Festival theatre studio, EdinburghCatriona Faint's witty performance as a pragmatist caught up in fanatical times is the heart of the latest historical drama from Rona Munro's James Plays se…
Traverse theatre, EdinburghA former police officer with muscular dystrophy fights a grotesquely bureaucratic system in this subversive satirical broadside It is 2037 and the government has i…
Theatre by the Lake, KeswickSeán Aydon's laboured attempts to shriek the play into life with overstated and almost unintelligible clowning only serves to flatten Richard Brinsley Sheridan…
Shakespeare North Playhouse, Prescot In novelist Philippa Gregory's telling, the much maligned king reveals a more human side amid rather too much exposition If you wanted to invent a funny…
New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme Amanda Whittington's sequel to Ladies' Day sends her characters off to Australia for an enjoyable range of epiphanies It is 2007 and the four women who struck i…
Marianne Faithfull, Simon Callow, Tanya Moodie, Richard McCabe and Sean Holmes remember working with the remarkable British playwright who died on Sunday Sean Holmes, director, The Sea (2000…
Lawrence Batley theatre, HuddersfieldA superb Meg Lewis plays three characters losing touch with reality in Billie Collins's play about a market-driven world When ThickSkin announced this sh…
Royal Lyceum, EdinburghDavid Greig's entertaining and immaculately performed new play is about adults seduced by memories of their own emotionally heightened teenage pasts Two Sisters smells…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterPhoebe Eclair-Powell's prize-winning play is about three related relationships which seem increasingly characterised by powerlessness, menace and dislocation Phoebe…
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 lif…
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 b…
Octagon, 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 toda…
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 intangibles…
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 so…
Theatre Royal, DumfriesThe well-crafted jokes are a cover for reflections on sectarianism, asylum seekers, Scottish independence, inequality, Covid conspiracy theories and pandemic isolation…
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 …
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 the fi…
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 sca…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 go…
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 promise…
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…