______ 27 June 2026 ______ 5***** ______ I have waxed lyrical about Sun and Moon Theatre in the past and, with their current production of Twelfth Night, I am not about to stop. Watching this Company at work is one of those deeply comforting theatre experiences which you can just enjoy and not worry that […]
TWELFTH NIGHT – Lapford Mill Read More »
______ 22 June 2026 ______ 3*** ______ As day follows night, so the Sidmouth Summer Play Festival kicks off a new season, 69 years after it first began. The longest running weekly repertory theatre in the UK is back with 12 more plays to be performed over the 12 weeks from June to September. The
MURDER WEAPON – Manor Pavilion Theatre, Sidmouth Read More »
______ 29 May 2026 ______ 4***** ______ No one can accuse Exeter University Theatre Company (EUTCO) or taking the easy options when choosing their summer productions which transfer to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Having reviewed Dinner by Moira Buffini in 2024 and Constellations by Nick Payne last year, this year’s offering is Georg Büchner’s famously
WOYZECK – Kay House, Exeter University Read More »
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 »
