______ 22 June 2025 ______ 5***** ______ The remarkable story of the displaced people when US airspace was closed following the 9/11 attacks and the town of Gander in Newfoundland where many ended up for some days was developed into a small-scale musical – with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein […]
COME FROM AWAY – Axminster Guild Hall Read More »
_____ 20 June 2025 _____ 4**** ______ From the moment Natasha Newsam-Mabey, impressively, gives voice to the title song of the show, you just get the feeling that ‘Grease’ is in safe hands. The 1971 musical was given longevity by the 1978 film which catapulted it into the stratosphere. In essence it is a curiously
GREASE – The Playhouse, Weston super Mare Read More »
_____ 30 May 2025 ______ 4**** ______ If you were to take at face value the basic thread of Nick Payne’s highly successful play ‘Constellations’, then it would seem straightforward and, maybe, fairly unremarkable. However, Payne isn’t playing with a straight bat here and creates a four-dimensional puzzle within that story. With the subject of
CONSTELLATIONS – Roborough Studios, University of Exeter Read More »
______ 29 May 2025 ______ 5***** ______ In his programme note, director, Rob Ashford makes direct comparisons between the Mods and Rockers and the Montagues and the Capulets, the Jets and the Sharks; rivalries of great note – some fictional some for real. Set against a backdrop of music originally created in the 1970s by
QUADROPHENIA – Theatre Royal Plymouth Read More »
______ 20 May 2025 ______ 4**** ______ Running for over 20 years ‘Only Fools and Horses’ is regularly voted one of the favourite TV comedy programmes ever. John Sullivan created a raft of memorable characters, played by a cast who would become synonymous with them. The musical version created by Sullivan’s son Jim along with
ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES – Theatre Royal Plymouth Read More »
______ 29 April 2025 ______ 4**** 1/2 ______ One of the huge pleasures of the theatrical year last year was to witness some of the best storytelling I have seen for a long time. Nicolas Ridley’s biographical play about his Father, the playwright and actor Arnold Ridley, is revelatory, funny, touching, fascinating and deeply moving.
WERE YOU ANYONE BEFORE DAD’S ARMY? – The White Bear Theatre, Kennington, London Read More »
______ 22 April 2025 ______ 4**** ______ The message of ‘Kinky Boots’ is writ loud and clear, ‘Accept others for who they are’; has this show ever been played out against such a background of controversy, debate and anger? A story of inclusion cannot be told in more heartfelt terms than with Johannes Radebe in
KINKY BOOTS – Theatre Royal Plymouth Read More »
______ 15 April 2025 ______ 4**** _____ One of the refreshing things about the musical ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ is the depth of the story which is sustained throughout the length of the show. The titular character suffers with his mental health and while trying to explain away his issues becomes embroiled in a muddle of
DEAR EVAN HANSEN – Theatre Royal Plymouth Read More »
______ 9 April 2025 ______ 5***** ______ From the opening minor keys to the gloriously rich, deeply romantic climax, Prokofiev’s 1940s score for the ballet of Cinderella is so varied and immensely cinematic in the many themes and moods built into it. As ever, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, under the baton of Charlotte Politi provide
CINDERELLA – BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET – Theatre Royal Plymouth Read More »
______ 1 April 2025 ______ 5***** ______ ‘The Shark is Broken’ could be seen as a more modern take on Jerome K Jerome’s ‘Three Men in a Boat’, not with a dog, this time, but with a shark called ‘Bruce’. There are story similarities, but they diverge rather widely. The behind the scenes story of
THE SHARK IS BROKEN – Theatre Royal Plymouth Read More »
