Theatre Reviews

5***** 12 February 2020 Hallelujah! Just when you think of giving up on productions of Shakespeare plays, because of the insistence directors seem to have in buggering about with The Bard, a bright light suddenly appears before you and you settle down and realise all is right with the world. The RSC tour to Plymouth […]

3*** 11 February 2020 We all know John Cleese can write a good farce; each of the 12 episodes of ‘Fawlty Towers’ was a piece of exquisite structure, plotting and execution and his writing along with Connie Booth was just about faultless. Along with his work for Monty Python, which contained enough farcical elements to

4**** 25 January 2020 You have to look very hard these days for a traditional production of a Shakespeare play – every kind of re-interpretation, re-imagining and dismantling of the Bard’s work seems to be the norm. Pantomime, on the other hand, is largely undertaken as a traditional presentation; there are ‘rules’ and in any

4**** 22 January 2020 ‘Ghost’ first appeared as a film 30 years ago in 1990 starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, gathering a heap of awards and nominations including Oscars for the screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin and actor Whoopi Goldberg. The musical was developed some years later, it’s first performance being at Manchester in

5***** 20 January 2020 As stage musicals go, they don’t get much further ‘in your face’ that Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Based on the 1994 film, it made its way into musical theatre in 2006 and has been around the world a few times since. This new production is on an extensive UK tour

3*** 23 December 2019 A QDOS Pantomime will be seen in 35 venues this Christmas/New Year and there is no doubt that they have transformed the landscape of the traditional theatre show. Huge, colourful sets, wonderful costumes, high quality music and dance and big names; add to this some spectacular set-pieces and you have a

3*** 6 December 2019 How to describe the indescribable. What was ‘Les Gloriables’ like? In a nutshell?  The joy of reviewing theatre is that sometimes you do catch artists who create something so off the wall, that it’s almost impossible to sum up what you have just seen. The audience are met in the auditorium

5***** 5 December 2019 On visiting The Old Library in Bodmin last year, I was captivated by an innovative and heart-warming production which offered something just that bit different, whilst illustrating what can be done when everything is in small scale – venue, budget, facilities. My return to see what Ha-Hum-Ah Theatre Company would present

3*** 4 December 2019 Live theatre is often unpredictable and throws up challenges night by night which you cannot always legislate for. Small companies rarely have a team of understudies in place and somehow cope if the worst happens. So, it was on the Press Night for the much heralded Northcott Theatre Pantomime this year

5***** 26 November 2019 Cute kids, cute dog, dancing stars and planets, smaltzy love story and shovel loads of sentimentality – ingredients in a show almost guaranteed to make you blench – but somehow the combination works like a dream in NATIVITY – THE MUSICAL. Whilst some may say we should be looking for more