Latest Articles - Page 36 of 724

10Jul

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Fun Home – Royal Exchange Theatre

In the same month that Something Rotten! delights audiences with its joyous Shakespearean irreverence at the Opera House, Manchester welcomes another long-awaited Broadway success whose journey across the Atlantic was delayed by the pandemic. Almost a decade after its Tony Award-winning run, Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron’s adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s groundbreaking graphic memoir finally reaches the Royal Exchange, joining a growing wave of American musicals—including Dear Evan Hansen, Come From Away, Jagged Little Pill and next month’s London premiere of Kimberly Akimbo—that have reshaped the genre by favouring emotional realism over escapism. Its arrival continues the Royal Exchange’s renewed commitment to musical theatre. After years in which the genre appeared only occasionally in...

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast – Montgomery Theatre

9Jul

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast – Montgomery Theatre

In the sweltering heat the audience of Woodseats Musical Theatre Company’s production of Beauty and the Beast blazed into Sheffield town and the Montgomery Theatre, inviting us to be there guests and subsequently delighted all. With an impressive creation team - book by Linda Woolverton, Music by Alan Menken and Lyrics by Howard Ashman and the legendary Tim Rice. Woodseats did a fine job without the big budget set and scenery to create a beguiling ‘Tale as old as time’. As Director/Musical Director Rowan Alfred does a good job to steer the production’s legendary tale - this was no mean feat at times with nothing more than limited back projection and a rear dais with a central set of four steps. The actors were very much carrying the entire storytelling and did so with a very strong prin...

9Jul

By Saloni SanwalkaNo Comments

London

Operation Blank – Etcetera Theatre

Just off Camden High Street and up the stairs of the wonderfully cosy (and air-conditioned) Oxford Arms is Etcetera Theatre which, for the next two days, is home to Operation Blank, a 50-minute thought experiment about what happens when hopeless British bureaucracy meets nuclear crisis. The result is a rambunctious disaster which paints a grim albeit accurate picture of the collective “screw it” we all seem to have said in response to the world’s current state of affairs. At its core however Operation Blank is The George Grant Show and therein lies the audience’s true reward. When speaking with Grant (writer and lead performer) after the show, I learned that Operation Blank was born from a 10-page drunken rant after a night out. And— I mean this in the best possible way—it fee...

9Jul

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Richard III: The Cockpit Theatre

This is an extraordinary production. Directed and starring Nicolas Perez Costa it was per formed to great acclaim at Madrid’s Teatro Infanto Isabel. It is in English but with a largely Spanish speaking cast it is a highly physical, visceral and arresting interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic play about power, ambition and evil. The cast paint their faces white with heavy black make up, along the lines of the Joker in the famous Batman films, and are dressed in dysfunctional costumes of black, translucent tops and heavy ragged cloaks. Something like a cross between grunge and steam punk. The set consists of nothing more than six oil drums and two wooden ladders. These the cast move into the positions required for each scene often standing atop them. The most amazi...

9Jul

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

East – The King’s Arms

Nearly 50 years after its premiere, Steven Berkoff’s East still has the power to provoke. What was once notorious for its profanity and sexual explicitness now shocks for entirely different reasons. In 2026, it is the casual misogyny, blatant racism and everyday homophobia that land with the greatest force, exposing attitudes that have aged badly while prompting uncomfortable reflection on how much has – and hasn’t – changed. If Shakespeare met Shameless, the result would look much like East. Berkoff fuses muscular, poetic verse with the grit of London’s East End, creating a theatrical language that is exhilarating one moment and exhausting the next. Performed in the intimate surroundings of The Kings Arms as part of the Greater Manchester Fringe, Stir Crazy Productions fully embrac...

9Jul

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

Romeo and Juliet – Greenwich Theatre

Greenwich Theatre’s current production of Shakespeare’s much loved play has some interesting and innovative features. Romeo is cast as a woman, apparently as a tribute to the Pride movement, and it makes extensive use of music played and sung by the six performers who are all talented musicians. Whilst I was initially unsure about the same sex leading couple it worked well and appeared natural. The music was very pleasant although somewhat idiosyncratic, including at, one time, one of Simon and Garfunkel’s numbers, the relevance of which to the plot was not clear. An impressive backdrop had been constructed with a large steel balcony which was used, obviously, for the famous balcony scene but when it was used for dialogue between other characters, for example, in Lord Capule...

The Karate Kid – The Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

9Jul

By Natalia PrucnalNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Karate Kid – The Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

The hit 1984 film ‘The Karate Kid’ has marched into the Sheffield Lyceum, now reimagined as an action-packed musical production (from the book written by Robert Mark Kamen and composed by Drew Gasparini). The cast of this musical are ridiculously talented, and it makes for a deeply enjoyable watch. The show follows teenager Daniel Larusso, who moves to Southern California with his single mother Lucille. He finds himself the target of bullying at the hands of the Cobra Kai dojo, particularly Johnny Lawrence, which only derails after he falls for Ali Mills, Lawrence’s ex-girlfriend. After befriending his local maintenance man Mr. Miyagi, who is secretly a martial arts master, Larusso trains under his new sensei’s watchful eye to fight the Cobra Kai at a karate competition. Walking into...

9Jul

By Luke StephensonNo Comments

North West

Moulin Rouge – Liverpool Empire

Ever wondered what it would be like to enter Paris and be enthralled within a world of Freedom, Beauty, truth and love? Well, now you cancan can. Moulin Rouge the world tour has descended in the iconic Liverpool empire. From the moment they opened the house doors you were immersed from having the house open call in French to entering an auditorium that made you feel like you time travelled to Paris. Having seen the real place myself there wasn’t much that was different every intricate detail was adhered to. The musical by John Logan based of the iconic film by Baz Luhrmann, set in 1899 in the bohemian district of Paris. Where at the club it has a star attraction Satine (Verity Thompson). Where common folk and aristocracy flock to see the beauty and wonder she beholds at the club. The club ...

The Burns Project – Royal Lyceum Theatre

7Jul

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Burns Project – Royal Lyceum Theatre

There can be few figures in Scottish history as difficult to bring to the stage as Robert Burns. Poet, radical, celebrity, serial womaniser and national icon, he remains a figure whose mythology is almost as powerful as the man himself. The Burns Project, now returning to the Royal Lyceum following a successful Fringe run and subsequent touring, sets itself the ambitious task of stripping away that mythology to present Burns as a complex human being. It succeeds in many respects, but ultimately falls short where it matters most. Presented in the intimate surroundings of the Lyceum's Henry Irving Room, the audience gathers around a large dining table while Burns moves through the space, his life unfolding chronologically from humble beginnings to his premature death. Live music, performe...

7Jul

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Operation Mincemeat – Hull New Theatre

Hull New Theatre-goers are used to having their bags searched upon entering the venue, but on Monday evening, my sister, Chrissy, who accompanied me to the theatre to watch Operation Mincemeat, a new musical, was scanned with a metal detector by a kindly security person. We wondered if this was part of the production - one that involved espionage, skullduggery, death and deceit, where a metal detector might be of some use. But, no, dear reader, my sis was scanned for real. It was a prelude to new security measures coming to public buildings mainly because of the Manchester Arena attack in 2017 (or so it was explained to us). Anything that keeps us safe on our beautiful planet is OK with me. Right, back to the show. The award-winning Operation Mincemeat (from the book, music and ly...