Mickey-Jo Boucher

As households around the country begin to plan their festive feasts, the delightful Mill at Sonning in Berkshire already has theirs well in hand.

What happens when the roles an actor will play in a show are left entirely to chance?

One thing is certain in the world of theatre: there will always be revivals of Gypsy. The combination of Arthur Laurents' layered book, Jule Styne's razzmatazz-filled score and the incisive, character-driven lyrics by Stephen Sondheim has made the show an enduring hit.

The ever enchanting Watermill Theatre in Newbury could hardly have hoped for more atmospheric weather to mark the opening night of their latest show, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher. The distant thunderclaps and bucketing rain seemed perfectly placed to instill a disquieting mood as the audience arrived for an evening of Victorian true crime. 

For what it's worth, I think Emily Brontë would probably love this new production of her then controversial 19th century novel, Wuthering Heights.

Beginning as a writer some decades into his acting career, Ian Hallard cites his motivations for The Way Old Friends Do, his first play, as providing a means for him to portray a dream role. Namely, Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA's girl with the golden hair.

An autobiographical piece, it acquaints its audience with Brian, an eccentric American writer living with HIV. Per the name of the play, he is also frantically putting together a pitch for a musical using Madonna's discography, a project he fears is being impeded by his current medication.

Billed as a romantic comedy, the eye-catching poster artwork courtesy of Oink Creative seems to promise a sort of European '9 to 5', but upon closer inspection the play scarcely lives up to this colourful concept. What's the French for beige?

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is not an easy play to watch, rather a theatrical storm that must be endured with three contempt-filled acts making up a three and a half hour runtime.

Just over a year after the opening of its West End run at the Duke of York’s Theatre, the critically acclaimed production remains a singularly thrilling piece of storytelling.

West of London, the Mill at Sonning is hugged on either side by the Thames and neighbours George Clooney’s 17th century mansion. The venue, which provides all its audience members with a sumptuous buffet dinner before the evening’s entertainment, is currently hosting a toe-tapping revival of Top Hat, their 2021 Christmas show which has returned for more ovations.

Audrey Brisson is a quirky intrigue at 4’10”. With little capacity to seem towering and imposing, Brisson has instead perfected the subtleties that are available to her, her ever widening eyes and steadily creeping sneer betray volumes about the conflict raging within the respectable Victorian gentlemen she portrays.

At its core, Trio’s biggest wound is a self-inflicted one. It undercuts its own capacity for dramatic impact due to its structure, with each character taking turns to discuss the events of their tumultuous shared history in the past tense, emotionally removed from each historic detail and inherently dispassionate.

Six years after it closed in the West End, the first new staging of Billy Elliot The Musical has opened at the Leicester Curve, made possible by liaison with the original filmmakers. Though it is a bold departure in many ways from the beloved original production, its story endures and continues to resonate strongly with British theatregoers and theatremakers alike.