UK REGIONAL THEATER REVIEWS

'Measure still for measure': justice is still a tricky concept. Gregory Doran's insightful realisation of Shakespeare's notorious 'problem play' highlights Measure for Measure's enduring, perhaps even increasing, relevance....

Summer Rolls takes us into the heart of a British Vietnamese family that is struggling to deal with the present, a consequence of the long shadow cast by the past....

Crooked Dances takes us deep into the French forest and deep into the mysteries of the occult, as go-getting journalist, Katy, learns more than she would like about reclusive pianist Silvia and her obsession with the music of Erik Satie....

More than a decade after Khaled Hosseini's best-selling novel was published, the same much-adored story has taken to the stage....

It's 1964 and Cassius Clay has just beaten the odds to become Heavyweight Champion of the World. But, instead of celebrating on the town, he's in a hotel room star NFL running back Jim Brown, soul icon Sam Cooke and Muslim minister and activist Malcolm X....

The world premiere of Anthony McCarten's (The Theory of Everything, Bohemian Rhapsody, Darkest Hour) play The Pope at Royal and Derngate looks at a turning point moment in the Catholic Church - the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI and his replacement with Pope Francis. Two popes living, but more than...

The one-time highly controversial David Hare play still packs a punch and a message that seems, if anything, even more insistent in these Austerity / Brexit days....

Driving Miss Daisy, Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer-winning 1987 play made famous by a 1989 film adaptation starring Morgan Freeman, is brought back to the stage in a new production by York Theatre Royal....

Brexit looks at, well, Brexit and finds comedy in the twists and turns it forces upon the new Prime Minister, Adam Masters - but the jokes could be funnier and the satire more biting....

Richard O'Brien's Rocky Horror Show has had audiences worldwide shivering in 'antici...pation!' for more than 40 years, and shows no sign of stopping with its 2019 world tour....

Force Of Nature gives us an unprecedented up close and personal insight of the work of Royal Ballet Principal, Natalia Osipova, but leaves us wanting to know more about the woman who animates the dancer....

Adapted by Freedom Studios from Adelle Stripe's critically acclaimed novel of the same name, Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile is a fictionalised account of Dunbar's brief but turbulent life. Adapted by screenwriter Lisa Holdsworth and directed by Kash Arshad, the play is performed by an entirely fe...

Prasanna Puwanarajah's revival of Venice Preserved brings the look of the show right up to date - its narrative is very 21st century, so needed nothing....

As the United Kingdom waits to see who will be the next prime minister, a production focusing on the relationship between PM and the Queen could not be more perfectly timed....

USER NOT FOUND plunges us into the very contemporary and very real issues concerning one's digital legacy. Do you hit the big red button and kill ?that person again? Or do you let them live on, haunting ever diminishing spaces in the digital world?...

Held together by a mesmerising performance by Tom Mothersdale, Headlong's production of Richard III races along at such a pace that it's only after it stops that you realise exactly how much ground they have managed to cover. In John Haidar's hands, one of the very longest of Shakespeare's plays is ...

Happy Jack is an early play by John Godber full of working class warmth tempered with a hard edge of social criticism....

Ute Lemper: Rendezvous with Marlene sees a living legend portraying a now lost legend - up close and personal and a privilege to see....

Jonathan Maitland delivers a satirical take on Brexit in general and Boris Johnson in particular, that lacks the insight and the jokes required to do justice to its source material's rich potential....

The Provoked Wife combines tremendous comedy with a hard-edged look at human nature and the institutions that underpin society - as relevant today as when it was written over 300 years ago....

Children are just revolting aren't they? They're snivelling maggots that need discipline, discipline and more discipline. Agatha Trunchbull's teaching mantra may not fill most with hope but in the context of Matilda the Musical it brings sheer delight. This is a musical that will have maggots of all...

Back in Manila from his two-year stint as Thuy in the UK/Ireland and International tour of 'Miss Saigon,' Gerald Santos is now a certified crossover artist. In his homecoming concert last Saturday, May 4, at the Theatre at Solaire, Santos filled his repertoire with songs from musical theater and fro...

'It's your pub' says Winston, about the Three Kings Barber shop in London. The African barbers at the shop don't drink, so the barber shop has become the hub of the community. It's the place to watch the football, recount stories and tell jokes....

Shadowlands can feel a little outdated, but it wins you over with the warmth and wit of the characters and two wonderful performances from Hugh Bonneville and Liz White....

Opera isn't dead. In fact, it's alive and kicking off thanks to Kneehigh's reimagining of John Gay's The Beggars Opera, which takes on the new and riotous form of Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs)....