UK Regional Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations

Review: BBC MUSICALS NIGHT, BBC Four and iPlayer
by Gary Naylor - March 24, 2025

Some diamonds in the rough, but why can't we choose for ourselves from the BBC archive?...

Review: ANGELA BARNES: ANGST, Leicester Square Theatre
by Kat Mokrynski - March 14, 2025

As one might guess from the title, the show delves into the anxiety that Barnes has faced over the years and how it has affected her life in both serious and funny moments. She also discusses other aspects of her personality, including how her synesthesia allows her to see abstract concepts as colou...

Review: THE HOUSE PARTY, Rose Theatre
by Aliya Al-Hassan - March 08, 2025

Sex, power, gender and class: August Strindberg's Miss Julie may have first been performed in 1889, but its themes live on. In Laura Lomas's vivid reimagining of the play, The House Party, a seemingly happy event becomes the chaotic centre for a night where misogyny and the insidious creep of social...

Review: CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, Birmingham Hippodrome
by Laura Lott - March 05, 2025

The current UK tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has several well-known names attached to it - Ore Oduba, Liam Fox and Charlie Brooks all feature - but there's no denying that the star of the show is the car itself. Part polished wood, part shining steel and fully extraordinary, Chitty enchants audien...

Review: EDWARD II, Swan Theatre
by Debbie Gilpin - March 06, 2025

'I'll bandy with the barons and the earls, and either die or live with Gaveston.' There has been much conjecture over the centuries as to the true nature of Edward II’s relationship with Piers Gaveston; were they friends, committed partners, or something in between? It’s not something for which we c...

Review: PICTURE YOU DEAD, Theatre Royal Brighton
by Caroline Cronin - March 05, 2025

Local Brightonian legend Peter James brings yet another slick adaption of his Roy Grace novella series to the stage on a six-month UK Tour....

Review: THE LAST LAUGH, Noël Coward Theatre
by Gary Naylor - February 27, 2025

Homage to much-loved comedians and their deceptively dangerous art...

Review: PRIDE & PREJUDICE (*SORT OF), Richmond Theatre
by Aliya Al-Hassan - February 25, 2025

How many ways can you re-tell Jane Austen? Isobel McArthur continues to prove it is more than possible to stage a show bursting with silliness, satire and the sharpest wit without losing the essence of Austen's beloved work....

Review: HAMLET, Starring Luke Thallon
by Cindy Marcolina - February 23, 2025

What do Shakespeare and James Cameron have in common? Before Rupert Goold took hold of the Bard’s tragic masterpiece, the answer would have been ‘nothing’. The soon-to-be artistic director of the Old Vic returns to the Royal Shakespeare Company after 14 years to offer a blockbuster Hamlet. Elsinore ...

Review: THE PEACEFUL HOUR, Liverpool's Royal Court
by Sarah OHara - February 21, 2025

Haunted Scouse and Yellow Breck Road writer Gerry Linford returns to Liverpool’s Royal Court with a brand new comedy drama, The Peaceful Hour - a five star, feel good show show that you will fall in love with....

Review: CINDERELLA, Birmingham Hippodrome
by Vikki Jane Vile - February 21, 2025

Sir David Bintley’s 2010 production of Cinderella has been long overdue an outing, and based on Wednesday’s opening night at Birmingham Hippodrome it is worth the wait. Thanks to Birmingham Royal Ballet’s fundraising efforts, the work now returns refreshed with restored costumes and a dazzling cast,...

Review: THE 39 STEPS, Salisbury Playhouse
by Katie Bourne - February 19, 2025

Adapted from Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller, Patrick Barlow’s The 39 Steps takes us on a chronicle of espionage as a begrudging bachelor embarks into a cat and mouse chase from London to the Scottish highlands as he uncovers the clandestine organisation of German spies....

Review: THE SHARK IS BROKEN, Richmond Theatre
by Aliya Al-Hassan - February 18, 2025

The premise of The Shark is Broken is deceptively simple; three men in a boat, waiting and talking. We meet the cast of a new film in 1974 when Bruce the mechanical shark, necessary for the whole shoot, is indeed broken. Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider, and Richard Dreyfuss would go on to star in the icon...

Review: BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF, Richmond Theatre
by Aliya Al-Hassan - February 13, 2025

After debuting at Liverpool's Royal Court and successful London and West End transfers, James Graham's adaptation of Alan Bleasdale’s iconic television series is now on a national tour. And what a good thing, as this is urgent and thoughtful theatre that deserves to be seen by as many people as poss...

Album Review: THINGS THAT COME AND GO, Hadley Fraser
by Cindy Marcolina - February 07, 2025

It’s a meticulously organised ten-track album. The songs are famous, but not so excessively that the line-up comes off as a redundant rehashing of standards or a vanity project. The piece has a consistent cohesion to it - sonically but also narratively, with the numbers living inside a bubble of mel...

Review: SUMMER 1954, Richmond Theatre
by Aliya Al-Hassan - January 28, 2025

Director James Dacre presents these two short dramas by Terence Rattigan under the banner title Summer 1954, the date when the action is set. An unusual pairing of these unshowy productions convey the intellectually astute and emotionally searing spirit of Rattigan’s writing....

Review: MACBETH, In Cinemas
by Cheryl Markosky - January 22, 2025

David Tennant and Cush Jumbo lead a first-rate cast in a raw, visceral, brutal and ultimately hopeful show filmed live at the Donmar Warehouse in London....

Review: LAST RITES, The North Wall Arts Centre
by Niamh Jones - January 17, 2025

Have you ever really stopped to consider the significance of sound, of speech, on everyday life… on theatre? Many of us take these things for granted, yet Ad Infinitum’s new play throws the realities of being deaf into sharp relief....

Review: WHITE CHRISTMAS, The Mill At Sonning
by Mica Blackwell - December 09, 2024

A gem of a show wrapped in a big red bow, White Christmas at the Mill at Sonning brings a dollop of Golden Age glitz and festive joy to the holiday season. With immaculate production value and a talented cast, I dare you to not leave the theatre counting your blessings instead of sheep....

Review: THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, Liverpool Playhouse
by Sarah OHara - December 06, 2024

One of the most exciting, enthralling and exceptional theatre shows of all time....

Review: THE GRAPES OF WRATH, National Theatre at Home
by Amber-Rae Stobbs - December 04, 2024

The National Theatre's Summer 2024 hit is now available on its streaming platform, National Theatre at Home...

Critics' Choice: Cheryl Markosky's Best Shows of 2024
by Cheryl Markosky - December 12, 2024

Grand dame Sian Phillips stealing the show, Adam Cooper giving an unexpected twirl and smaller theatre spaces punching above their weight. These are some of BroadwayWorld reviewer Cheryl Markosky's favourite theatre moments of 2024....

Review: PRESENT LAUGHTER, National Theatre At Home
by Amber-Rae Stobbs - November 29, 2024

A festive treat lands just in time for Christmas...

Review: ALICE IN WONDERLAND, Shakespeare North Playhouse
by Sarah OHara - November 27, 2024

The Shakespeare North Playhouse are taking audiences on an adventure into a timeless classic, in their production of Alice In Wonderland. However, instead of re-telling the famous story, writer Nick Lane and director Nathan Powell have re-invented the tale and given it a modern day twist....

Review: ROCK ‘N’ ROLL PANTOMIME: RAPUNZEL, Liverpool Everyman Theatre
by Sarah OHara - November 25, 2024

Written by Jude Christian and directed by Francesca Goodridge, this year’s Rock ‘n’ Roll pantomime is Rapunzel - a five star, fabulous, feel-good show that is perfect for all the family to enjoy....