Monday, January 17, 2022
Available onlineFrom a small studio in his family home, Thaddeus Phillips blends magician’s tricks and object-theatre techniques to build a delightful story
In the infant artform of online…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:03AMSunday, December 5, 2021
King’s theatre, EdinburghThis year’s edition of the annual King’s panto is a slickly timed, high-spirited affair stuffed with daft jokes, and a moving tribute to the late company membe…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:54PMFriday, December 3, 2021
Northern Stage, NewcastleA lovable orphan at a low-rent Hogwarts makes her impostor syndrome disappear in a lively reimagining with fun theatrical illusions
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is on…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:18PMOctagon, BoltonFive actors take on all the parts in Lotte Wakeham’s production, engaging our imaginations in an affecting reworking
JM Barrie was obsessed with the loss of youth. It was a …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:54AMWednesday, December 1, 2021
New Vic theatre, Newcastle-under-LymeDirector Theresa Heskins might give us more beast than beauty but, even so, this dark, Disney-divergent adaptation is superb
The world described by writ…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:03PMSunday, November 28, 2021
Perth theatreButtons unleashes some magical social chicanery in this enjoyable egalitarian twist on the rags-to-riches tale
The modern adapter of Cinderella is faced with two questions. How …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AMThursday, November 25, 2021
Alphabetti theatre, NewcastleWith the irony of a young Victoria Wood, Hannah Sowerby presents a love-hate relationship with Penrith in an inventive one-woman show
We talk of Damon Runyon’…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:03AMMonday, November 15, 2021
Coliseum, OldhamGags, raps and forceful female energy boost this production, which has a huge sense of silliness and good cheer
It’s not often you hear a good fart gag, but the Coliseum pa…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:54AMMonday, November 8, 2021
Theatre by the Lake, KeswickTaking refuge in nature helps a Londoner process the loss of a child in a production that, for all its charm, fails to convince
Urban life shields us from nature.…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:06AMWednesday, November 3, 2021
Royal Lyceum, EdinburghWils Wilson’s perception-bending production highlights the artifice of a prince’s world, exposing the thin veneer of riches and respectability
Segismundo has just …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AMMonday, November 1, 2021
Tron, GlasgowThe climate-change summit inspires a production emphasising the land-grab aspects of Shakespeare’s late play in an imaginative staging
The short-term forecast is for a stor…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:03AMSunday, October 31, 2021
The pandemic-delayed staging of Yann Martel’s novel is finally arriving in London, and the star of the show is a mesmerising puppet
Finn Caldwell is studying four performers perched in the…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12PMWednesday, October 27, 2021
Edinburgh PlayhouseA refreshed version of the Disney perennial begins a tour of the UK with some spectacular visual feasts and a heart-stopping performance by Courtney Stapleton as Belle
Thi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:12AMFriday, October 22, 2021
Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughJanice Okoh’s version of the 2019 novel waters down the culture clash at its heart and suffers for the lack of the author’s rich prose
After Benjamin M…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54AMSaturday, October 16, 2021
Northern Stage, NewcastleLittle leavens the air of hopelessness in Jim Cartwright’s 1986 collage of awkwardly staged monologues
Angela Rayner would probably approve of the “Tory scum” …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:32AMFriday, October 15, 2021
Live theatre, NewcastleThe Durham miners’ gala features in both these short plays exploring contrasting experiences of race and class
What are the chances of the Durham miners’ gala mak…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:24PMThursday, October 14, 2021
Dundee RepA conscientious citizen stands against the forces of fake news and self-interest in the National Theatre of Scotland’s provocative adaptation
Lewis den Hertog’s images have th…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AMMonday, October 11, 2021
Impact Hub Bradford and onlineStruggling zero-hours sisters risk everything as Kamal Kaan’s angsty play transplants the action from Ancient Greece
There is a home secretary hell bent on pr…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:42AMFriday, September 17, 2021
Pitlochry Festival theatreLesley Orr and Jo Clifford’s show about the lives of some who have died in the past 18 months is a necessary act of communal remembrance
We’ve read about it in …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18PMThursday, September 16, 2021
Royal Exchange, ManchesterLiv Hill is brilliant as a wise-cracking teenager in Stuart Slade’s play about cancer, sex and the mystery of life
For those of us with limited tolerance for pl…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54AMWednesday, September 15, 2021
Theatre Royal, WakefieldSet in a northern seaside B&B, John Godber’s latest has a healthy dollop of political analysis beneath its very funny surface
According to John Godber’s lates…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AMSunday, September 12, 2021
Live theatre, NewcastleKema Sikazwe – AKA actor and rapper Kema Kay – performs a sunny, charming but vulnerable musical monologue about growing up in the northeast of England
Kema Sikazw…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:03PMFriday, September 10, 2021
Dundee RepJohn McCann’s imaginative play follows its characters’ search for answers to tough questions during lockdown – watched over by a pair of very unusual seagulls
For the seagull…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18PMThursday, August 26, 2021
Traverse theatre, EdinburghActor Amy Molloy delivers an elegant monologue that reveals itself as something greater in this supremely thoughtful show
Kate Regan is a woman defined by the men …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:06PMMonday, August 23, 2021
Holyrood Park, EdinburghThis open-air performance brings together a multi-generational company celebrating release from pandemic confinement
When your stage is the size of a football pitch a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24AMSummerhall, EdinburghTrevor Lock uses audience participation to satisfy our yearning for community in a show that prioritises connection over action
What did we miss most during the pandemic…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AMSunday, August 22, 2021
Old College Quad, EdinburghKatharine Mehrling delivers the German master’s songs in ravishing style, accompanied with restraint by pianist Barrie Kosky
We’re nearing the end of a medley …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:18AMAvailable onlineGregor Samsa’s sudden bodily dislocation becomes a means of exploring digital-era dilemmas in Hijinx’s irreverent adaptation
A few days before the first lockdown, Glasgow…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:54AMFriday, August 20, 2021
Traverse theatre, EdinburghOn an hour-long circuit guided by headphones, graffiti, sculptures and shops wheedle their way into the dialogue
If this were a regular show it would be something …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54AMThursday, August 19, 2021
Pleasance at EICC, EdinburghAngelina Chudi gives a powerful performance as she tackles the contradictory, confusing experience of meeting an abuser
We’ve all done it. You bump into a signi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:03AMWednesday, August 18, 2021
Army @ The Fringe, Drill Hall, EdinburghIn this warm and witty solo show, Lubna Kerr, the Scottish daughter of middle-class Pakistani immigrants, recounts a lifetime’s encounters with othe…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:12AM 
