______ 20 December 2025 ______ 4**** ______ The short, self-published, 1943 story ‘The Greatest Gift’ by Philip van Doren Stern was probably never meant to be celebrated for so many decades, and indeed it isn’t, except in its adaptation to celluloid as ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ made in 1946. With a few echoes of ‘A […]
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE – Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis Read More »
______ 16 December 2025 ______ 2** ______ I hate to end the theatrical year on a bit of a downer, but do you ever get the feeling of déjà vu? When Shane Richie was the headline star of the Theatre Royal Plymouth pantomime in 2022 our review said the following about Crossroads; “the more pantomimes you
DICK WHITTINGTON – Theatre Royal Plymouth Read More »
_____ 18 November 2025 ______ 5***** ______ With the 30th Anniversary of his Swan Lake pulling into Madrid for the final dates of its year-long tour and the dust hardly settled on the UK productions of The Midnight Bell, it has been a busy year for Sir Matthew Bourne and his company, and now The
THE RED SHOES – Theatre Royal Plymouth Read More »
12 November 2025 _______ When I reviewed ‘The Winter’s Tale’ performed by Exeter-based Sun and Moon Theatre at Poltimore House in the summer of 2024, it was my first encounter with the company. I was struck by the enthusiasm, the invention, the love of language and the ability to tell the stories in such a
THE WINTER’S TALE – Barnfield Theatre, Exeter Read More »
______ 29 October 2025 ______ 3***1/2 ______ For the audiences who watch ‘Salt’ it is unlikely to have seen anything like it before and that is the best of theatre, when it creates something so far from the very well beaten track. For a play set by and on the sea, watching it in a
SALT – Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis Read More »
______ 24 October 2025 ______ 4**** ______ At the start of ‘Haunted Shadows’ we are made fully aware that there was a lot more to writer, Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) than ‘The Railway Children’, ‘Five Children and It’ and ‘The Treasure Seekers’ – wonderful stories for children, of course, but there was another side to her
HAUNTED SHADOWS – Alma Tavern Theatre, Clifton, Bristol Read More »
______ 17 October 2025 ______ 5***** ______ Samuel Beckett is a playful writer – playing with words, with meaning, playing with the audience and so often putting the ball into their court to decide what his writing is all about. Staging any of his works is one hell of a challenge and can never be
HAPPY DAYS – The Mill Studio, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre – Guildford Read More »
______ 15 September 2025 ______ 5***** ______ In recent years it has been something of a masterstroke by the producers of the Sidmouth Summer Play Festival to bring the season to a conclusion with a gloriously, completely bonkers piece of fun; thus we have had ‘The 39 Steps’ and ‘Ben Hur’ played for all its
BASKERVILLE: A SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY – Manor Pavilion Theatre, Sidmouth Read More »
______ 8 September 2025 ______ 3***1/2 ______ This is something of a coup for the Manor Pavilion Theatre – while ‘The Cottage’ had its first production in the USA in 2013, it took ten years to reach Broadway – it took another 12 years to reach these shores, for this is its UK premiere. Billed
THE COTTAGE – Manor Pavilion Theatre, Sidmouth Read More »
______ 4 September 2025 ______ 4**** ______ In the anniversary year commemorating 50 years since the death of R C Sherriff, it is a time ripe for revivals and it is a real delight to see ‘Home at Seven’ on the stage again. Sherriff, is, of course, rightly, best remembered for his First World War
HOME AT SEVEN – Tabard Theatre, Chiswick Read More »
