Andrew Woodall as Caesar. photo by Helen Maybanks It’s an accepted cliché that, whatever the prevailing political mood there is a Shakespeare play that adequately reflects, comments on or holds a mirror up to it. Like all the best clichés it has become so ingrained in the consciousness of theatregoers because it is largely true. […]
Forty Years On @ Chichester Festival Theatre
Alan Cox, Richard Wilson & Jenny Galloway Alan Bennett’s Forty Years On is a curious play. His first outing as playwright (back in 1968) is charmingly eccentric, wonderfully witty and every bit a Bennett play. In fact it comes across as if the History Boys stumbled into a production of ‘Oh What a Lovely War’ […]
The Curious Incident of The Dog In the Night-Time @ Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre has been a top destination for touring musicals for longer than we can remember and in recent years they’ve added top class drama to their repertoire. We sent Emma van Kooperen to check out Curious Incident as it arrived on the south coast!
The Red Shoes @ Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
THE RED SHOES by Bourne, , Choreographer and Director – Mathew Bourne, Designer – Lez Brotherstoni, Lighting – Paule Constable, Plymouth, 2016, Credit: Johan Persson/ It’s a rare thing, when you’re a regular theatregoer, to see something that is truly fresh and wonderfully new! Matthew Bourne seems to have knack for it though and his […]
Billy Elliott @ The Mayflower, Southampton
Billy Elliott is a musical steeped in the eighties, from Thatcher to Miners strikes by way of some very bright leg warmers it drips with the trappings of the decade… and yet, with a story about standing up for what you believe in and seizing the opportunity to escape from a life with no future […]
The Tempest @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
There’s no better way to kick the post-Christmas blues than an early January trip to the theatre, so this year we decided to go an extra step and head to Stratford upon Avon for a short break. Of course, when you’re in Stratford you’d be mad to miss a trip to the Royal Shakespeare Company […]
Peter Pan @ Chichester Festival Theatre
For the last few years, since the birth of this site, one of December’s defining points has been seeing Chichester Festival Youth Theatre’s always impressive Christmas productions. So it is that we find ourselves in the cosy surrounds of the festival theatre to see this year’s offering – Peter Pan.
Relatively Speaking @ Chichester Festival Theatre
I suspect that when Relatively Speaking made its debut back in 1967 it may have raised the odd eyebrow, but half a century later it seems a rather quaint, typically English, look back at a time that was somehow more innocent.
King Lear @ The Barbican Centre
Photo by Ellie Kurttz (c) RSC For many actors Lear is the ultimate role, hence the proliferation of productions that appear every year. In 2016 alone we’ve had Timothy West, Don Warrington and Michael Pennington all pop up in the role and Glenda Jackson is currently giving us a female perspective over at the Old […]
The Wind In The Willows @ The Mayflower, Southampton
I’ve had a tough week, the day job has been grinding me down and I haven’t seen the sun in days. Frankly, when I left the office yesterday I was thoroughly fed up and downbeat… but a short trip to the river bank had me practically skipping out of the Mayflower with a grin so […]