Thursday, April 6, 2023
Theatre by the Lake, KeswickAn eight-strong cast and a revolving stage take us on an extraordinary adventure for adults and kids, with time-keeping as a theme
Jules Verne’s 1872 novel trad…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32AMMonday, April 3, 2023
Beacon Arts Centre, GreenockThere’s an optimal mix of irreverence and affection in this bracing adaptation of the swashbuckling classic
With the long-running Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:42AMFriday, March 31, 2023
Home, ManchesterWriter-director Yusra Warsama relocates The House of Bernarda Alba from Andalucía to Manchester
What imprisons the characters of Federico García Lorca’s The House of Bern…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AMThursday, March 30, 2023
Royal Exchange, ManchesterModern-day version casts Tennessee Williams’s steamy melodrama in a new light, with a focus on the corruptibility of wealth
Roy Alexander Weise does not overtly c…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AMThursday, March 16, 2023
Nottingham PlayhouseSamson Hawkins’s debut is part Jerusalem part This Country, bringing big laughs while asking serious questions about identity nostalgia and modernity
Is it too soon to …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:08AMWednesday, March 15, 2023
Belgrade theatre, CoventryMojisola Adebayo’s play connects Henrietta Lacks, whose cells were used in decades of vital scientific research, with the Black Lives Matter movement
‘I am a fa…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:56PMMonday, March 13, 2023
Royal Lyceum, EdinburghKatie Posner directs a high-voltage cast in playwright Ahlam’s politically charged portrayal of a group of teens coming of age in post-Arab spring Cairo
We view mome…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:00AMThursday, March 9, 2023
Everyman theatre, LiverpoolThe drama of women trying to get ahead in Thatcher’s Britain is played with kitsch period detail that can distract from its still-relevant story
Some plays go th…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:51AMShakespeare North Playhouse, PrescotThis cartoonish update of Shakespeare’s reunion tale, gleefully mixing in Madonna and modern language, has a great sense of fun
The Wars of the Roses ar…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:03AMWednesday, March 8, 2023
Live theatre, NewcastleIn 1996, campaigners in the north-east are watching their values being written out of Labour politics. But at least Kevin Keegan seems to be winning
Tony Blair is on t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:00AMThursday, March 2, 2023
Alphabetti theatre, NewcastleIn Alfie Heffer’s frightening play, theatregoers become recruitment reps as a candidate is put through her paces
In the late 1800s, Frederick Winslow Taylor se…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00PMSunday, February 26, 2023
Home, ManchesterThe star performs with a musician’s sense of rhythm in this alternately arch and elegiac piece by Simon Stephens and Mark Eitzel about a bereaved brother attempting to reco…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:16AMSunday, February 19, 2023
Northern Stage, NewcastleThe family front room becomes a battleground in Anders Lustgarten’s play of ideas about class, politics and compassion
At some point between the decline of British…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:32AMThursday, February 9, 2023
Royal Lyceum, EdinburghZinnie Harris’s reworking has Macbeth’s wife driving the plot, rationalising a grisly campaign, while he becomes unbalanced by their murderous path
To summon up w…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00PMWednesday, February 8, 2023
Tron theatre, GlasgowFour girls gather around a pentangle in Maryam Hamidi’s punchy and poetic new play, which captures the vulnerability of adolescence
When you see the gang of teenagers …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:03AMThursday, December 8, 2022
Dundee RepCinders is a hard-working and independent-minded farmer while her prince is an environmental engineering student in Lynda Radley’s cheerful reworking
You can see why Lynda Radley…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:48PMMonday, December 5, 2022
King’s theatre, GlasgowKathryn Rooney’s slick production has flawless comic banter and lavish dance routines, providing impressive festive entertainment
It is tempting to grumble about t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:03PMHull Truck theatre, HullScrooge not only exploits Bob Cratchit but cruelly cuts him out of the conversation in this innovative, satisfying production
Jack Lord is the meanest of Scrooges. To…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:24AMSunday, December 4, 2022
Derby theatreRatty, Mole and the rest are subtly portrayed in this tuneful production of Kenneth Grahame’s classic
They are a timid lot, the creatures in Trina Haldar’s staging of The Wi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:48PMFriday, December 2, 2022
New Vic theatre, Newcastle-under-LymeLewis Carroll’s fantastical classic is transposed into the world of stage magic in this gloriously hallucinatory show
Forget about rabbit holes and mir…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:42AMThursday, December 1, 2022
Everyman theatre, LiverpoolThe eponymous fairytale does not lend itself easily to panto – requiring some princely interference – but the cast is exuberant
We are deep into act two when w…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:48AMWednesday, November 30, 2022
Theatre by the Lake, KeswickMary Norton’s 1952 novel about tiny pillagers gets a sober stage remake that blends minor-key music with contemporary fears
When Suella Braverman talked about a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:32PMSunday, November 27, 2022
Tron theatre, GlasgowJohnny McKnight’s irreverent and very funny panto is full of local colour and packed with put-downs – though never at the expense of the original film
Hollywood re…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:24PMPerth theatreThe beanstalk in Barrie Hunter’s jolly, tightly choreographed and on-message show is actually a fossil fuel mountain, and the giant is a massive polluter
The temperature is ri…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:42AMFriday, November 25, 2022
Pitlochry Festival theatreThis wholesome adaptation, featuring a preening Captain Hook, focuses on playroom fun in a beautifully designed production
Captain Hook looks as if he has stepped o…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:32PMSunday, November 20, 2022
Coliseum, OldhamWhile younger audience members will find plenty to shout about, the classic story struggles to take shape as a panto
We could certainly do with a bit of stealing from the ric…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AMFriday, November 18, 2022
Live theatre, NewcastleRic Renton’s raw four-hander is an enthralling study of male vulnerability with a deeply felt message for the justice system
That Ric Renton’s gripping new play ha…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AMThursday, November 17, 2022
Royal Court, LiverpoolCow jokes are heavily milked in this family-friendly show, alongside nods to the city’s star turn as next year’s Eurovision host
Within weeks of the news that Liver…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24AMWednesday, October 26, 2022
Theatre by the Lake, KeswickWith an excruciating clash of characters locked in a plot that is equal parts funny, sad and violent, this timeless production is as familiar as it is unsettling
…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:19AMTuesday, October 25, 2022
Pitlochry festival theatreMay Sumbwanyambe’s drama tells the story of the man who established that slavery was forbidden by Scots law – but this is no easy celebration
It is the start of…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:07AMMonday, October 24, 2022
Pitlochry festival theatreSally Reid is superbly deadpan in this devastating production of Willy Russell’s play about a woman who catches a glimpse of the life she could be living
Willy Ru…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:07AM 
