Theatre Reviews

______ 14 November 2024 ______ 2** ______ The story of a young woman’s diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis is presented by Carbon Theatre and takes the audience through the early signs, the physical, emotional and mental challenges this condition presents. The show, presented by three young women is packed with information and the viewer will learn […]

______ 12 November 2024 ______ 5***** ______ Words fail me. In an attempt to review Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake again, it is difficult to know where to start. Celebrating 30 years since it turned tradition on its head, it remains impressive, imperious, important and impossible good. No, not good. This is a great piece of

______ 30 October 2024 ______ 3*** ______ The story of a young actor, Alex,  who, by sheer chance, finds himself working in Barbra Streisand’s basement shopping mall, is a gem of an idea. The shops all contain items belonging to the her – a means of displaying them; dolls, costumes, hats, antiques….. there’s a lot.

______ 28 October 2024 ______ 2** ______ Tom Fletcher’s stock is immensely high; musician, composer, author…. McFly is still going after over twenty years and his children’s novels routinely hit the top of the bestseller lists. It is difficult not to admire the man. A major show of one of his books has hit the

______ 22 October 2024 ______ 3*** ______ Robert Louis Stephenson’s 1886 gothic novel has been the subject of discussion; literary, scientific and psychological, for many years; the story of the duo personality continues to thrill. Adapted for the stage most famously by the actor Richard Mansfield, it caused such a stir it closed the theatre.

______ 10 October 2024 ______ 5***** ______ Frederick Ashton’s 1960 re-working of the 18th Century ballet is a frothy, romantic, playful, virtually plotless spectacle – and it is an utter delight. As presented by Birmingham Royal Ballet, Ashton’s choreography and John Lanchberry’s adaptation of Ferdinand Herold’s music is exquisitely performed with a joyful vigour and

______ 3 October 2024 ______ 5***** ______ This is a review and it isn’t. Maybe it is a review of a revisit. I had the pleasure of seeing Past Tents at the Alma Tavern Theatre in Bristol in September 2023, it was before then and since, a piece of theatre close to my heart. My

______ 24 September 2024 ______ 4**** ______ Adapting the work of the Queen of Crime is a perilous business; tinker with the original works and you could fall foul of the millions of fans, and bringing them to the stage or screen can cause high anxiety; witness criticisms of Kenneth Branagh on film and Sarah

______ 17 September 2024 ______ 3*** ______ Opening at London’s National Theatre in 2004, Alan Bennett’s ‘The History Boys’ was an instant hit and helped launch the careers of the likes of James Corden, Russell Tovey and Dominic Cooper, to name but three. In his introduction to the play, Bennett talks largely about his own

______ 16 September 2024 ______ 5***** ______ It’s bonkers, it’s barmy, it’s brilliant. Following on from Patrick Barlow’s take on ‘The 39 Steps’ last year, the same team have taken on Barlow’s version of the epic ‘Ben Hur’, a tale of the Christ. A theatre company of just four (The Daniel Veil Collective) present every