Theatre Reviews

______ 21 November 2023 ______ 5***** ______ For those who know the film, the creation of a dance version of ‘Edward Scissorhands’ might seem odd, impossible to pull off… but when you are dealing with the genius of Sir Matthew Bourne, nothing is off limits. Not revived for 9 years, his 2005 show is back […]

______ 15 November 2023 ______ 4**** ______ Most people would agree that Margaret Thatcher was one of the most polarising Prime Ministers the UK has ever had. Was it just because of her policies or was her gender part of the issue? The Thatcher years all fell within the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth

______ 8 November 2023 ______ 4**** ______ Directors of stage productions always take an enormous risk when deciding to stage a well-known piece of work in unusual surroundings. Thus the decision by English Touring Opera to develop the story of ‘Cinderella’ (La Cenerentola) – Rossini’s sparkling 1817 work – inside a museum with the characters

______ 12 October 2023 ______ 4**** ______ I should think it highly likely that eyebrows were raised when Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, Carlos Acosta, announced his intention to work with heavy metal pioneers, Black Sabbath on a new ballet. The prospect for many was both eye-catching and mouth-watering. The result of the collaboration is

______ 4 October 2023 ______ 4**** ______ So, I will admit, I have never been able to get through the whole of The Lord of the Rings – the book or all three of Peter Jackson’s films. I do have a passing knowledge of the plot though, which I hoped would be of use before

______ 19 September 2023 ______ 5***** ______ The 2015 Lincoln Center Theater Production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘The King and I’ does not feature the cast on rollerskates and has not been transposed into a dystopian land on the moon. The cast do not wear ripped jeans and t-shirts carrying slogans about the environment. I

______ 18 September 2023 ______ 5***** _____ Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film version of John Buchan’s classic story of spies, intrigue and adventure has long been seen as one of the best movies of its genre; there have been other versions, but none match it. Patrick Barlow’s  2005 stage adaptation (based on an original concept by

______ 11 September 2023 ______ 5***** ______ Noel Coward’s ‘Private Lives’, written in 1930, has long been considered his most seminal work; though it opened to mixed reviews, it has been the subject of much debate and discussion; what is it really about and is it any good? This is not the time to write

______ 7 September 2023 ______ 5***** ______ Very occasionally, as a reviewer, you will watch a production and believe it to be totally unique; so much theatre is derivative or unoriginal in some way, but out there are theatrical works which deserve to be seen because they are so very far from the norm. In

______ 4 September 2023 ______ 5***** ______ The Portland Spy Ring operated in the 1950s and early 1960s; a highly successful group of spies working for Russia filtering British military secrets to the Kremlin. The final breaking of the Ring and the subsequent arrest of those involved is the basis for Hugh Whitemore’s play ‘Pack