Europe, built on a giddy score powering through hits from Bon Jovi to Kraftwerk
The dick jokes are, of course, inevit…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:32AMTuesday, November 14, 2023
She cast an armchair as Mr Bennet in a Pride and Prejudice reboot. Now Isobel McArthur’s been let loose on lusty romp The Fair Maid of the West. So is she worried about outraging mothbally…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:02PMThursday, November 9, 2023
New version of the Anglo-Saxon epic features a massive cast of singers, actors and members of the community
Ian McMillan is contemplating the greats who have gone before him. He is one of fi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AMWednesday, October 18, 2023
As he stages Gary McNair’s twist on the tale of Pip, the director reflects on 16 years of spotting and developing raw talent while running the Tron
Andy Arnold is a director with staying p…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:49PMSunday, October 15, 2023
Queen’s Hall arts centre, HexhamAn 83-year-old resident rails against the lack of liberty, settling herself on a bench outside and refusing to return despite legal threats and offers of ho…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:33AMFriday, September 22, 2023
Royal Court, LiverpoolJames Graham’s funny and violent TV adaptation belies a sensitive study of male mental health, as right-wing economics hits a group of road layers’ lives
The emotio…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:37AMThursday, September 21, 2023
Nottingham PlayhouseWith excellent performances, Tom Wright’s play about the man who became a Victorian freakshow attraction is an at times uneasy mix of circus and polemic
Entrances don�…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:49AMCurve, LeicesterThis staging of Kafka’s story is physically exciting, even tireless, but it hits an early peak of terror then has nowhere to go for two hours
It is linguistically playful, …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:33AMThursday, September 14, 2023
Octagon theatre, BoltonIn Holly Race Roughan’s thrilling and dynamic production, Arthur Miller’s classic about a Brooklyn longshoreman and his family roils with primal passions
If Arthur…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:33AMWednesday, September 13, 2023
Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughAlan Ayckbourn has fun imagining the hazards of malfunctioning android lovers and misbehaving auto-maids – but there’s a deeper message too about human…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:33AMFriday, September 8, 2023
His Majesty’s Theatre, AberdeenAll-female production tells Bram Stoker’s story from the perspective of women trying to escape patriarchy – it’s often urgent, but sometimes sucked of …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:43AMThursday, September 7, 2023
Shakespeare North Playhouse, PrescotHorror-movie witches haunt the unhappy couple throughout this touring co-production. It’s one of many interesting ideas that are dropped too soon
There …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:33AMFriday, September 1, 2023
Pitlochry festival theatreIsla Cowan’s quietly intelligent new drama goes inside a three-way relationship and each person’s different attachments to their rural cottage retreat
On the fa…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:55AMThursday, August 31, 2023
Pitlochry festival theatreAt a dinner party attended by a child ghost and a goading TV pundit warning of apocalypse, a middle-class literati find themselves on the brink of social upheaval
P…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:49PMThursday, August 24, 2023
On Edinburgh fringe stages, pop is eating itself with a series of pastiches and tributes that riff on TV hits and surreal celebrity reimaginings
This review goes out in honour of Gerard Slev…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:13PM 
