49 stories by "Lesley Bates"
Sound and silence are hugely significant to writer and performer Sophie Woolley. Born a hearing child to a deaf mother, she lost
Mess is missing from so many pantomimes these days, so it's refreshing to see it in all its sudsy glory in Basingstoke.
This is the third collaboration by musical theatre veteran Glyn Kerslake and Wiltshire Creative artistic director Gareth Machin on a Christmas-themed show
No modern twists or star turns, few pyrotechnics, little by way of glitter and bling, but Fairy Bow Bells has sprinkled this
Wiltshire Creative has become adept at programming timely revivals. Thus we have Hugh Whitemore's 1986 play Breaking the Code in the year
Sexual attitudes might have undergone massive changes in the 50-odd years since Alan Ayckbourn scored his first major hit with Relatively Speaking,
As the UK continues to navigate Brexit, a global spotlight focused relentlessly on the country's second female prime minister, this revival of
London’s streets might be paved in gold, but this lavish Dick Whittington is worth its glittering weight in it. The Mayflower, celebrating
This Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is very much a pantomime of two halves. The first half is overlong with too many
Theatre Royal Winchester’s Beauty and the Beast might not have the most glittering sets or the greatest number of costume changes but
This year, Salisbury Playhouse's version of Beauty and the Beast kicks out traditional male hero, sidekick and villain. The Beast of the
Clean Break is a theatre company committed to highlighting the injustices women experience in and beyond the criminal justice system. This co-production
When Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Her Naked Skin premiered in 2008, it was the first play by a living female playwright to be staged
Gosh, what larks were had at the 19th hole in PG Wodehouse’s golfing tales. Writers Jon Glover and Edward Taylor move the
Shiona Morton’s play Hansel, which won last year’s Theatre Fest West, is a multi-faceted little gem, thoughtfully crafted, deeply absorbing, poignant and
Oh, the innocent fun to be had with a cucumber. Paul and Barry Elliott, aka children’s television favourites the Chuckle Brothers, have
This is the 10th time that Gary Turner has donned the hook of Peter Pan’s arch nemesis for UK Productions and at
Salisbury Playhouse has created a dream panto team in writer Andrew Pollard, director Ryan McBryde and Richard Ede as Dame for this
Harold Pinter’s claustrophobic 1978 three-hander, Betrayal, is one of his greatest works. A tangle of lies, deceit and middle-class philandering, it spools
Awful families have always made for great theatre. The craven, social-climbing Skinners in W Somerset Maugham’s short story Before the Party are
An unlikely friendship between an embittered divorcee and an injured crow ends up as a healing process for them both in Hattie
A raucous comedy about a disastrous family wedding in a Dorset back garden was an unexpected choice for Broadchurch writer Chris Chibnall’s
Salisbury Playhouse has taken a leaf out of Marie Lloyd’s songbook and is currently serving up A Little of What You Fancy
Big on spectacular lighting and visual effects, but short on plot, the Mayflower’s Robin Hood is essentially a star vehicle for Shane
Forget modern twists. Winchester Theatre Royal’s Cinderella is traditional, old-fashioned panto at its best. It even manages a principal boy of sorts
