REVIEWS Archives - North West End UK

17Dec

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Indian Ink – Hampstead Theatre

The desire to see this Hampstead Theatre revival of Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink, was initially fuelled by the theatrical double whammy of Felicity Kendal, combined with one of the UK’s most celebrated living playwrights. This dramatic cocktail of talents is an established winner as the pair were once an item and their partnership garnered much critical acclaim. Kendal is often referred to as his muse and Stoppard wrote the character of Flora Crewe specifically for her. The original text is dedicated to her mother, Laura Kendal, who like her daughter, spent a childhood in India. Born in 1937, Sir Tom Stoppard died on 29 November 2025, during rehearsals for this production. In this show, Kendal was no longer playing a scandalous, spirited 1930s poet, but the matriarchal sister of Flora Crew...

17Dec

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Twelfth Night: RSC at the Barbican

Sometimes a director tries too hard to bring a novel or unusual interpretation to Shakespeare's work, producing a confused and ultimately unsatisfactory production. This unfortunately is the case with Prasanna Puwanarajah's version of Twelfth Night for the Royal Shakespeare Company, recently transferred to the Barbican from Stratford. There is much to like about this production. The acting was universally good and used Shakespeare's words for the most part, only annotated with the occasional modernism, and the delivery of the lines made the story very easy to understand. Music is intrinsic to this play and the musical score produced by Matt Maltese was excellent. The costumes were eclectic, reflecting a modern era with one or two extraordinary exceptions such as Feste's initial costume,...

Prashasti Singh: Divine Feminine – Soho Theatre

17Dec

By Charles PipeNo Comments

London

Prashasti Singh: Divine Feminine – Soho Theatre

Over the course of a very entertaining hour, Prashasti Singh reckons with her relationship to femininity and womanhood, while discussing childhood, dating, aging, and self-help podcasts. Although it may seem like Singh is rehashing topics that have been covered to death in stand-up comedy, she brings an individual and hilarious flair. The content of the show is largely cynical and pessimistic but is delivered in an energetic and playful manner. From the very beginning, Singh’s biting but good-humoured crowd work reassures the audience that they are in safe hands and primes them for the sardonic humour to come. The show’s cynicism is tempered by descriptions of Singh’s (attempted) self-reflection and self-improvement, which is the source of some of the funniest material. From Sing...

17Dec

By Samantha CollettNo Comments

London

Top Hat the Musical – Southbank Centre

90 years after Irving Berlin’s 1935 classic film ‘Top Hat’, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers enthralled audiences, this latest musical adaptation by Matthew White and Howard Jacques is doing the same. The opening scene of ‘Putting on the Ritz’ kicks off the show with an energetic tapdancing routine readying the audience for a splendidly choreographed night that will thrill any ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ fan. The story is a simple love farce of mistaken identity. Jerry Travers (Phillip Attmore) is the big star of a new show Horace Hardwick (Clive Carter) is bankrolling. Jerry falls for the charms of Dale Tremont (Amara Okereke) and instantly love bombs her. Dale is at first unsure but then falls for him. Only to then erroneously think he is already married to her friend Madge Hard...

Shaun The Sheep’s Circus Show – Aviva Studios

17Dec

By Harry AltyNo Comments

North West

Shaun The Sheep’s Circus Show – Aviva Studios

For families looking for an alternative production this festive season, Aviva Studios has the European premiere of Circa and Aardman’s Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show. First appearing in Wallace & Gromit’s 1995 classic A Close Shave, Shaun has established himself as a firm favourite with families. Combining the cast of characters from Muddy Bottom Farm with acrobatics straight from a circus tent, this family-friendly extravaganza is primed to keep the kids entertained during the show’s run until January 4th. Our farm set fills the large stage of The Hall at Aviva Studios, with green fields and rural landscapes building out Shaun’s world. The impressive, sloped backdrop acts as a slide for our cast of adventurous sheep, drawing the biggest reaction from the audience as they launch down...

