15 April 2026 _____ 3*** ______ Robert Harling’s 1987 part biographical play has seen great success since its first production and adaptations for film and television have enhanced its reputation. Added to this is a range of female roles which has endeared it to production companies. Set in a beauty parlour in Louisiana in the […]
STEEL MAGNOLIAS – OSO Arts Centre, Barnes Read More »
______ 10 March 2026 ______ 5***** ______ An instant hit when first published in 1960, To Kill A Mockingbird, has become one of the great classic American novels – and with good reason. With subject matters which resonated at the time and which, sadly, continue to do so today, the depiction of racism, corruption, injustice
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD – Theatre Royal Plymouth Read More »
______ 21 February 2026 ______ 4**** ½ ______ In August last year we had the delight of reviewing Somerset Opera (in collaboration with Pleasure Dome Theatre) for the first time and so it is invigorating to return to the company for their latest project. La Boheme must be regarded as one of the most popular
LA BOHEME – St James’ Church, Taunton Read More »
______ 6 February 2026 ______ 4***** ______ I have mentioned before in my reviews that bringing an Agatha Christie play to the stage successfully is far harder than at first it might appear. With ‘And Then There Were None’, it is a real challenge; regarded as one of the best-plotted whodunnit’s ever written, it has
AND THEN THERE WERE NONE – Exeter Northcott Theatre Read More »
______ 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 »
