News, Reviews and Interviews from theatres across the UK
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The Great Shakespeare Showdown is a brisk, crowd-pleasing slice of Fringe theatre that knows exactly what it is: a daft, affectionate celebration of Shakespeare, showmanship and frontier bravado. Set in Leadville, Colorado, in 1882, Dennis Elkins’ comedy imagines a town so besotted with the Bard that its silver miners can quote him as readily as […] The post The Great Shakespeare Showdown –…
Dust travels through time and space, waltzing, dodging and diving through the life of a working-class man. It is the energetic, nostalgic retelling of life that many wish they could’ve had from their own grandparents. Bunker one at Pleasance Courtyard, a cavernous stage set only with a wooden trunk, a walking stick and a miner’s […] The post Dust – Pleasance Courtyard appeared first on North West…
Trainspotting Live has a reputation to behold, with nine years of sell-out Fringe runs and Irvine Welsh himself saying it’s ‘better than either the book or film’. The show is deserving of every star it has ever received and more. The atmosphere at the EICC is buzzing with expectations, stewards replace tickets with glow sticks […] The post Trainspotting Live – Pleasance @ EICC appeared first on…
Taken mostly verbatim from Welsh paratrooper Neville Neads’ wartime diary and letters to his fiancée, Operation Market Garden was adapted by his great-granddaughter Izzy Lane (who also produces, assistant-directs and acts in the show), directed by Izzy Driscol, and produced by This Inspired Theatre Company. The show’s title is somewhat a misnomer, as the disastrous […] The post Operation Market…
It was an absolute delight to spend an hour and ten minutes in the company of Ingeborga Dapkunaite, to hear her story of three generations of women, and their experiences living in Lithuania. This is storytelling in its purest form, one person on a stage with no props other than a chair, and with Dapkunaite […] The post A Pebble In The Road – Pleasance Courtyard appeared first on North West End UK…
I have taken time to mull over this show before writing my thoughts. I call it a show and not a play, because it is multi-faceted and it has been very cleverly devised. For the most part I applaud its uniqueness, it challenges convention. But I will discuss what I perceive as a basic need […] The post Drone – Pleasance Courtyard appeared first on North West End UK .
Earworm by Gur Arie Piepskovitz is pitched as an ‘anti-rom-com’ and certainly succeeds in presenting the contemporary queer relationship as a prospect of conflict, contradiction and angst. The story concerns alternative cabaret singer Guy (Avihud Tidhar), who is dating queer academic John (Brodie Bass). They are motivated by distinctly varying ambitions and have different needs […] The post…
There are some shows you admire and others that catch you rather more unexpectedly. Captivate Theatre’s Come From Away did both. I saw it with my daughter, and remarkably it was the first time either of us had encountered the musical. Sharing that first experience became one of my highlights of this year’s Fringe. Irene Sankoff and […] The post Come From Away – Assembly Ballroom appeared first on…
Voloz Collective have two propositions at this year’s Fringe and having already seen their newer REDACTED: The Cover-Up of a Cover-Up of a Cover-Up, I found myself watching The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much rather unusually, seeing the company’s evolution backwards. Set in 1963, it follows Roger Clement, played by Paul Lofferon, a French advertising executive […] The post The Man Who Thought He…
I will confess I’d never heard of ‘Half a Sixpence’ but I know Clive Brill always brings a rip-roaring musical to the Big Top tent on the Greensward, and I’m delighted to say: I was thoroughly delighted! This is a five-star production which had me smiling all the way through – and laughing the hardest […] The post Half a Sixpence – Frinton Summer Theatre appeared first on North West End UK .
