Blog Archives

Aidan Dooley’s one-man play DISCOVERING ANTARCTICA masterfully brings to life the underappreciated heroism and adventures of explorer Tom Crean.

Ask anyone to name a great explorer of the early 20th century, and they will probably name either Scott (of the Antarctic) or Shackleton; they will not mention Tom Crean, the Irishman who was the only person to serve in three of the greatest expeditions ever mounted and was awarded the Albert Medal for heroism...

The Long Shadow of Alois Brunner. Photo Credit: Tom Dachs

Provocative and multifaceted, THE LONG SHADOW OF ALOIS BRUNNER weaves together history, personal struggle, and the complexities of justice and displacement.

THE LONG SHADOW OF ALOIS BRUNNER, the latest work from the writer Mudar Alhaggi and performed by Collective Ma’louba, is a multifaceted work dealing with many themes...

The cast of A TASTE OF HONEY. Photo Credit: Johan Persson

Driven by its sublime staging and exceptional cast performance, A TASTE OF HONEY is a must-see.

When 19-year-old Shelagh Delaney wrote A TASTE OF HONEY in 1958, it sent shock waves through the world of theatre. It was a stinging dose of what would become known as “kitchen sink realism” and depicted a world many had not seen.

The Royal Exchange’s current production has lost none of that impact, and although the play is 66 years old, i...

Scott Bradley and Gemma Boaden in BERT’S HOUSE. Photo Credit: Rebecca Cockcroft

Funny, witty and guaranteed to give you a laugh, BERT’S HOUSE is a masterclass of crossed wires and comedy gold.

Life is not going well for Bert. He’s a run-down bed and breakfast owner of a run-down guest house in a run-down seaside town. The estate agents are circling and things could not get much worse...

Despite the odd rhythmic dip, DROP THE DEAD DONKEY: THE REAWAKENING! has lost none of its acerbic wit.

In the 1990s the internet was still a different place. News media, although adopting the 24-hour format, was still regarded as more or less reliable. Or was it?

DROP THE DEAD DONKEY, which ran from 1990 to 1998, provided a satirical take on the world of news and, more specifically, GlobeLink News, the shambolic and angst-ridden comic creation of Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin...

PRISM mixes music, lights and thematic projections to deliver not just a performance, but an experience.

This year, Sale Waterside Arts is offering a family-friendly winter festival to kick off its festive period. PRISM is a community-led three-day event comprising a light projection trail complimented by Sentinel – a work conceived and performed by Richard Evans.

The light trail itself consists of ever-changing coloured bauble projections, which have all been created from ideas submitted by t...

Pablo Gomez Jones, Gregory Haney and Peter Caulfield in TO WONG FOO THE MUSICAL. Photo Credit: Pamela Raith

Fast-paced, full of energy and a whole lot of attitude, TO WONG FOO THE MUSICAL is feel-good theatre at its best.

Last year saw Hope Mill Theatre staged the European premiere of the musical adaptation of CINDERELLA. This year, they have secured the world premiere of TO WONG FOO THE MUSICAL – and what an utter sumptuous joy it is.

Based on the iconic 1995 film, which tells the story of thr...

Part history lecture and part dramatic performance, Gareth Armstrong’s one-man’s performance of SHYLOCK is powerful and mesmerising.

Who is Shylock? A caricature? A grotesque? A construction of two thousand years of persecution? All these questions are posed and answered in Gareth Armstrong’s one man tour de force, Shylock, where using the device of Tubal, an eight line and one scene associate of Shylock, he takes us on a tour of not only the play but the systematic antisemitism that informe...

Designed to frighten and delight in equal measure, CASTING THE RUNES is an excellent retelling of the M.R. James’ supernatural thriller.

Adapting a classic story is always a tightrope; adhere too closely, and the play runs the risk of being slow-paced; adapt too much, and you lose the essence. Pleasingly, Box Tale Soup’s retelling of the classic M.R. James’ story CASTING THE RUNES hits the audience note perfect.

The supernatural tale concerns Professor Duning (Noel Byrne) and Harrington (Ant...

The cast of BY THE WATERS OF LIVERPOOL 2020 Tour. Photo: Ant Robling

Blending comedy and pathos in equal measure, BY THE WATERS OF LIVERPOOL brings Helen Forrester’s autobiographical tale to life on stage.

Adapting a much-loved book, or series of books, is always a difficult proposition, but in BY THE WATERS OF LIVERPOOL, Rob Fennah has pulled off an excellent job of taking Helen Forrester’s autobiographical tale of life in Liverpool on the eve of the second world war from page to stage.

T...