UK Regional Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 14

BWW Review: SHEDDING A SKIN, Soho Theatre
by Paige Cochrane - March 05, 2022

Myah is in her thirties, recently single, homeless, now unemployed, and agonizingly uncomfortable in her own skin. After a tense weekend at her parents it's time to get her life together... again....

BWW Review: RICHARD II, Jack Studio Theatre
by Gary Naylor - February 25, 2022

A boutique Shakespeare, some of the religious aspects of the play are sacrificed for a version that proves to be an accessible, psychological political thriller....

BWW Review: TELL ME STRAIGHT, Chiswick Playhouse
by Abbie Grundy - February 17, 2022

Tell Me Straight is a hilarious exploration of the world of modern dating: Grindr, miscommunication and awkward romps at the back of a cinema. Led by Paul Bradshaw, the play is a semi-autobiographical glimpse into one man's search for love in London....

BWW Review: THE RED LION, Bristol Old Vic
by Tim Wright - February 09, 2022

Football is not a subject often tackled in the theatre. The Red Lion though is set a world away from the riches of the professional game. Here we find the kit man, the manager and a talented, young prospect – all in the changing room of the semi-pro non-league game....

BWW Review: PURPLE SNOWFLAKES AND TITTY WANKS, Royal Court
by Paige Cochrane - February 04, 2022

What do nuns, granola bars and a string of pearls all have in common? It sounds like the start of a bad joke but really, they’re all part of Sarah Hanly’s vibrant one-woman show, Purple Snowflakes and Titty Wanks....

BWW Review: DR SEMMELWEIS, Bristol Old Vic
by Tim Wright - January 27, 2022

'Doctors must not carry their ghosts,' advises Johann Klein to his impatient assistant Dr Ignaz Semmelweis, a 19th-century obstetrics doctor. But Semmelweis is troubled: he feels it is only by carrying those ghosts that progress can be made....

BWW Review: DOUBT: A PARABLE, Chichester Festival Theatre
by Paige Cochrane - January 28, 2022

John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Doubt: A Parable, is a court room built to question your understanding of integrity. Chichester Festival Theatre's offering is equally sharp and profound, echoing the vast ambiguity and loss of faith hidden within a pursuit of righteousness....

BWW Review: 9 TO 5, King's Theatre, Glasgow
by Fiona Scott - January 26, 2022

On the day that Nicola Sturgeon announced home-working Scots could once again return to the office, theatre fans could tumble out of bed and stumble down to the King’s Theatre Glasgow to catch 9 to 5, the first touring show to play there since Scottish venue capacities were relaxed last week....

BWW Review: THRILL ME: THE LEOPOLD & LOEB STORY, Jermyn Street Theatre
by Paige Cochrane - January 19, 2022

In Chicago, 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb each receive life, plus 99 years, for the despicable murder and kidnapping of 14-year-old Bobby Franks....

BWW Review: OZ, Tobacco Factory Theatres
by Shane Morgan - December 17, 2021

This year, Pins and Needles Productions, in league with Bristol’s Tobacco Factory Theatre makes a reliably bold move by taking something familiar and confounding expectations every step of the way....

BWW Review: STRAIGHT WHITE MEN, Southwark Playhouse
by Paige Cochrane - November 17, 2021

What happens when Christmas Day becomes a playing ground to expose the tangible relationship between privilege and identity? Written by Young Jean Lee, Straight White Men is an ambitious study of those who gain the most from the world and their awareness of the power they possess....

BWW Review: DRACULA: THE UNTOLD STORY, Liverpool Playhouse
by Abbie Grundy - October 17, 2021

One would assume that beyond the original novel and the 200+ films made in his honour, there is little more to explore surrounding the lore of Bram Stoker's most iconic villain. Yet in true Imitating the Dog fashion, the innovative theatre company sparks new life into the traditional tale, proving t...

BWW Review: THE CHERRY ORCHARD, Theatre Royal Windsor
by Gary Naylor - October 15, 2021

Francesca Annis is in show-stealing form in Chekhov's masterpiece of changing times in a Windsor I last saw on television coverage of Harry and Meghan's wedding - appropriately enough....

BWW Review: BLOOD BROTHERS, King's Theatre, Glasgow
by Fiona Scott - October 06, 2021

Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers has returned to our stages. The moving story follows two brothers born in Liverpool who are separated at birth, destined to lead very different, only to meet again with tragic consequences. Now in its 30th year, the most recent UK tour is currently playing the King’s T...

BWW Review: GROAN UPS, King's Theatre
by Fiona Scott - September 29, 2021

​Are we really that different from who we were at school? Mischief Theatre’s Groan Ups takes a light-hearted look at this question. This comedy, a diversion from Mischief’s usual “goes wrong” flavour of plays, tugs at the heartstrings but still leaves you in stitches....

BWW Review: SHINING CITY, Theatre Royal Stratford East
by Gary Naylor - September 24, 2021

Men who have behaved badly fail to communicate in Conor McPherson's reflection on guilt, emotional intelligence and a kind of redemption...

BWW Review: THE CO-OP, Jack Studio Theatre
by Gary Naylor - September 23, 2021

When Charlie joins Jimmy and Cazza's acting agency, things go badly and well all at the same time in an absurdist comedy...

BWW Review: CALL ME MADAM, Upstairs at the Gatehouse
by Gary Naylor - September 15, 2021

Escapist, dated nonsense, but such fun and beautifully done....

BWW Review: THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE, Minerva Theatre, Chichester
by Gary Naylor - September 10, 2021

This landmark play in Anglo-Irish drama gets a superb revival in a space that could have been designed exactly for its claustrophobic tale of familial obligations and missed opportunities...

BWW Review: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, Leeds Playhouse
by Gary Naylor - July 09, 2021

A wonderful revival of a show, marrying beautiful music and singing with poignancy and wit...

BWW Review: THE GIRL NEXT DOOR at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough UK
by Michael T. Mooney - June 29, 2021

Ayckbourn's 85th play filmed for streaming....

BWW Review: IOLANTHE, The Roman Theatre St Albans
by Gary Naylor - June 17, 2021

Fantastical fairies and pompous politicians collide in this sweet satire, one of Britain's favourite operas....

BWW Review: L'EGISTO, Cockpit Theatre
by Gary Naylor - June 07, 2021

Hampstead Garden Opera bring a slice of 17th century Venetian sensibility to our Covidy times....

BWW Review: ANGELA, Online
by Shane Morgan - March 26, 2021

The act of story telling is always a selfless undertaking. Putting words to stories that are fact or fiction should always be an authentic process. Not only is Mark Ravenhill’s ‘Angela’ deeply personal, it also comes steeped in love as an act of unflinching generosity....

BWW Review: THE COLOR PURPLE - AT HOME, Curve@Home Online
by Fiona Scott - February 17, 2021

Reviewing the Curve Theatre’s gorgeous concert revival of The Color Purple feels timely in more ways than one: not only is it an apt choice of programming during Black History Month, but tonight’s press night is the same day as the conclusion of a long and drawn-out employment tribunal linked to a p...