Royal Exchange, ManchesterElliot Levey and Tracy-Ann Oberman star in an adaptation of Howard Jacobson's rollicking novel about table tennis and onanismLike all great comic novels, Howard Jac…
Crucible, SheffieldHow far would you go to keep your job? An employee finds her sex life is a matter for the HR department in this sleek-looking dramaMike Bartlett's play, which began life a…
Theatr Clwyd, Mold With a chequerboard lawn, Italianate follies and an audience on garden chairs, Shakespeare's play is given a Portmeirion-style designTamara Harvey has stated that she want…
Jonathan Miller is notching up his eighth Lear. How did he persuade Barrie Rutter to play the king? By telling him it's a comedyShortly before rehearsals commence on King Lear, Jonathan Mill…
Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughThe satire is a little shaky but this neatly acted production finds Torben Betts once more smuggling left-leaning, state-of-the-nation analysis into his co…
Twenty years after the Manchester bombing, the immersive theatre show On Corporation Street looks at those caught in the chaos " from the man having a haircut to the couple getting marriedBo…
West Yorkshire Playhouse, LeedsThe puppetry alone is enough to recommend this magical take on Stephen Sondheim's musical, but Opera North choristers are the real ace up the sleeveThe West Yo…
Scarcroft Allotments, YorkMikron have concocted a jolly tribute to the Quaker families who changed society with cocoa " and a satire acknowleding the crusade's corporate endIf ever you see M…
York MinsterPhilip McGinley stands out as a soulful, tormented Christ in this staging of the 13th-century pageant that makes its ecological prophecy harrowingly clearIn the year 2000, the Yo…
West Yorkshire Playhouse, LeedsFeaturing just a pair of characters, the teenage and adult Billy, this is one of the most modest " but best " stagings of the novelAmong the tributes following…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterTime runs backwards in Hattie Naylor's exceptional adaptation of the best-selling novel about women condemned to their own personal circles of hell in 1940s LondonI…
Crucible, SheffieldWith its ravishing sets and fine comic performances, the story of a charlady's quest to acquire a frock is a perfect fillip for a new age of austerityMrs 'Arris Goes to Pa…
Theatre Royal, YorkHumans are reliant on a vast video-conferencing network in an uncanny tale featuring aerial contortions and a score by Ultravox founder John FoxxFor a writer associated wi…
Birmingham RepA film star and her make-up artist debate nude scenes, paparazzi and awards ceremonies in this revealing play from Stan's CafeIt is a well-established fact that if you want to …
Manchester ArenaFeaturing a musical mashup of Gary Glitter, Rolf Harris and Jim'll Fix It, this show finds Peter Kay and co as off-colour as everPhoenix Nights fans have been waiting since 2…
New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeThis revival of Cicely Hamilton's 1908 play about a downtrodden shopworker has an admirable lightness of touch An actor, activist and contemporary of George Bern…
New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeThis revival of Cicely Hamilton's 1908 play about a downtrodden shopworker has an admirable lightness of touch An actor, activist and contemporary of George Bern…
Theatre Royal, YorkBryony Lavery's adaptation of the novel is more sacred than profane and, if the plot sometines drags, there are some fine performances along the wayAfter a longer-than-exp…
Northern Stage, NewcastleImprobable's dramatisation of Lauren Slater's provocative book about 20th-century science is disappointingly predictableLauren Slater's book of popular psychology, O…
Birmingham Rep Tom Wells's knack for imbuing his characters with warmth and dignity lights up this play about three oddballs united by an ambitious ventureThe most significant writer to emer…
West Yorkshire Playhouse, LeedsRoxana Silbert's off-the-wall production, set in a hotel lobby with a working lift, brings disabled and non-disabled performers togetherThere was a time when t…
Nottingham PlayhouseEverything is in its right place in Blanche McIntyre's good-natured take on Michael Frayn's quintessential meta-farceNicholas Hytner encapsulated the essence of farce whe…
Live theatre, NewcastleAlison Carr's account of two grieving sisters might be claustrophobically morbid were it not for its command of quirky detailsJulie and Ruby are sisters, 20 years apar…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterDon Warrington cuts a powerful and tyrannic Lear, amid a superb cast and suggestions of a forgotten history of black BritainWas there ever a black king during the d…
West Yorkshire Playhouse, LeedsThe Vagina Monologues author has added absurdist companion pieces to her fierce polemic Avocado to expose the commodification of women's bodiesLast year the We…