BWW Reviews: CLOSER TO HEAVEN, Union Theatre, April 28 2015
Gary Naylor sees a musical that has much going for it, but is let down by a predictable script and some uneven singing and acting,
UK Regional Theater Reviews
The latest reviews and critic recommendations from UK Regional.
BWW Reviews: KING JOHN, Royal and Derngate, April 28 2015
Shakespeare's KING JOHN comes to a church where the real King actually visited, in Northampton's Royal and Derngate's co-production with Shakespeare's Globe - Verity Wilde was there for BroadwayWorld.
BWW Reviews: REBECCA, Birmingham Rep Theatre, April 27 2015
Daphne du Maurier's most famous novel Rebecca - written in 1938 - is spectacularly brought back to life by Kneehigh Theatre Company's current UK tour.
BWW Reviews: THE ROLLING STONE, The Royal Exchange, April 24 2015
10 years since its creation - The Royal Exchange Theatre's Bruntwood prize for Playwriting celebrated with a photo exhibition and the world premiere of one of 2013's winners - Chris Urch's The Rolling Stone.
BWW Reviews: RESULT, Pleasance Theatre, April 23 2015
Gary Naylor sees football brilliantly brought to life on stage in a cautionary tale about what happens when 18-year-old players are handed a professional contract and what happens when they are not.
BWW Reviews: CLARION, Arcola Theatre, April 22 2015
Gary Naylor sees a wonderfully funny swearfest of a comedy set in the moral cesspit of a newspaper not too dissimilar to one or two in a newsagent near you.
BWW Reviews: THE PRODUCERS, New Alexandra Theatre Birmingham, April 21 2015
The Producers, a Mel Brooks musical, has been a favourite of mine since I saw the Las Vegas production years ago starring David Hasselhoff - who was surprisingly good, I might add! The show had been condensed into an hour and a half straight through which worked well in my opinion.
BWW Reviews: SCARLET, Southwark Playhouse, April 17 2015
Gary Naylor sees a play full of innovation, one that could only have been written in the last year or two - a rare example of truly contemporary theatre staged in 2015.
BWW Reviews: CHEEK BY JOWL MEASURE FOR MEASURE, Silk Street Theatre Barbican, April 16 2015
Gary Naylor sees a visually stunning and powerful version of one of Shakespeare's problem plays, stripped back to its moral dilemmas
BWW Reviews: BOUNCERS, Old Rep Theatre Birmingham, April 17 2015
Bouncers remains a timeless piece and one of John Godber's most popular plays.
BWW Reviews: SASHA REGAN'S ALL-MALE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, Richmond Theatre, April 15 2015
Gary Naylor enjoys an unorthodox version of one of British Theatre's most performed shows - and finds it as modern and majorly entertaining as ever!
BWW Reviews: RUMPY PUMPY, Landor Theatre, April 14 2015
Gary Naylor sees a debut musical that has great songs and an important message, but needs to get more from its cast in order to reach its potential.
BWW Reviews: THRILL ME - THE LEOPOLD AND LOEB STORY, Greenwich Theatre, April 9 2015
Gary Naylor sees a scary, shocking, sordid evocation of a murder now 90 years in the past, but still capable of making one stop and think about whether we're really all that different from the psychopaths portrayed.
BWW Reviews: DEAD SHEEP, Park Theatre, April 2 2015
Gary Naylor enjoys a funny, and very scary, play that imagines just what may have happened to see off Margaret Thatcher, one of two politicians to win a secure majority in a UK election in the last 45 years.
BWW Reviews: PENELOPE RETOLD, Birmingham Rep Theatre, April 1 2015
Following a successful run at Derby Theatre as a companion piece to The Odyssey, Penelope Retold is now embarking on a national tour.
BWW Reviews: SPEND SPEND SPEND, Union Theatre, March 28 2015
Gary Naylor sees a musical adaptation of one of the icons of British 20th-century tabloid media, Viv Nicholson, who won the pools, lost a husband (or five) and gained the wisdom of late middle age - and survived.
BWW Reviews: CREDITORS, Brockley Jack Theatre, March 26 2015
Gary Naylor sees a claustrophobic examination of personalities on the edge of cracking, incapable of occupying the same space, yet lost without each other.
BWW Reviews: RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET, New Wimbledon Theatre, March 23 2015
Gary Naylor sees a 25th Anniversary Show of a classic musical that, even after all those performances, still has the feel of a first draft in need of a tidying-up.
BWW Reviews: PLAYING FOR TIME, Crucible, Sheffield, 18 Mar 2015
A haunting and wonderfully realised production of Fania Fenelon's memoir about her experience as a musician in Nazi concentration camps.
BWW Reviews: BETTY BLUE EYES, Old Rep Theatre Birmingham, March 19 2015
Birmingham Ormiston Academy (or BOA as it is fondly known) may already be on your radar but if it isn't, you won't escape it for much longer.
BWW Reviews: SHRAPNEL: 34 FRAGMENTS OF A MASSACRE, Arcola Theatre, March 16 2015
Gary Naylor sees a fierce condemnation of the multi-faceted situation that led to 34 men, many of them teenagers, losing their lives on a mountain pass between Turkey and Iraq.
BWW Reviews: ENGLISH TOURING OPERA - LA BOHEME, Hackney Empire, March 13 2015
Gary Naylor sees a tremendously impassioned production of Puccini's masterpiece, its power given full rein by musicians and singers who can fill a large theatre with this magical opera.
BWW Reviews: ENGLISH TOURING OPERA - THE WILD MAN OF THE WEST INDIES, Hackney Empire, March 12 2015
Gary Naylor sees a rare revival of one of Gaetano Donizetti's many works and finds it lovely to listen to and as packed with emotion as one has come to expect from Italian opera.
BWW Reviews: THE SIEGE OF CALAIS, Hackney Empire, March 7 2015
Gary Naylor sees a reminder of the persistence of the brutality of war sung wonderfully well with the power of an orchestra in the pit and a libretto that does not flinch in the face of horror.
BWW Reviews: YARICO, London Theatre Workshop, March 6 2015
Gary Naylor sees a show full of great songs and strong performances and the professional debut of Liberty Buckland - a name to remember.
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GETTING REKT (The Evening Star) The Union Theatre (9/21-9/24) |
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Count Arthur Strong - And Its Goodnight From Me! King's Hall (4/21-4/21) |
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LOLA: Live! Upstairs at the Gatehouse (9/19-9/19) |
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Fascinating Aida Scarborough Spa Theatre (2/20-2/20) |
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Carols at the Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall (12/19-12/24) |
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Love's Labour's Lost Upstairs at the Gatehouse (10/08-10/11) |
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Fuel Injected Magic! 50th Anniversary Concert Vaillant Live, Derby (11/04-11/04) |
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Drag Bingo UK: '80s Edition Venue16 (10/24-10/24) |
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Murder Trial Tonight V - Death in the Family O2 City Hall Newcastle (3/27-3/27) |
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Jack the Ripper: Theatre show Kingskerswell Kingskerswell Village hall (11/14-11/14) |