UK Regional Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 50

BWW Reviews: LEAR, Union Theatre, June 7 2014
by Gary Naylor - June 08, 2014

Gary Naylor sees a Lear who walks among us as her (yes, this Lear is a woman) mind comes and goes and her daughters squabble over the prizes she so foolishly has allocated. There are lessons too - for state and family - today....

BWW Reviews: AN AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY LARK, Rose Theatre Kingston, June 4 2014
by Gary Naylor - June 05, 2014

Gary Naylor sees a new play, with lots of music, dancing and singing, set in a traditional Lancashire village as love blossoms, war looms and everyone pays a price....

BWW Reviews: SPOKESONG, Finborough Theatre, May 26 2014
by Gary Naylor - May 27, 2014

Gary Naylor sees a production of a play about what the United Kingdom means to its peoples, the first London production for 37 years, but timely in 2014 when such questions arise again, albeit in a completely different context....

BWW Reviews: JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN, Southwark Playhouse, May 23 2014
by Gary Naylor - May 25, 2014

Gary Naylor sees a timely revival of Bradley Rand Smith's adaptation of Dalton Trumbo's cri-de-coeur novel centred on a soldier left with just a mind and a torso by a shell on the battlefield of 1918. 70 minutes of intense exploration of a broken man's mind follows....

BWW Reviews: SIZWE BANZI IS DEAD, Crucible Studio, Sheffield, May 20, 2014
by Ruth Deller - May 21, 2014

Eclipse Theatre Company's production of the Tony Award-winning Sizwe Banzi is Dead is currently on a brief national tour after its Young Vic run. The 95-minute one-act play focuses on the lives of two men - Styles and Sizwe Banzi - in apartheid-era South Africa....

BWW Reviews: CATCH 22, Birmingham Rep, May 20 2014
by Jenny Antill - May 21, 2014

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller has been dubbed one of the greatest literary works of the 20th Century. The book was published in 1961 followed by a feature film in 1970 directed by Mike Nichols. The story is set in World War II and focuses on a group of US Army Air Force men - one in particular called Ca...

BWW Reviews: BOEING BOEING, Crucible, Sheffield, 19 May 2014
by Ruth Deller - May 20, 2014

It makes a change for a farce to take centre stage at the Crucible, but Sheffield Theatres are celebrating this summer with their take on Boeing Boeing, Marc Camoletti's classic comedy about a man trying to keep up three relationships with air hostesses...

BWW Reviews: BUDDY, Wolverhampton Grand, May 19 2014
by Jenny Antill - May 20, 2014

Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story - has been seen by over 22 million people worldwide and has since been dubbed 'the world's most successful rock'n'roll musical'. Within his short two year career, he wrote some supremely iconic music and influenced successive artists who wished to follow in Buddy's foot...

BWW Reviews: ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS, Lyceum, Sheffield 15 May 2014
by Ruth Deller - May 18, 2014

The National Theatre's production of One Man, Two Guvnors is currently on an extensive tour of the country. This version stars Gavin Spokes as Francis Henshall, the man caught between two guvnors, and he is ably supported by a cast of familiar faces, including three former EastEnders stars (Jasmyn B...

BWW Reviews: IN THE HEIGHTS,The Southwark Playhouse, May 15 2014
by Alice Chappell - May 16, 2014

Possibly today's coolest show in London, Lin Manuel-Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes's stunning rap musical inpires a generation to learn rumba break dancing....

BWW Reviews: DESDEMONA: A PLAY ABOUT A HANDKERCHIEF, Park Theatre, May 15 2014
by Gary Naylor - May 16, 2014

Gary Naylor sees one of Shakespeare's greatest plays told from the perspective of the women and finds that they are rather different when talking amongst themselves than when they speak to their menfolk....

Aletia Upstairs Presents MATA HARI at Brighton Fringe 2014, May 10-12
by BWW News Desk - May 09, 2014

Aletia Upstairs presents MATA HARI....

