UK REGIONAL THEATER REVIEWS

The Unreturning follows the fallout of war through the story of three different men returning from the Front Line....

There's much promise in this play that speculates on what Sigmund Freud and Gustav Mahler may have spoken about on a walk they shared, but pedestrian writing and underdeveloped characters scupper any chance of its reaching its potential....

To Have To Shoot Irishmen brings the tragic story of Francis Sheehy Skeffington to the stage, with music and lyricism, a reminder of Ireland's fractured past and a warning about its fragile present....

First performed at the Royal Court in 2009, Mike Bartlett's play Cock has been revived as part of the Chichester Festival season at the Minerva Theatre, following on from Michael Frayn's Copenhagen. Despite being written almost a decade ago, the themes of this play are arguably more relevant now tha...

A raucous take on the play-within-a-play is a real highlight of this new take on Shakespeare's tale of love and magic....

Another scaled down opera, retaining full force singing and emotional clout, from the King's Head, Violetta now a pole dancer in a sleazy Bristol nightclub....

Katori Hall's The Mountaintop invites us to step into the private life of Martin Luther King for one night; one that hangs suspended in time, between his achievements and his final breath....

If you have never heard of Jacques Brel, this show serves as a useful introduction to his life and work, but it lacks the confident execution his songs demand....

Lorca's masterpiece transported and updated to present day London, but retaining its power to shock as it lays bare the souls of men and women....

Chris Bush's new play about women in the Labour party is a must-see....

Like the English at Agincourt, Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory aren't unshaken, but they are victorious. Elizabeth Freestone's direction is austere, with the action playing out in a darkly industrial dystopia characterised by Lily Arnold's greyed costumes and frayed edges, steely drama and gravel...

A spectacular re-imaging of Shakespeare's tale of mistaken identities, cross-dressing and cruelty time-traveled to a speakeasy populated by extraordinary actor-musicians....

Opening with its world premiere at Nuffield Southampton Theatres' City venue, Women in Power gives life to a classic Greek comedy, bringing it into the twenty-first century with music, mayhem and mischevious humour....

This version of the life of Hamilton - not that one, Hamilton (Lewis) - is a lot of fun for anyone in that crossover in the venn diagram for fans of Formula One and Musical Theatre. And, fortunately for the box office, plenty that are not....

Hobson's Choice is given a late 50s makeover in this fine revival of a play the themes of which remain as relevant today as ever they were....

After opening to critical acclaim in 2009, the Original Theatre Company in collaboration with York Theatre Royal are bringing back Alan Bennett's The Habit of Art in its first revival since the original sell-out run. Centred around a fictional meeting between two of the 20th century's most influenti...

If people really do have layers, then Yasmina Reza's God Of Carnage is 80 minutes of stripping them away. Removing the layers of politeness and civility one by one until you're left with the core, for better or worse....

Caterpillar takes us to a seaside town guesthouse within which three dysfunctional people circle each other, troubled and needy....

Christopher Marlowe's tale of relentless, ruthless ambition has a Game of Thrones vibe and a distressingly familiar topicality...

Charlotte Jones's new play for nearly a decade, The Meeting, is an emotional twister that evokes concerns about female empowerment, treatment of those who are different, and the limitations of religious teachings....

A demanding, but rewarding, production of Britten's opera about ancient Rome, with plenty of lessons for today....

The tragic story of a student resistance group in wartime Munich told with skill and commitment by a talented cast....

The annual show from Sheffield People's Theatre is a crowd-pleasing musical about the importance of community and the idea of 'home'....

Ever since John Waters introduced us to Tracy Turnblad and co in his cult 1988 film, audiences have come to expect big voices, big dance numbers and even bigger hair. Luckily, the 2017/18 touring production of Hairspray delivers in a production that is colourful, energetic and full of soul....

Birdsong, based on the book by Sebastian Faulks, is a brutal and beautiful observation of war and remembrance, with this new revival touring in time for the Armistice centenary this November....