Written and performed by Nina-Lou Bricard, ‘The Waiting’ is an intense, uncompromising and frequently traumatic one-woman show. Developed from a one-minute monologue, it takes the polished exterior of beauty, modelling, success and glamour and tears violently through its surface. Bricard plays a former French supermodel who abandons her wedding, quite literally a runaway bride, providing […] The…
Set in the early 1800’s, Edinburgh Days is the story of life in Edinburgh during Britain’s war with France, and focuses on life around the docks of Leith, and the shores of Portobello. Written by composer Brian Spence, he teamed up with Bob Tomson as a creative director, whom he has worked with previously, and […] The post Edinburgh Days – Auditorium at St Bride’s Community Centre appeared first…
Linus Karp has put his own name very prominently on the poster this time. After Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story and Gwyneth Goes Skiing, perhaps this is someone increasingly comfortable with the limelight. More importantly, however, this is his own story. Shortly before the 2024 Fringe, Karp was walking through Soho with his partner Joseph Martin when […] The post Linus Karp Was Hit With an…
You have to marvel at the sheer industry of Bebe Cave. Swoon is not simply an hour of character comedy. Cave appears to have swallowed a substantial chunk of Victorian art history, constructed a beautifully gilded Pre-Raphaelite world of curtains, frames and tableaux, assembled an armoury of hats and costumes, and then decided to perform all […] The post Bebe Cave: Swoon – Pleasance Dome appeared…
The Dissection Room at Summerhall is a fascinating space, double height and voluminous, and Tell Me certainly knows how to celebrate that verticality. At its centre stands a giant open metal cube. Inside that sits another, and another, a Russian doll of skeletal geometry which performers Sadiq Ali, Phoebe Knight and Jonah Russell climb through, hang from, […] The post Tell Me – Summerhall…
‘Dear Lihua’ is a highly accomplished piece of theatre, delicately constructed and performed with remarkable tenderness. Written by Xinyi Chen and directed by Zhaoyi Ying, this bilingual English and Mandarin production explore the loneliness of living abroad, the strain of communicating in a language that is not your own and the painful compromises sometimes demanded […] The post Dear Lihua –…
Inspired by the life and work of English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, ‘How Do I Love Thee?’ is an ambitious and emotionally intelligent piece of new writing from new company Aside Hustle. Tracing the Victorian poet’s journey from confinement in England to liberation in Italy with Robert Browning, Ruby Thomas’s script explores creativity, illness, love […] The post How Do I Love Thee? – Circle…
A riotous celebration of music, friendship and the great British pub There are few theatrical experiences that begin before the curtain has even risen. The Choir of Man is one of them. At Storyhouse, Chester, the familiar rituals of going to the theatre are swiftly replaced by something altogether more convivial. The stage becomes The […] The post The Choir of Man – Storyhouse Chester appeared…
If you think you know the old German tale of Hansel and Gretel, think again! Christian Hege challenges us to rethink the tale, providing more detail than ever before and asking us to question who the real villain in the tale is. The tale begins with poverty, famine and too much rain for any crop […] The post This Is Not Hansel & Gretel – Banshee Labyrinth appeared first on North West End UK .
Very few people can say that they’ve: been a princess, drank with Elizabeth I, caused one of the biggest Swedish sex scandals in history and become a pirate! But for Princess Cecilia Vasa of Sweden this strange and exciting (although at times upsetting) reality was the case. Daughter Of Sweden- That One Princess Who Drunk […] The post Daughter Of Sweden – That One Princess Who Drunk With Lizzie I…
The titular “Last Hero” and “Last Coward” are Scottish pastor John Harper and White Star Line director Joseph Bruce Ismay. Both were passengers on the Titanic and acquired their own legend from it. Harper, the story goes, was the courageous man of faith who apparently converted people even in the freezing water; and Ismay the […] The post Titanic: The Last Hero and The Last Coward – Church…
A comedy of manners from a by-gone era, Jeeves Takes Charge is a highly enjoyable two hours in the company of P.G. Wodehouse’s famous duo. Jeeves and Wooster are brought to life by Sam Harrison, who has the daunting task of playing both, as well as a host of other characters, from a schoolgirl to […] The post Jeeves Takes Charge – Charing Cross Theatre appeared first on North West End UK .
Like the demographic of Edinburgh itself, An Immigrant’s Comedy Show brings together a colourful mix of comedians from across the world, alongside some home-grown talent. The premise is straightforward: to provide a platform for immigrant comedians to perform alongside one another. While the title accurately reflects the backgrounds of many of the performers, I did […] The post An Immigrant’s…
Slow and relaxed aptly describes this hour of comedy from Kevin O’Brian. Absolutely! One-Liner Jokes! explores some of the most important aspects of life, from family and relationships to jobs and hobbies, or, as Kevin puts it, “jobbies”. Aptly named, the show delivers exactly what it promises: a simple hour of contextualised one-liners, delivered one […] The post Absolutely! One-Liner Jokes! –…
There comes a point late enough at the Edinburgh Fringe when the normal rules of theatre begin to loosen. At 11.25pm, down in the Banshee Labyrinth, Pervert Werewolf positively encourages them to fall off altogether. You may know the party game Werewolf, or you may not. In its simplest form, everyone is assigned a secret identity. Most are […] The post Pervert Werewolf – Banshee Labyrinth appeared…
