520 stories by "Alfred Hickling"
Royal Exchange, ManchesterIt seems sadly to be the case that, for women actors of a certain age, the parts begin to dry up. Brad Fraser's solution has been to write five substantial parts an…
Oldham ColiseumOldham Coliseum's recent 19% increase in Arts Council funding seems to offer a vote of confidence in old-fashioned, popular entertainment presented in an auditorium that has b…
Lakeside Arts Centre, NottinghamIt is almost 20 years since the first appearance of the play that, as Michael Billington wrote, "enflamed passions and divided partners". When it was new, Dav…
Octagon, BoltonWhat is the difference between a woman and a traction engine? According to Fred Dibnah, the steeplejack and steam enthusiast, "you can belt an engine with a hammer and they sa…
Belgrade, CoventryAny production of Chekhov seems to carry a certain number of given factors: there will be silver birches, there will be samovars, there will be parasols. The open…
Drummonds Mill, BradfordPresented by Freedom Studios, The Mill is an example of the increasingly prevalent format of what might be termed woodwork theatre: whereby the audience is invited to…
Dukes, LancasterJim Cartwright's 1992 comedy has matured into an enjoyable period piece " just how much so becomes apparent in the first scene when Mari, a noisy northern housewife, is besid…
New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeThe old way is often the best. This summer, the New Vic is returning to first principles with a proper rep company appearing in a rotating season of pl…
Workers once came from all over the world to work in Lumb Lane. Now the defunct Bradford mill is being used to stage their storiesLumb Lane was, for a long time, Bradford's most notorious ad…
Britain's stages are about to be invaded by drunks. What's the secret to playing a tipsy character? And who is drama's biggest boozer?Drama frequently holds up a mirror to our drinking …
Guildhall, DerbyMartin Luther King's pursuit of a dream must have meant that he suffered a fair few nightmares as well. Katori Hall's two-hander, which won last year's Olivier award for best…
Kirkstall Abbey, LeedsIt was billed as the wedding of the year: a gothic abbey, 12,000 guests and an outside broadcast operation sufficient to make Wills and Kate's arrangements seem li…
Everyman, LiverpoolThe final new play at the soon-to-be-transformed Everyman features an everyman undergoing a process of transformation. Divorcee Frank nervously awaits his date with Cindy,…
Octagon, BoltonArthur Miller's drama is a classic tale of a house divided,or in this case, the contents of an old house that has to be cleared. The Franz brothers have ceased to communi…
West Yorkshire Playhouse, LeedsTranslating Lorca is one of the sternest challenges a theatrical practitioner can face. Not only do you need to find an equivalent for the intense, symbolicall…
Northern Stage, NewcastleThere is a lot not to like about Hamlet. It is very long, incredibly intense and not a bit funny. But for those who cannot face four morbid hours in Elsinore, there …
New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeIt is a curious production of Hamlet that calls for the use of a swanee whistle, but then Northern Broadsides is a curious kind of company. Though its commitment…
Theatre Royal, YorkThe Touring Consortium was established in 1996 to produce curriculum-based drama, during which period it has presented To Kill a Mockingbird no less than three times. Thou…
Contact, ManchesterMind the Gap is a company that specialises in giving performers with and without learning disabilities an equal platform. Though the balance between doing good work and pr…
Hull TruckLucinda Coxon's bleak, chattering-class comedy follows a self-absorbed series of dinner parties at which the characters discuss the sitcom Will and Grace and the nagging emptiness …
Live, NewcastleSam is a theatrical charlatan who makes his living transmitting psychic messages to gullible audiences " though he lacks the clairvoyant powers to perceive that if he fails to…
Derby theatreAny staging of The Merchant of Venice worth its salt must contain an instance in which the racial hatred becomes so appalling it is impossible to watch. That moments occurs in t…
Belgrade, CoventryAt the beginning of the 1980s, Coventry's car-manufacturing industry had collapsed, race riots spilled out on to the streets, and the Specials were at the top of the charts…
New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeWilliam Inge's drama famously inspired the 1956 film starring Marilyn Monroe, though sightings of it on stage have been rare until within the last year, when Pit…
Dukes, LancasterThe Dukes' new writing policy covers all aspects of the local economy. Recent seasons have included plays about fell-walking and Pendle witches; now Zosia Wand provides a dra…
