All stories by Mark Fisher on BroadwayStars

Friday, June 6, 2025

Nan Shepherd: Naked and Unashamed review – the poetry, prose and passion of a Scottish modernist by Mark Fisher

Pitlochry Festival theatreRichard Baron and Ellie Zeegen’s play follows the writer from wide-eyed child discovering nature in rural Scotland to feisty care-home resident The title comes f…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:02PM
Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Whatever Happened to Phoebe Salt review – bittersweet 1950s tale of the Potteries by Mark Fisher

New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeIsabella Rossi, making her debut, gives Arthur Berry’s drama of working-class life a burst of colour and energy The first word ever spoken on the New Vic stage…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24PM
Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Edinburgh international children’s festival review – naughty shadows, silly grown-ups and tongue twisters by Mark Fisher

Various venues, Edinburgh Delightful shows for youngsters include surreally inventive shadowplay and backstage chaos, while Greg Sinclair brings tricky phrases to life using a cake and someo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:18PM
Sunday, May 18, 2025

Mother Courage and her Children review – wartime profiteering rarely sounded so good by Mark Fisher

Horden Methodist Church, County DurhamEnsemble ’84 generate an exhilarating racket in this gutsy rendition of Brecht’s play about the thirty years’ war The noise is constant. It is i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:42PM
Friday, May 16, 2025

Keli review – a brass band player’s search for solidarity by Mark Fisher

Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh Martin Green’s play, set in a village still traumatised by the miners’ strike, follows a young musician under pressure from all sides Towards the end of Martin Gr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18AM
Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Hamlet Hail to the Thief review – study of righteous anger links Shakespeare to Radiohead by Mark Fisher

Collaboration with Thom Yorke is worth hype in tragedy played with clarity and verve In all the hype around the collaborators on this co-production between the Royal Shakespeare Company and …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:32PM

Dogs on the Metro review – all stations to teenage angst by Mark Fisher

Live theatre, NewcastleThe Tyne and Wear Metro is the setting of Emilie Robson’s evocative new play about two teen friends but something darker rumbles beneath Emilie Robson’s insinuatin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12AM
Thursday, May 1, 2025

Studio3 review – triple whammy of comedy is ferociously funny by Mark Fisher

Tron theatre, GlasgowA quick-witted trio star in three plays, in roles ranging from an Ulster unionist Homer Simpson to a pandemic prophet If you were the gambling kind, you would have hedge…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18AM
Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Restless Natives: The Musical review – rambling remake sings different tune to cult 80s movie by Mark Fisher

Perth theatreTwo working-class lads become modern-day highwaymen in this adaptation of the Scottish film but the plentiful songs slow down the story One of the stories British cinema loves t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AM
Sunday, April 6, 2025

Through the Shortbread Tin review – how Scotland’s great literary hoax captured the spirit of the nation by Mark Fisher

Tron theatre, GlasgowMartin O’Connor’s witty and provocative show casts the 18th-century equivalent of the Hitler Diaries in a fresh light Martin O’Connor calls it “the first Outlan…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:24AM
Friday, April 4, 2025

A Matter of Life and Death review – movie classic resuscitated with songs by Mark Fisher

New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme Ambitious adaptation of Powell and Pressburger’s romantic fantasy is intelligently rendered, with well-chosen music added to the period mix The propaganda bri…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:42AM
Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Dancing Shoes review – bedroom boogying bloke frees his feet in fab comedy by Mark Fisher

Òran Mór, GlasgowMasculine pals who shudder at intimacy help grieving addict Donny find viral success and unlikely solace in this brilliant, funny three-hander Your standard group-therapy …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:54AM
Monday, March 24, 2025

From The Simpsons to Werner Herzog: the coolest, craziest, scariest Nessies ever by Mark Fisher

Loch Ness Monster hunters have included the Chuckle Brothers – and even David Lean. As the Scottish icon is honoured in a new stamp and a stirring musical, we separate the classy from the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:48AM
Sunday, March 16, 2025

Wild Rose review – Glasgow meets Nashville in big-hearted country musical by Mark Fisher

Royal Lyceum, EdinburghAdapted from the film, this vibrant show has plenty of joyful foot-stomping, with a star who gives us the raw fragility behind the fanfare If you can’t be sentimenta…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32AM
Sunday, March 9, 2025

Death of a Salesman review – Arthur Miller’s timeless tale of a small man crushed by big dreams by Mark Fisher

Pavilion theatre, GlasgowA fine cast capture the emotional damage and inarticulate anger at the lie they have all been sold in this taut no-nonsense production He lies to gain status. His e…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:36AM
Friday, March 7, 2025

Shirley Valentine review – huge laughs and tender feelings at a Liverpool homecoming by Mark Fisher

