Latest Articles - North West End UK

Desperate Scousewives: Lily’s Story — St Helens Theatre Royal

13Jun

By Kevin EcclestonNo Comments

North West

Desperate Scousewives: Lily’s Story — St Helens Theatre Royal

Some productions arrive with a clear sense of identity, and Desperate Scousewives: Lily’s Story wastes no time establishing exactly what kind of night audiences are in for. From the moment the opening music fills the auditorium, the show embraces its Merseyside roots with confidence and affection. Loud, proud and packed with personality, it delivers an evening of laughter, warmth and recognisable Scouse spirit that immediately wins over its audience. At the centre of it all is Lily, played by the ever-charismatic Crissy Rock. A born performer with impeccable comic timing, Rock commands the stage from her first entrance. Lily is brash, outspoken and fiercely funny, but Rock ensures there is genuine heart beneath the sharp one-liners. Against a background of coercive behavior and physical...

13Jun

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

War Horse – National Theatre

War Horse is a two hour twenty-minute spectacle of sublime animated visuals and skilful puppetry. A story that gets to the heart of the atrocities and impact of World War 1 on the men, families and the cavalry horses involved in conflict. The play introduces Joey as a foal a horse bred to become a fine racing horse who finds his way to a farm. In the mists of desperation, the family need to earn a living, Joey now needs to become a draft horse ploughing fields and supporting the family. Ted and Rose Narracott task their 16yr old son Albert to care for and train Joey to perform the enviable duties of ploughing, hauling and work as an agricultural horse. As time moved on Albert and Joey form a special bond of shared love, friendship and survival At the time of the outbreak of the first...

11Jun

By Stewart Who?No Comments

North West

We Had a World – Hampstead Theatre

Joshua Harmon’s We Had a World arrives Downstairs at Hampstead Theatre following a critically acclaimed debut in New York last year. The young playwright is a Juilliard graduate who scandalised Manhattan with his first play Bad Jews. He also co-wrote a musical with Sarah Silverman and his last play, Prayer for the French Republic was nominated for Tony. While Harmon is the award-winning toast of New York, he’s less familiar to London crowds. It’s a minor coup for Hampstead Theatre to present this show in a studio space normally reserved for emerging new writers. It’s a small space for a playwright who’s a big deal. We had a World is a semi-autobiographical analysis of family conflict and how it filters through different generations. The play opens with Joshua (Ryan Copel) addressi...

11Jun

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Portable Infinity – Traverse Theatre

A packed Traverse 1 on a Monday night is no small achievement for a contemporary jazz ensemble. Yet Portable Infinity's appearance at the Traverse felt entirely at home in the theatre's largest space. Eighteen months ago the group played the Traverse bar. Now they return at the conclusion of a major European tour to a full house, a testament both to the growing reputation of the band and the enthusiasm of Edinburgh's jazz audience.The evening stretched to around one hour and forty minutes without an interval, a format that might have tested a lesser audience. Instead, the capacity crowd remained rapt throughout, drawn into a performance that was as intellectually engaging as it was emotionally rewarding.What immediately struck this reviewer was the honesty of the music. There were no backi...

11Jun

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

Wales

The Full Monty – Theatr Clwyd

Almost 30 years after the original film came to our screens, Tiptop productions return to Theatr Clwyd with the brilliant The Full Monty. Directed by Peter Swingler, we follow the story of a group of Steelworkers in the 90s who find themselves out of work as yet another steel factory has been closed and they are trying to find their way through unemployment, depression, body image and much more. As the play unfolds, we realise it’s not just about six men taking their clothes off but heart, emotion and real people. When Gaz faces the possibility of losing shared custody of his son, he has to find a way to make money. And fast. After seeing the crowds that the Chippendales have drawn in, he gathers a group with five other guys to create the Buns of Steel, a group of strippers who will ...

11Jun

By Savitha VenugopalNo Comments

London

Allegra – Richmond Theatre

“Given all the misery around… if you spend the day smiling, there must be something wrong with you.” That is the diagnosis for the ever-singing, always happy Allegra. She sings at home, at the baker’s, at the library, in the café, and even to her neighbours at 3 in the morning. In this new play by Peter Quilter, directed and choreographed by Stephen Mear, Maureen Lipman plays the titular role. Allegra lives by herself in a village where everyone is seemingly infuriated with her habit of breaking into song. Her fridge and cupboards might be empty (save some old cocoa and flour tins that hold her father’s ashes), but her mind is bursting with music and colourful imaginations. Her brother Ronen (John Middleton) looks in on her regularly, brings her food, and attempts to reign in her ene...

10Jun

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Dear Evan Hansen – Church Hill Theatre

There are few cinematic puzzles more challenging than trying to complete a viewing of Dear Evan Hanson. Trust me, I tried, twice. However… abandon your car, bus, hackney cab or pushbike in Morningside and dodge the hailstones – it is, after all June, in Edinburgh – to the stunning Church Hill theatre for this Room 29 Theatre Co production. There are five more performances left from tomorrow (today by the time you’re reading this) June 10th, until June 13th including a Saturday matinee. This was excellent from start to finish, genuinely moving, touching and inspiring, the sight of Eilidh Todd (playing Evan’s mum Heidi) pretty much in tears at the end before a standing ovation said it all. The show took place upon an impressive, well-lit set before a backdrop representing a typically chao...

The Ballad of Johnny and June – The Lowry

10Jun

By Helen JonesNo Comments

North West

The Ballad of Johnny and June – The Lowry

Johnny Cash and June Carter were independently successful within the country music scene in the fifties and sixties. Having met in the fifties when both were married to other people, the connection was forged and they toured together before their affair started and they eventually married each other at the end of the sixties. Their son John Carter Cash was born in 1970. The Ballad of Johnny and June takes a mostly biographical look back at the early years of their relationship from the perspective of their son. From their first meeting backstage at a concert they were both performing at, through Johnny becoming sucessful to them getting together and then marriage and the birth of John. From that point onwards the show then jumps years at a time to strategic event...

Punk Rock – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

10Jun

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Punk Rock – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

The highly successful Altrincham Garrick Studio season of productions centred around a Manchester theme concludes this week with a timely revival of Simon Stephens’ 2009 classroom drama Punk Rock. Under the direction of Meg Brassington, it demonstrates that the teenage concerns of more than a decade ago are, if anything, even more pertinent and relevant today. We meet our seven protagonists at a sixth-form college in Stockport. The action takes place during the autumn term of 2009 as they negotiate the pressures of forthcoming mock A-level examinations. However, any similarity to The History Boys and the cosy world of Alan Bennett nostalgia is quickly dispelled by the very different tone Stephens employs in his portrayal of tortured adolescence and teenage angst. In the hands of a le...

Teeth ‘N’ Smiles – Duke of York’s Theatre

9Jun

By Nathan DunnNo Comments

London

Teeth ‘N’ Smiles – Duke of York’s Theatre

Teeth ‘N’ Smiles has enjoyed a lengthy run during this 2026 revival at the Duke of York theatre, celebrating 50 years since prolific writer David Hare’s rock and roll musical took to the stage starring Helen Mirren as the work’s darkly charismatic protagonist Maggie Frisby. Similarly, this production brings some star-studded value to the cast with pop artist Rebecca Lucy Taylor (formerly of Slow Club fame), now professional performing as ‘Self Esteem’. How does Hare’s work stand now? This production is pleasantly refined - its large cast are handled with great balance inside a great space, which playfully leans into the immersive qualities of the venue as the late 1960’s rockers burst in and out of the stalls doors that flank the audience with an amusingly entropic quality. Chloe Lamfor...