BWW Reviews: BRASSED OFF, Lyceum, Sheffield, 7 May 2014
by Ruth Deller - May 08, 2014

30 years since the miners' strikes, this touring production of Brassed Off offers the audience much to laugh at, much to ponder and a good dollop of brass band music....

BWW Reviews: NOEL COWARD'S ACE OF CLUBS, Union Theatre, May 9 2014
by Gary Naylor - May 10, 2014

Gary Naylor sees one of Sir Noel Coward's less performed works staged in exactly the right venue for its mix of light comedy, gentle suspense and tremendously witty songs....

BWW Reviews: DEAD AT LAST, NO MORE AIR, Camden People's Theatre, May 7 2014
by Gary Naylor - May 08, 2014

Gary Naylor sees a German play that provokes thought, disgust and a certain admiration, but proves very hard work with such an uncompromising script and such committed performances....

BWW Reviews: FOREPLAY, The King's Head Theatre, May 2 2014
by Gary Naylor - May 03, 2014

Gary Naylor sees a play about thinkers thinking about sex and finds that it fails to reach a climax. The superstar male professor is often the object of bright young things' desires....

BWW Reviews: HAMLET FIRST QUARTO, Courtyard Theatre, May 1 2014
by Gary Naylor - May 02, 2014

Gary Naylor sees a rarely performed version of Hamlet and finds it set four or five years in the future and not 450 years in the past...

BWW Reviews: ROBIN COUSINS' ICE, Bristol Hippodrome, April 30 2014
by Kathryn Pintus - May 01, 2014

I have spent a lot of time at the Bristol Hippodrome in the last couple of years and have seen a range of productions there, but never one on ice. The gentle sounds of Arctic winds met me as I entered the auditorium, and I felt instantly relaxed and ready for an evening of entertainment....

BWW Reviews: THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, Wolverhampton Grand, April 29 2014
by Jenny Antill - April 30, 2014

A play within a play is already a difficult concept - but a play within a play that goes wrong (in this case catastrophically so!) is ridiculously difficult to get your head around - but only from massive admiration for the actors who have to deliver such material....

BWW Reviews: AVENUE Q, Greenwich Theatre, April 28 2014
by Gary Naylor - April 29, 2014

Gary Naylor enjoys the multi-award winning show from the co-creator of The Book of Mormon set on a New York street populated by people (and puppets)....

BWW Reviews: BEST OF FRIENDS, Landor Theatre, April 26 2014
by Gary Naylor - April 27, 2014

Gary Naylor sees a show with a troubled history hit some high points but also fail to live up to its full potential. In the early 90s, Mike and Jim were inseparable mates, living the dream in a band, but the band was going nowhere....

BWW Reviews: BLUES IN THE NIGHT, Hackney Empire, April 25 2014
by Gary Naylor - April 26, 2014

Gary Naylor sees a show filled with songs from some of the last century's greatest singers - given full due by some of the West End's finest vocalists....

BWW Reviews: ROMEO AND JULIET, Pleasance Theatre, April 24 2014
by Gary Naylor - April 25, 2014

Gary Naylor sees a stripped-down version of Shakespeare's enduring tragedy that gets plenty right and little wrong. What will the Daily Mail make of it? Underage sex, gang murders, drugs... and poetry....

BWW Reviews: TRANSLATIONS, Rose Theatre Kingston, April 22 2014
by Gary Naylor - April 23, 2014

Gary Naylor sees a serious play about serious stuff that seems a little too locked in its time to reach successfully across the decades. Much has happened since Brian Friel wrote Translations (continuing at The Rose Theatre until 3 May...

BWW Reviews: TOM'S MIDNIGHT GARDEN, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, April 15 2014
by Jenny Antill - April 16, 2014

The Birmingham Stage Company is held in fond regard by families across the country for their high standard of productions suitable for all ages. Their latest show, nearing the conclusion of its national tour, is Tom's Midnight Garden which I had the pleasure of seeing at the Belgrade Theatre in Cove...