Everyman, LiverpoolBack at the theatre where it premiered in 1986, Willy Russell’s play about a midlife voyage of self-discovery retains both its local and universal appeal There is a marv…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32AM
Thursday, March 6, 2025

Edward II review – Daniel Evans leads a brooding, brutal and brilliant night at the RSC by Mark Fisher

Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonThe new joint boss of the Royal Shakespeare Company makes an impetuous king in Daniel Raggett’s production of Marlowe’s history play The temptation is to…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:32AM
Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Love’s Labour’s Lost (More or Less) review – lads on tour in Ibiza swear off sex by Mark Fisher

Shakespeare North Playhouse, PrescotElizabeth Godber and Nick Lane relocate Shakespeare’s comedy of abstinence to the throbbing heart of 90s hedonism Standards have declined. When Shakespe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM
Monday, March 3, 2025

The Rainbow review – fluid female-centric tale of emancipation across the decades by Mark Fisher

Perth theatre, ScotlandNicola Werenowska’s enterprising adaptation tackles DH Lawrence’s novel back to front Adapting a novel is rarely straightforward and playwright Nicola Werenowska …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18AM
Saturday, March 1, 2025

‘I said there was no reason to make it a musical!’ Mel Brooks on The Producers’ West End transfer by Mark Fisher

Veteran director, who originally opposed adapting 1967 film for the stage, is ‘very proud’ as Menier Chocolate Factory production will move to London’s Garrick theatre The Menier Choco…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:42PM
Wednesday, February 26, 2025

A View from the Bridge review – thrilling update pulls no punches by Mark Fisher

Tron theatre, GlasgowJemima Levick’s superb production sets Arthur Miller’s tale of family, immigration, poverty and passion in the modern-day Brooklyn docks Is it an innocent domestic m…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:36AM
Sunday, February 23, 2025

Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey review – gorgeous whimsy from Haruki Murakami by Mark Fisher

Tramway, GlasgowSandy Grierson is astonishing as a talking monkey working in a Japanese bathhouse in this slight but theatrically beguiling slice of magical-realism Mizuki Ando has a distres…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM
Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Champion review – Muhammad Ali, the Queen, punk and the National Front make an incendiary mix by Mark Fisher

Live theatre, NewcastleA South Shields family are torn by opposing forces as Ishy Din cleverly taps into the emotive memories of a weekend in the summer of 1977 It is a reasonable question. …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AM
Friday, February 14, 2025

Mary and the Hyenas review – patchy ode to Wollstonecraft and women ‘howling at the world’ by Mark Fisher

Hull Truck theatreSnappy movement and a Billy Nomates score can’t make up for the lack of emotional range in this portrait of the 18th-century writer It was quite a life. Having escaped a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54PM
Thursday, February 13, 2025

Escaped Alone and What If If Only review – Caryl Churchill’s double whammy of dazzling dread by Mark Fisher

Royal Exchange theatre, ManchesterHiding behind the fluttering dialogue and domestic chatter lies a dark poetry in a pair of plays that address terrifying futures head on Last month, wildfir…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:36PM
Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Pass the Parcel review – witty reckoning with a mother’s death by Mark Fisher

Royal Court, LiverpoolBubbling with quirky detail, Sarah Whitehead’s full-length debut captures the contradictions of close relationships between sisters without sentimentality The past ha…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:06AM
Thursday, January 23, 2025

The Merchant of Venice review – poisonous prejudice erupts with shocking speed in a show with tech-bro touches by Mark Fisher

Royal Lyceum, EdinburghJohn Douglas Thompson is a commanding Shylock in a vision of an apparently benign city where tolerance buckles all too quickly He likes a bit of a laugh, this Shylock…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:32AM
Tuesday, December 10, 2024

The Borrowers review – Arrietty and co’s awfully wordy adventure by Mark Fisher

The Dukes, LancasterWith a cumbersome script and no sense of danger or atmosphere, this production loses its way If you are in any doubt that this adaptation of the 1952 Mary Norton novel ha…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:54AM
Monday, December 9, 2024

A Christmas Carol review – sparse on sparkles but Dickens’ story remains a beacon by Mark Fisher

Derby theatreAbsorbing adaptation is faithful to the original, with sepia lighting and a whiskery, curmudgeonly Scrooge pinching pennies in hard times Even the proportions of Ebenezer Scroog…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM

Aladdin review – seasonal panto fun, with a good dose of song and storytelling by Mark Fisher

Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughThe titular hero’s coming-of-age tale takes advantage of local tourist attractions and a bright hard-working cast in this brisk and cheerful production …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:02AM
Friday, December 6, 2024

The Jungle Book review – swinging version of Kipling’s adventure by Mark Fisher

Octagon, BoltonThis musical adaptation of the classic tale is full of charm and catchy new numbers with a captivating turn by Kiara Nicole Pillai as Mowgli There is a startling piece of tran…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM