REVIEWS Archives - North West End UK

My Brother’s a Genius – Sheffield Playhouse

30Jan

By Natalia PrucnalNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

My Brother’s a Genius – Sheffield Playhouse

‘My Brother’s a Genius’ is a comedic but equally incredibly moving and heartfelt play and deeply raw spoken word performance. It’s splendidly written by Debris Stevenson and expertly crafted and directed by Eleanor Manners, with rhythmic music composed by Jammz. A co-production between Sheffield Theatres, The National Youth Theatre and Theatre Centre brings a bewitching ‘indigo’ tone to the Sheffield Playhouse. We follow the story of twins Daisy (Jess Senanayake) and Luke (Tyrese Walters) from childhood to adult life as they navigate neurodivergence, the class system and familial relationships. We watch how their friendship flies, falls and drowns throughout. They experience the world through different lenses: Daisy is named an “idiot” and goes to Circus School, while Luke is labell...

30Jan

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Ballad Lines – Southwark Playhouse

It's hard not to be inspired and astounded at the confidence, devotion and commitment that Finn Anderson and Tania Azevedo have shown in getting Ballad Lines onto the stage. It's been about a decade in the making, with Anderson delivering the music and lyrics while collaborating with Azevedo on the book. From workshops in Chicago and tentative stagings at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (2018), this show has evolved and finally landed, due to a lot of hard work and determination. Ballad Lines was first produced by KT Producing and Macrobert Arts Centre as A Mother's Song and was originally commissioned by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and American Music Theatre Project. It should also be noted that Azevedo and Anderson aren't a pair of chancers who've winged it and landed on their f...

30Jan

By Klervi GavetNo Comments

London

The Tempest – Globe Theatre

"I know this play very well. I don't recognise this version..." So says Antonia at the end of this production — and that line pretty much sums up my experience too. This new production of The Tempest, produced by Shakespeare's Globe and directed by Tim Crouch, takes a deliberately experimental, Brechtian-leaning approach to Shakespeare's text. Performed in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, the play is fragmented: lines are redistributed across characters, some spoken from within the audience, others added in contemporary English. The intention is clear and well articulated — to question power: who gets to speak these words, who gets to be on stage, what shifts when authority or identity change, and how theatre constructs illusion. On paper, it's an intellectually strong idea. The Tempe...

30Jan

By Anna SmithNo Comments

North West

Girls Night – Heswall Hall

Girls Night by Louise Roche and directed by Helen Roberts is a night of laughter, music and emotions. Five friends meet up for a night at a karaoke night club to celebrate the present, they reminisce about the past and secrets are revealed. Sharon (Becky Harton) died young and acts as the ghostly narrator with angel wings filling in the details about her four closet friends and their lives. Twenty years after her death her four friends gather at the karaoke night club to celebrate the engagement of Sharon's daughter Candy-Rose. Sharon speaks directly to the audience about how she has watched over her friends and gets the audience involved in singing along. Anita (Tia Gill) was picked on at school because of her depressive episodes, but her friends never discussed this ...

29Jan

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Rapunzel – The Montgomery Theatre

A hair-raising riotously risqué ride of a panto that leaves the audience ‘blown’ away. With more hair references and possible related character names than a Vidal Sassoon advert, Handsworth and Hallam Theatre Co give the Sheffield audience plenty of style with its close shaves and outlandishly wild coiffure of a delivery. With a community cast of 45 (including a couple of nits), led by a team of 9 senior ‘stylists’ and a band of six ‘colourists’ under the kaleidoscope Musical direction of Steve Trotter, HHTC embellish the literary locks of Tom Whalley’s creative pantomime script - Rapunzel with flair, panache and artistry. From the nine slick stylists…Will Fairy Dandruff gain her wings? Will King Bouffant ever find his beloved daughter Rapunzel? Will Prince Ryder ever decide which...

29Jan

By Stephanie WiswallNo Comments

North West

The Ghost of Graves End – Unity Theatre

Step back in time and delve into the creepy yet comedic story 'The Ghost of Graves End’ written by Robert Farquhar and directed by Lucy Thatcher. Poet Charles (Greg Jones) is unknowingly seeking employment via his overly zealous fiance (Georgia Chadwick) when she thrusts upon him a rather intriguing position as a tutor. A new opportunity which Charles soon comes to realise, may be more than he bargained for. A peculiar and strange pupil William (Chadwick), a collection of odd happenings and all too real dreams makes this a collectively creepy watch. However, to keep the show more light hearted and fun, comedy is cleverly interwoven throughout the scenes, characters and storyline. Deliciously dark and wickedly witty, audiences are kept engaged by the frantic atmosphere and ever changi...

Murder at Midnight – Blackpool Grand Theatre

29Jan

By Paddy Darnell-WalshNo Comments

North West

Murder at Midnight – Blackpool Grand Theatre

A New Year's Eve like you've never seen before arrives at the Seaside this week. As the clock strikes midnight, murder and chaos ensue, posing not only the question of whodunnit but who even died? Playwright Torben Betts returns with the follow up to his 2023 hit Murder in the Dark, delivering this murder-mystery satire of cockney gang culture, dark comedy and drama all rolled into one. Promising a thrilling night out, and despite some killer moments, the play was rather lazily written offering nothing unique nor exciting than what we have seen before. The plot, centring around the Drinkwater home on New Year's Eve, was vague at best. That said, it is very easy watching littered with amusing moments throughout. Take the play for what it is, don't take it in any way seriously and it is a...

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical – Hull New Theatre

29Jan

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical – Hull New Theatre

I watched the film, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, on TV over Christmas, so was intrigued as to how a musical version of the story would transfer to the stage. I found out on Wednesday evening when The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical came to the Hull New Theatre. It was great to see theatregoers of all ages crowded into the foyer, pre-show, with the queue to buy merchandise growing by the minute. And at curtain up we were met with an industrial looking set design that mirrored rusty water pipes and concrete tunnels under the city of Los Angeles. A huge, curved, lit-up structure either side of the stage remained for the duration, but the video backdrop changed constantly, and most effectively, with staircases, seating and box-like creations being wheeled on and o...

To Kill a Mockingbird – Sheffield Lyceum

28Jan

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

To Kill a Mockingbird – Sheffield Lyceum

A man of colour stands accused of a crime he did not commit, and yet he is judged more for the colour of his skin than his words of defence. His white lawyer is judged for representing him. His town is divided along racial lines, and between those who seek progress and those who want to preserve the old way of life. An all-too-common description of events we see in the news in 2026, yes. But also the plot of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, set in 1930s Alabama. An era defined by the struggle for progress, equality and freedom. A story that remains chillingly relevant today. This production of To Kill a Mockingbird, adapted by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Bartlett Sher, uses Sorkin’s extensive screenwriting experience from shows such as The West Wing and The Newsroom alon...

Press to Pulp (WIP) – Augustine United Church

27Jan

By Jessie MartinNo Comments

Scotland

Press to Pulp (WIP) – Augustine United Church

Edinburgh Rep Company kicks off the start of their ambitious 2026 programme with work-in-progress piece Press to Pulp. This noir inspired one act play sees cynical Detective Carmady (Stephen Park) wake up in his office - except this isn't his office... When Carmady's client Lady Broadame (Beth Eltringham) calls round, Carmady already knows every detail of her case and how to solve it - he has been here before. As the play progresses, we uncover three other detectives also stuck in this strange time warp, each thinking this office is their own, each thinking every client who walks through the door is an ex-case of theirs. It is up to them to solve this mystery in order to close the loop, with their main lead being the mysterious typewriter that has been keeping minutes, t...