Christmas Carol Goes Wrong – Apollo Theatre

15Dec

By Gemma PrinceNo Comments

London

Christmas Carol Goes Wrong – Apollo Theatre

Mischief’s comedy crew are back and better than ever in their latest rendition of A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong at the Apollo Theatre. Directed by Matt DiCarlo, the story follows the fictional Cornley Drama Society in their attempt to re-create Charles Dickens’ classic Christmas tale, with hilariously chaotic consequences. In a style like Mischief’s other Goes Wrong shows, which have firmly cemented them as comedic geniuses, we see the original Mischief team reunited, including Nancy Zamit, Greg Tannahill, Chris Leask, Jonathan Hall, and Henry Lewis, joined by Sasha Frost, Daniel Fraser, and Matt Cavendish. We see some familiar characters from the Goes Wrong franchise return, including Chris, Robert, Nancy, and Dennis. Getting to see these characters in a different setting but as funny a...

15Dec

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Beauty and the Beast – Hull New Theatre

Panto season is upon us once more and as young and old packed into Hull New Theatre on Sunday evening to watch Beauty and the Beast, the excitable atmosphere among theatregoers was palpable. As a reviewer, I have been fortunate to watch many such productions at the New Theatre. But would this year’s offering live up to its billing as “The Spellbinding Pantomime”? Just after 5pm, the curtain rose to reveal a huge throne, upon which sat the handsome Prince Sebastian (Scott Royle) in all his purple silk finery. Rudely shooing away an old hag begging for help, he soon becomes more friendly when she reveals her youthful, beautiful self. However, his fate is sealed as the woman turns out to be an Enchantress (Sharon Sexton) who casts a spell on him, turning him into an ugly beast. Th...

15Dec

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

REVIEWS

Andréa Chenier – Metropolitan Opera

Nicolas Joël’s staging of Umberto Giordano’s epic verismo opera of revolution and forbidden love is brought back to life by Revival Director J. Knighten Smit with the orchestra under the baton of Daniele Rustioni in his first season as Principal Guest Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera. At a glittering party in 18th-century Paris there are distinctly two tiers of society on display from the lowly footman Gérard (Igor Golovatenko) who follows in the footsteps of his father who has been in service for sixty years, to the sumptuous host, Contessa di Coigny (Nancy Fabiola Herrera), whose daughter Maddalena (Sonya Yoncheva) straddles both as she eschews the fancy dress and faux manners in favour of intellectual discussion, so when the poet Andréa Chenier (Piotr Beczała) delivers an impa...

15Dec

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

4Play – Traverse Theatre

The Traverse’s 4PLAY has form, a new-writing pressure cooker where short pieces are aired, tested, and occasionally launched into something much larger. Last year’s Colours Run was proof enough that this collective can produce work that grows real legs. This year’s quartet, though, is more uneven, with flashes of real quality offset by structural quirks and the odd misjudgement. The evening opens with Chips by Ruaraidh Murray, a micro-play in every sense. Running no more than seven or eight minutes, it dramatises a real-life Edinburgh gangland robbery, not for cash, but for microchips, with a premise that promises much more than the piece has time to deliver. There’s energy and intent here, but it barely gets started before it’s over. As an amuse-bouche, it’s intriguing, as drama, it’s ...

Gawain and the Green Knight – Park Theatre

15Dec

By Charles PipeNo Comments

London

Gawain and the Green Knight – Park Theatre

Based on the medieval Arthurian poem, Gawain and the Green Knight is a new reinterpretation by Felix Grainger and Gabriel Fogarty-Graveson, that transposes the story to a modern-day corporate setting. Cybersecurity firm Camelot Corp is undergoing major restructuring and rebranding. The CEO Arthur (Cara Steele) has decided to adopt a new model that mimics stories of the heroic Knights of the Round Table. Gary (Felix Grainger) – redubbed Gawain – is being sacked (exiled) just before Christmas for being too boring and lacking “spark”. When a mysterious green stranger shows up at the office Christmas party and proposes a game, Gawain accepts the challenge, beheads the stranger, and wins the respect of his boss. One year later, Gawain must uphold his end of the game and journey by elevator t...