Month: December 2024

Cirencester’s gem of a theatre goes from strength to strength. While most provincial theatres are happy to stick with the tried and tested family pantomimes like Aladdin, Puss In Boots, Cinderella etc, The Barn Theatre rightly insists on breaking new ground. Last year, they produced the impressive adaptation of Treasure Island, and this year, they have returned to further mine… Continue reading The Three Musketeers: Trois

There is an almost unanimous theatre silence on the continuing slaughter of Palestinians. It is a silence out of step with the views of most of the country. It is an enforced silence that even Shakespeare would find it difficult to break, as the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester demonstrated by junking a five-week Midsummer Night’s… Continue reading Cutting the Tightrope: the divorce of Politics and Art

Death, grief and Irish identity are sewn into the seams of Michael Keegen Dolan’s absorbing new work created for his company Teac Damsa, translated from Irish as the “house of dance”. Dolan’s starting point for an hour and a half (no interval) of creative outpourings derives from its title, Nobodaddy, based on a poem by William… Continue reading Nobodaddy (Tríd an bpoll gan bun)

Director Max Webster reverted to Oscar Wilde’s original four-act version, restoring some of the cuts made to produce the version that premièred in 1895. There are also a few modern interpolations and a radical approach that recognises the play’s queer undertones and perhaps makes it even more wildly Wildean. Designer Rae Smith frames it in… Continue reading The Importance of Being Earnest

2024 brings a wealth of celebrations to the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury. Resident producers Evolution Productions mark their 20th anniversary, whilst musical director Chris Wong reaches the milestone of 30 years at the venue, having played the Ghostbusters chorus for the legendary Marlowe Theatre Ghost Gag 16,200 times. This year, the Marlowe returns to a title not seen… Continue reading Beauty and the Beast

In regional theatres up and down the country, people who still know how to do panto put on a show at Christmas for an audience who may never step inside a theatre at any other time. In Coventry, that person is Iain Lauchlan, who has written, directed and played Dame in every Belgrade Theatre panto… Continue reading Dick Whittington

Rather like those classic ‘lonely at Christmas’ songs, there’s something comfortably familiar about a story of love and heartbreak set at Christmas, and The Crumple Zone has that recognisable feel with its course of true love never did run smooth romcom-esque flavours. As befits the budget of its unemployed actor tenants, the action takes place in an… Continue reading The Crumple Zone

Even if you know little about the heroic stand taken against Hitler’s regime by the German student Sophie Scholl, you will guess the likely outcome of her act of rebellion. In 1943, she was arrested along with her brother for treason when they distributed anti-war leaflets opposed to the Nazi Government. Emma Rogers, Holly Allan… Continue reading Being Sophie Scholl