Yorkshire & Humber Archives - Page 3 of 43

Gwenda’s Garage The Musical – Sheffield Playhouse

19Oct

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Gwenda’s Garage The Musical – Sheffield Playhouse

Sheffield, South Yorkshire, a Lesbian run garage named after the 1930’s racing driver Gwenda Stewart, three female mechanics and an apprentice, 1980’s Thatcher’s Britain, a time of protest and strikes and a time of a vibrant women’s movement. The controversial Section 28 of the local government act to prevent the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ as a ‘pretended family relationship’ empower the women through activism, solidarity and sheer hope to strive for a better future. This Out of Archive in association with Sheffield Theatres production with an onstage band of five, and written by Nicky Hallett with musical numbers by Val Regan, Gwenda’s Garage is an excitingly raw and exuberant episode taking the stories of local women and placing them into the iconic location. Directed by Jelena Budi...

Cirque Éloize: iD Reloaded – Hull New Theatre

19Oct

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Cirque Éloize: iD Reloaded – Hull New Theatre

If I had a tenner for every time I said “oh my God!” while watching the unbelievably talented Cirque Éloize circus crew perform at the Hull New Theatre, on Friday evening, I would be laughing all the way to the bank. This production, iD Reloaded, is inspired by the company’s international hit, iD, created in 2009. Presented by Dance Consortium and directed and created by the Canadian company’s co-founder, Jeannot Painchaud, I was immediately impressed by the wonderful opening stage setting of industrial metal frames with a backdrop of a built-up city scape - an eye-popping video backdrop that changed and dazzled throughout the performance. The action takes place in the heart of a busy city, out in the open, in a space that encourages individuals to express their personalities and ...

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Sheffield Lyceum

15Oct

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Sheffield Lyceum

Triumphant and sublime masterclass of theatrical storytelling – Enchanting! Selectively based on C.S Lewis’ novel of the same name and the first and best known of seven in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Direct from the West End, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe takes its audience on a magical and majestic journey through the wardrobe into Narnia. Written in 1950, the story tells of four siblings Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy who are evacuated in wartime to the home of an eccentric Professor, they discover an old wardrobe in a spare room and upon entering it are transported to the mystical land of Narnia. Can the two sons of Adam and the two daughters of Eve aid both the animals and the returning saviour Aslan, the Lion, to rid Narnia of the White Witch and restore Narnia to its seaso...

10Oct

By NewsdeskNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Emma – Sheffield Lyceum

Ryan Craig’s adaptation is aptly contemporary in places and unapologetically Georgian in others. The best affectations of Austen’s linguistic prowess are set upon with great effect, creating a poetic environment for the audience to exist in. This shape is shared with characters that feel real, embellished only in earnest moderation. Ceci Calf’s set design is deliberately sparse, leaving director Stephen Unwin with a very minimal arena for the characters to wrestle in. It is adorned only by a backdrop of blue/grey British sky and a couple of trees planted in the recesses of the stage to evoke the abodes of well-off English country families. Despite not being a physically transformative piece either, this feels right for Theatre Royal Bath’s production. So verbose and linguistically remarkab...

Opera North & Phoenix Dance Theatre: Susanna – Leeds Grand Theatre

6Oct

By Mark HumphreysNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Opera North & Phoenix Dance Theatre: Susanna – Leeds Grand Theatre

On a night when Storm Amy lashed Leeds with wind and rain, Opera North’s Susanna offered a different kind of tempest — one of moral reckoning, emotional intensity, and artistic boldness. Handel’s oratorio, reimagined through opera and dance, became a mirror for society’s treatment of women, power, and truth. The audience, braving the elements, were rewarded with a production as courageous in its staging as it was timely in its themes. Susanna belongs to a genre born of necessity and ingenuity. During Lent, staged operas were forbidden in 18th-century England, prompting Handel — ever the commercial opportunist — to pivot to oratorios. Though unstaged, these works were operas in all but name: dramatic, character-driven, and rich in musical storytelling. Susanna (1749) is a prime example, ...

