UK REGIONAL THEATER REVIEWS

Prior to a UK tour beginning next month, the Old Joint Stock Musical Theatre Company are currently presenting American Idiot at their resident home in Birmingham. Winner of two Tony Awards, the show opened to great acclaim on Broadway in 2010 after a short out-of-town run and has enjoyed productions...

One of Noel Coward's most enduring comedies, Private Lives follows the improbable tale of divorced couple Elyot and Amanda, both now re-married to Sybil and Victor respectively, who manage to honeymoon at the same hotel in the South of France, at the same time, and in adjacent rooms. Following a cha...

Gary Naylor sees a Hamlet (well, three Hamlets) in Peckham that tells its tale with great clarity and no little wit....

The Sheffield Theatres/Eclipse Theatres production shows that Lorraine Hansberry's classic play is as fresh today as when it was first written....

Gary Naylor sees an important and perfectly scripted and acted play about power in the workplace and consent outside it....

Based on Moliere's Les Femmes Savantes, The Sisterhood is currently playing at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry. The production is directed by their Artistic Director Hamish Glen and has been relocated in time from the late 1600's to the 1980's; visually a complete contradiction but relevant based on ...

As 2016 marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, we will be treated to a year of exciting and innovative programming inspired by the Bard. Macbeth, directed by Carrie Cracknell and Lucy Guerin, is the first of three Shakespearean productions at The Birmingham Rep this year. Explored using...

Gary Naylor sees a no holds barred parable of life on the edges of society amongst kids who have never developed the moral compass to survive in a society....

Following a remarkably successful live cinema broadcast across Europe in September last year, The Rocky Horror Show is still riding the wave of its 40th anniversary celebrations. The year-long UK tour kicked off in December and last night brought the house down at the New Alexandra Theatre in Birmin...

Gary Naylor sees a clever and funny satire about the way social media has gripped our lives and the way Facebook has gripped social media,...

The Snowman has been a widely recognised and fondly regarded book and film since its conception by Raymond Briggs in the late 1970's. It has had an annual Christmas TV slot since 1982 and the 26-minute film was even nominated for an Academy Award - not bad considering it derived from a children's pi...

Gary Naylor sees an innovative and stylish adaptation of Doctore Jekyll and Mr Hyde which, somewhat appropriately, is good in parts....

Gary Naylor sees an interesting and important idea exploited both for its comic potential and as a warning about the powers of demagoguery....

Gary Naylor sees a superbly acted, tension-packed slice of 1960s American life based on a true story delivered in a venue ideally suited to its material....

Gary Naylor sees a powerful and important production that is of its time, but speaks with a loud and clear voice to our own....

Gary Naylor sees the well executed European premiere of a musical based on a cult classic movie, but is left ill at ease about its content....

Pantomime is old hat in this country with hundreds of productions taking place across the UK each Christmas period. But how can the format be given a fresh spin and shaken up a little? Why not put it in the largest auditorium that a pantomime has ever played! Performing to just under 5000 people eac...

Daniel Evan's final Christmas musical at the Crucible is full of heart and life/...

After seeing a similar panto production of Peter Pan at Birmingham Hippodrome a few years, Qdos Entertainment have rolled it out to the Wolverhampton Grand this Christmas, starring the Chuckle Brothers and John Altman. With stunning sets, flying and plenty of gags, what more can you ask for!...

Gary Naylor sees another fine and funny pantomime from the boutique opera company that never misses the chance to lower the baritone if there's laughs to be had....

The dust has only recently settled on the last production of Hairspray at the Curve in Leicester but now this production is on the road across the UK. Based on the packed house at the New Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham last night, it's proven itself to be a show that people will return to. It's jus...

Gary Naylor sees an adult panto in which everyone has a lot of fun with the usual mix of crazy costumes and corny quips....

Mr Solihull panto himself Malcolm Stent is back for his 25th consecutive pantomime at Solihull Arts Complex this year in which he writes, directs and stars. Aladdin sees a talented cast of both familiar and fresh faces returning to the newly refurbished auditorium and front of house areas at the the...

The world premiere of David Walliams' Gangsta Granny, brilliantly adapted by the Birmingham Stage Company, turned out to be a star-studded event indeed; the Britain's Got Talent judge was there in person, creating quite a stir amongst the children in the audience. It's small wonder really - his book...

Gary Naylor sees an ambitious and original concept for musical theatre that does not reach its potential due to both creative and technical flaws....