UK Regional Theater Reviews

Review: SILENCE, Birmingham Rep
by Laura Lott - April 24, 2024

“Old friends in the morning, then wanting us dead in the afternoon”, says one of the men in Silence, repeating the line over and over. Decades after the event, he still can’t understand the speed at which hate and violence ignited in the wake of the 1947 Partition of India....

Review: CALENDAR GIRLS, The Mill at Sonning
by Mica Blackwell - April 22, 2024

Unlike Firth’s decision to stretch out the film’s first half for the musical, confusingly ending it on the long-awaited calendar photoshoot, his play adaptation allows the audience to see the impact the calendar has on the outside world and the women’s personal lives....

Review: LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, Royal Shakespeare Theatre
by Cindy Marcolina - April 21, 2024

Spring brings renewed energy into the year. There isn’t a better moment for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s recently appointed Co-Artistic Directors Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey to launch their vision for the organisation. Led by a big name that will attract new audiences who are probably younger ...

Review: DIVERSITY: SUPERNOVA, De Montfort Hall, Leicester
by Laura Lott - April 17, 2024

It's hard to imagine what more an audience could possibly want from a dance show than what Diversity provide in their current tour Supernova. There are stunning, tightly choreographed dance routines, impressive production values, up-to-the-minute technology, music loud enough to reverberate through ...

Review: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, Watermill Theatre
by Mica Blackwell - April 17, 2024

Much Ado About Nothing is a quintessential Shakespeare farce: mistaken identities, intertwining romances, betrayals and deception all wrapped up with a neat little bow by the end. The same can be said for the screwball comedies that dominated 1930’s and 40’s cinema, so it’s no surprise why Tom Wentw...

Book Review: THE ACTOR AND THE SPACE, Declan Donnellan
by Cindy Marcolina - April 13, 2024

His first publication went viral (once again, in a way) when Mr Jeremy Strong of Succession fame featured it in his GQ interview about his essentials, saying he swears by it. Declan Donnellan succeeds at describing the indescribable, putting the ephemeral art of acting on paper in another gem of a b...

Review: THE PROMISE, Birmingham Rep
by Laura Lott - April 10, 2024

New play The Promise, which has its world premiere at Birmingham Rep this week, looks at the intersectionality of dementia and deafness through the experiences of one family, and highlights the urgent need for more understanding and care options. ...

Review: THE 39 STEPS, Richmond Theatre
by Aliya Al-Hassan - April 05, 2024

Mix a classic spy novel with the genius of Alfred Hitchcock, add a dash of Monty Python and you have The 39 Steps. With a history spanning over 100 years, John Buchan’s 1915 novel was adapted by Alfred Hitchcock which then went on to become a stage play in 1996, adapted again in 2005 by Patrick Barl...

Book Review: 100 THEATRES: PORTRAITS OF THE PLAYHOUSE
by Louise Penn - March 22, 2024

The book showcases a variety of venues worldwide, from ancient to modern, from the smallest travelling theatre in Rome to one of the largest in New York. Paul Tracey's paintings capture the spirit of the playhouse in all its grandeur and mystery. It is all about the images, with the briefest of text...

Review: CLUEDO 2, Theatre Royal Brighton
by Caroline Cronin - March 20, 2024

Written by BAFTA Award winners Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, this play can be viewed as a standalone...although if you're a fan of the board game, there are enough in-jokes to keep you satisfied....

Review: A SONG FOR ELLA GREY, Liverpool Playhouse Theatre
by Sarah OHara - March 18, 2024

Pilot Theatre, the company behind the critically acclaimed Noughts & Crosses, return with their latest production, A Song For Ella Grey, which is a unique and engaging retelling of the ancient Orpheus Myth....

Review: RICHARD, MY RICHARD, Shakespeare North Playhouse
by Sarah OHara - March 13, 2024

One of the best plays you will see this year, Richard, My Richard is an outstanding first production from Philipa Gregory....

Review: BEN & IMO, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
by Kat Mokrynski - March 11, 2024

Written by Mark Ravenhill and directed by Erica Whyman, Ben & Imo tells the story of the composition of Benjamin Britten’s (Samuel Barnett) Gloriana with musical assistant Imogen Holst (Victoria Yeates) over a period of nine months in the coast town of Aldeburgh. The play is based on Ravenhill’s BBC...