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – Hull New Theatre

2Oct

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – Hull New Theatre

When C S Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, he couldn’t have envisaged that the second in the series, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, would still be entertaining folk 75 years after it was first published. To celebrate the anniversary, this week Hull New Theatre plays host to the West End smash-hit production and, taking my seat on Tuesday night, I noticed theatregoers of all ages in attendance. Before curtain up we were entertained by a pianist, tinkling the ivories of an upright piano and dressed as a Second World War air raid warden, complete with steel helmet and overcoat. As the strains of We’ll Meet Again rang out, this first scene, on a darkened, misty stage, brought the Second World War years into focus. The story centres around the four Pevensie si...

The Secret of the Black Spider – Leeds Grand Theatre

29Sep

By Mark HumphreysNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Secret of the Black Spider – Leeds Grand Theatre

Opera North opened its 2025–26 season with something quietly radical: the UK premiere of the extended Hamburg version of Dame Judith Weir’s The Secret of the Black Spider, performed not by the mainstage company but by the Opera North Youth Company—soloists, chorus, and orchestra. It was the first time an opera by a female composer had featured on the company’s main stage, and the first time its young performers had opened the season both on stage and in the pit. With the composer in attendance and a warm response from a mixed-age audience, it was a landmark evening in every sense. The opera weaves together a 19th-century gothic novella with the real-life story of a supposed curse that followed the 1980s opening of a royal tomb in Wawel Cathedral, Kraków. Weir’s score and libretto blend ...

26Sep

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Consumed – Sheffield Playhouse

The aptly named play Consumed, written by Karis Kelly won the Women’s Prize for Playwriting in 2022, is a dark, deliciously humorous yet disturbing drama, set around the kitchen table in Northern Ireland. It is Eileen’s 90th birthday party and her daughter Gilly, granddaughter Jenny and great granddaughter Muireann gather for the first time in three years to celebrate. However, the cracks; long since painfully covered; appear in this intentionally slow burning and powerful script. Expertly written, the intergenerational differences of Northern Irish women is laid bare - with all its historical ‘Troubles’, trauma and repressed family tension. With ‘food’, perception and more than one skeleton in the cupboard, this four performer play has first rate performances that are unnerving from the o...

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – Alhambra, Bradford

24Sep

By Phoebe Olivia Sian HobsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – Alhambra, Bradford

Picture this, utter silence, a dimly lit stage, bulbs of warm light scattered in each corner, a piano centre stage with a pianist lightly tickling the keys as a slow and steady rumble crowds the stage, like thunder across the theatre the music rises from a magnificent orchestra. Perfectly tense, just as you imagine the train from your family home to the other side of the country to be, in a devastating world war. Michael Fentiman really outdid himself with this show, by not only incorporating song dance and acting the three things we watch a play for, but by also having characters and the ensemble play instruments, creating an irresistible atmosphere across Alhambra theatre, where the arm hairs amongst spectators stayed pricked for the whole two hours. Not only that but the careful prec...

Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell – Sheffield Lyceum

24Sep

By Nathan DunnNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell – Sheffield Lyceum

Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell arrived in Sheffield with all the pomp of a bold dance show and all the sincerity of a gripping drama. This piece of theatre is aptly both - a dramatic, human tale of intimate connections won, lost, enjoyed and destroyed. This New Adventures production is an acerbic piece of liquid, visual storytelling. The narrative is compelling, pulling inspiration from author Patrick Hamilton’s (of ‘Rope’ and ‘Gaslight’ fame) 1929 novel ‘The Midnight Bell’. A patient meditation on love, lust and relationships set on the backdrop of the titular Midnight Bell late night drinking spot rooted somewhere betwixt the alleyways of early 20th century London. The work covers all corners of human desire in romantic and sexual relationships. We share the intimate moments...