UK Regional Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 20

BWW Review: BREXIT, King's Head Theatre
by Gary Naylor - June 13, 2019

Brexit looks at, well, Brexit and finds comedy in the twists and turns it forces upon the new Prime Minister, Adam Masters - but the jokes could be funnier and the satire more biting....

BWW Review: THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, Grand Opera House York
by Sarah Ryan - June 11, 2019

Richard O'Brien's Rocky Horror Show has had audiences worldwide shivering in 'antici...pation!' for more than 40 years, and shows no sign of stopping with its 2019 world tour....

BWW Review: FORCE OF NATURE NATALIA, Curzon Mayfair
by Gary Naylor - June 08, 2019

Force Of Nature gives us an unprecedented up close and personal insight of the work of Royal Ballet Principal, Natalia Osipova, but leaves us wanting to know more about the woman who animates the dancer....

BWW Review: BLACK TEETH AND A BRILLIANT SMILE, The Ambassador Bradford
by Sarah Ryan - June 04, 2019

Adapted by Freedom Studios from Adelle Stripe's critically acclaimed novel of the same name, Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile is a fictionalised account of Dunbar's brief but turbulent life. Adapted by screenwriter Lisa Holdsworth and directed by Kash Arshad, the play is performed by an entirely fe...

BWW Review: VENICE PRESERVED, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
by Gary Naylor - May 31, 2019

Prasanna Puwanarajah's revival of Venice Preserved brings the look of the show right up to date - its narrative is very 21st century, so needed nothing....

BWW Review: THE AUDIENCE, Nuffield Southampton Theatres
by Jo Fisher - May 30, 2019

As the United Kingdom waits to see who will be the next prime minister, a production focusing on the relationship between PM and the Queen could not be more perfectly timed....

BWW Review: USER NOT FOUND, The CoffeeWorks Project, Battersea Power Station
by Gary Naylor - May 23, 2019

USER NOT FOUND plunges us into the very contemporary and very real issues concerning one's digital legacy. Do you hit the big red button and kill ?that person again? Or do you let them live on, haunting ever diminishing spaces in the digital world?...

BWW Review: RICHARD III, Royal and Derngate
by Verity Wilde - May 17, 2019

Held together by a mesmerising performance by Tom Mothersdale, Headlong's production of Richard III races along at such a pace that it's only after it stops that you realise exactly how much ground they have managed to cover. In John Haidar's hands, one of the very longest of Shakespeare's plays is ...

BWW Review: HAPPY JACK, Jack Studio Theatre
by Gary Naylor - May 17, 2019

Happy Jack is an early play by John Godber full of working class warmth tempered with a hard edge of social criticism....

BWW Review: UTE LEMPER: RENDEZVOUS WITH MARLENE, Arcola Theatre
by Gary Naylor - May 16, 2019

Ute Lemper: Rendezvous with Marlene sees a living legend portraying a now lost legend - up close and personal and a privilege to see....

BWW Review: THE LAST TEMPTATION OF BORIS JOHNSON, Park Theatre
by Gary Naylor - May 13, 2019

Jonathan Maitland delivers a satirical take on Brexit in general and Boris Johnson in particular, that lacks the insight and the jokes required to do justice to its source material's rich potential....

BWW Review: THE PROVOKED WIFE, Swan Theatre
by Gary Naylor - May 10, 2019

The Provoked Wife combines tremendous comedy with a hard-edged look at human nature and the institutions that underpin society - as relevant today as when it was written over 300 years ago....

BWW Review: MATILDA THE MUSICAL, Bristol Hippodrome
by Tim Wright - May 10, 2019

Children are just revolting aren't they? They're snivelling maggots that need discipline, discipline and more discipline. Agatha Trunchbull's teaching mantra may not fill most with hope but in the context of Matilda the Musical it brings sheer delight. This is a musical that will have maggots of all...

BWW Review: Gerald Santos Comes Full Circle in Homecoming Concert
by Jude Buot - May 08, 2019

Back in Manila from his two-year stint as Thuy in the UK/Ireland and International tour of 'Miss Saigon,' Gerald Santos is now a certified crossover artist. In his homecoming concert last Saturday, May 4, at the Theatre at Solaire, Santos filled his repertoire with songs from musical theater and fro...

BWW Review: BARBER SHOP CHRONICLES, Bristol Old Vic
by Tim Wright - May 04, 2019

'It's your pub' says Winston, about the Three Kings Barber shop in London. The African barbers at the shop don't drink, so the barber shop has become the hub of the community. It's the place to watch the football, recount stories and tell jokes....

BWW Review: SHADOWLANDS, Chichester Festival Theatre
by Gary Naylor - May 03, 2019

Shadowlands can feel a little outdated, but it wins you over with the warmth and wit of the characters and two wonderful performances from Hugh Bonneville and Liz White....

BWW Review: DEAD DOG IN A SUITCASE (AND OTHER LOVE SONGS), Nuffield Southampton Theatres
by Jo Fisher - May 02, 2019

Opera isn't dead. In fact, it's alive and kicking off thanks to Kneehigh's reimagining of John Gay's The Beggars Opera, which takes on the new and riotous form of Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs)....

BWW Review: GHOSTS, Royal and Derngate
by Verity Wilde - May 02, 2019

Mike Poulton's new version of Ibsen's Ghosts will play on your nerves and force you to confront some dark truths....

BWW Review: HELL YES I'M TOUGH ENOUGH, Park Theatre
by Gary Naylor - May 01, 2019

Ben Alderton takes swipes at every stripe in the political rainbow, but lacks the precision required to bring a plague on all their houses....

BWW Review: EMPTY ROOM, Camden People's Theatre
by Gary Naylor - April 30, 2019

Miriam Gould's portrait of herself and her parents is as personal as one would expect, but its also beautifully judged and accessible, weaving music in and out of its narrative to great effect....

BWW Review: MARKET BOY, The Union Theatre
by Gary Naylor - April 26, 2019

Market Boy takes us back to the days of George and Andrew with plenty of bad boys in Romford. And it tells us a fair bit about 2019 en route....

BWW Review: AIN'T MISBEHAVIN', Southwark Playhouse
by Gary Naylor - April 25, 2019

Ain't Misbehavin' crashes through the gloom of Brexity Britain with bangin' tunes and bubbly bantz. Looks good, sounds good and makes you feel good....

BWW Review: GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, Theatre Royal Brighton
by Fiona Scott - April 24, 2019

The curtain rises at the Theatre Royal to reveal a heavily decked-out Chinese restaurant, with a sea of red lanterns hanging from polystyrene roof tiles. This is the opening of David Mamet's 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross, which is making its Brighton stop on its current UK Tou...

BWW Review: OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY, Southwark Playhouse
by Gary Naylor - April 24, 2019

Other People's Money shows us that the misogyny and avarice scrawled on social media and polluting today's politics, can trace its roots back 30 years at least....

BWW Review: OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD, Tobacco Factory Theatres
by Tim Wright - April 24, 2019

It's a sensible time to be tackling Timberlake Wertenbaker's modern classic Our Country's Good. The role of theatre in society is ripe for the examination, as cuts bite arts institutions and school curriculums alike. The question is, what is there to be gained by putting on a play?...