Review: A FAMILY BUSINESS, Omnibus Theatre
by Kit Bromovsky - February 26, 2024

In a world shadowed by the persistent threat of nuclear war, A Family Business presented by China Plate and Staatstheater Mainz, delivers a poignant and immersive exploration of the human narrative behind the struggle for nuclear disarmament. ...

Review: DISCO PIGS, Alphabetti Theatre
by Bryony Rae Taylor - February 22, 2024

Enda Walsh’s abrasive, poetic two-hander, Disco Pigs is a bullet-train ride of extremes. Two 17-year-olds, Pig (Ben Gettins) and Runt (Amy McAllister) are best friends born just seconds apart in the same hospital. Hurling their angst at each other (and the audience) for just under an hour, the pair ...

Review: U.ME: THE COMPLETE MUSICAL, BBC Sounds
by Cheryl Markosky - February 21, 2024

The Pandemic and its consequences, especially on 20- and 30-somethings, are explored in the BBC's world premiere of U.Me: The Complete Musical....

Review: DEATHTRAP, The Mill at Sonning
by Mica Blackwell - February 19, 2024

From the man behind Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives, Ira Levin's Deathtrap has scared and intrigued audiences since premiering in 1978. One of Broadway’s most successful plays and even spawning a film adaptation, The Mill at Sonning's latest production directed by Tam Williams proves why it s...

Review: HAUNTED SCOUSE, Liverpool's Royal Court
by Sarah OHara - February 19, 2024

Following the success of plays including Yellow Breck Road and Ellen and Rigby, writer Gerry Linford returns to Liverpool’s Royal Court with the heartwarming comedy-drama Haunted Scouse....

Review: HOUDINI'S GREATEST ESCAPE, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - February 16, 2024

Houdini’s Greatest Escape, put on by New Old Friends in association with Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, tells the story of the great escape artists Harry Houdini and his wife, Bess, as they travel to England with the hopes of being invited to perform at King Edward’s Royal Gala. But, things quickly take a t...

Review: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, Royal Shakespeare Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - February 15, 2024

Eleanor Rhode directs a modern version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, starring Mathew Baynton of Horrible Histories and Ghosts fame as Bottom, the fool who becomes one of several victims of fairy mischief. But, in a delightful twist, the star of the show is Puck, who was played by Premi Tamang due to...

Review: SOMETHING ABOUT GEORGE, Floral Pavilion Theatre
by Sarah OHara - February 05, 2024

Moving, poignant and with timeless classics that will have you singing throughout the night, if I could give more than 5 stars to Something About George, I would. It is a must see....

Review: CAN BEARS SKI?, The Arts Depot
by Christiana Rose - January 23, 2024

Can Bears Ski? explores the experiences of both hearing and Deaf characters and promotes familiarising relevant language such as ‘hearing’, ‘Deaf’, ‘British Sign Language’, ‘fingerspelling’, ‘lipreading’, ‘hearing aid’ – as well as modelling appropriate language and promoting positive representation...

Review: THE DRIFTERS GIRL, Bristol Hippodrome
by Tim Wright - January 11, 2024

It’s hard to tell the entire story of The Drifters. Not least because the group became a revolving door of something like 60 different members over the decades. And therein lies the problem for The Drifters Girl – it tries to take on the whole story, mainly from the perspective of their trailblazing...

Soundtrack Review: THE LITTLE BIG THINGS (ORIGINAL WEST END CAST RECORDING)
by Kerrie Nicholson - January 09, 2024

The way composer and lyricist Nick Butcher and lyricist Tom Ling have approached setting Henry’s story within the musical theatre realm makes for an incredibly exciting journey as a listener... ...

Book Review: RUNNING THE ROOM: CONVERSATIONS WITH WOMEN THEATRE DIRECTORS
by Cindy Marcolina - December 27, 2023

Running the Room isn’t a bible nor a manifesto. It doesn’t want to write a set of rules for directing plays, nor it wants to impart a Weltanschauung on how to become a director. It’s a source of inspiration and, more practically, a generous look into the practice of a selected group of people, who j...