Category Theatre Reviews

Courtney Stapleton and Shaq Taylor in Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Photo: Johan Persson

With its spectacular new designs and state-of-the-art technology, Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is a joy to watch, evoking the nostalgia, magic, and charm of the original film

A refreshed version of Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST makes a welcome return to Manchester’s Palace Theatre this month, boasting spectacular new designs and state-of-the-art technology to bring the beloved tale to life.

Based on the 1...

The cast of in LES MISERABLES UK Tour 2022. Photo: Danny Kaan

Reworked for a modern audience, LES MISERABLES is one of the most memorable interpretations yet, thanks to its spectacular set-pieces, stunning special effects, and superb cast performance.

Cameron Mackintosh’s acclaimed production of LES MISÉRABLES heads to Salford’s The Lowry this month for a four-week run as part of a new 2022 tour.

Based on the 1862 novel by Victor Hugo, LES MISÉRABLES is a gripping story of love, loyalty and lo...

Jac Yarrow (Joseph) and the company of JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT. Photo: Tristram Kenton

Reimagined for a modern audience, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT delights and surprises thanks to its theatrical inventiveness and superb cast performance

Following two successful seasons at the London Palladium, the hit 2019 staging of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT finally heads out on tour in 2022, launching with a two-week...

Abigail Thaw, Sara Crowe, Judy Flynn, Rina Fatania in SHELIA’S ISLAND. Photo: Craig Fuller

With its perfect ensemble cast, SHEILA’S ISLAND is a sharp-witted comedy about four women trying to survive a night of tantrums, tears, and terror.

How well do you know the people you work with? How well do you want to know them, and who would crack first when the going gets tough? These are the central questions in Tim Firth’s SHEILA’S ISLAND, a reworked feminised incarnation of NEVILLE’S ISLAND, which h...

Dianne Pikington in BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS. Photo Credit: Johan Persson

From set and costume design to choreography and stage trickery, BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS leaves you seriously questioning the existence of magic.

Another Disney film to become a stage production, BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS, flies into Salford’s The Lowry this week, but who needs movie magic when you’ve got the magic of theatre?

The brand-new musical takes audiences on a journey of wonder through magical lands, past perilous...

Despite its heavy dialogue, Northern Broadsides deliver an interesting interpretation of Shakespeare’s AS YOU LIKE IT with gender subversion at its heart.

2022 sees 30 years since the formation of the Northern Broadsides theatre company and their first foray in Shakespeare. To celebrate, they have chosen, in collaboration with the New Vic Theatre Company, a new staging of a very old play – AS YOU LIKE IT – taking the idea contained of cross dressing and crossing gender and expanding it.

The pl...

The cast of FOOTLOOSE UK Tour 2022. Photo Credit: Mark Senior

Colourful, high-energy and driven by a strong cast performance, FOOTLOOSE successfully transports the audience back to the 1980s.

80s fever is back in Manchester, as smash-hit musical FOOTLOOSE comes to town. The colourful, high-energy show has the audience dancing in the aisles to hits such as HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO, LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY and, of course, FOOTLOOSE.

Based on the 1987 cult film starring Kevin Bacon, FOOTLOOSE fo...

Oliver Farnworth and Kym Marsh in FATAL ATTRACTION. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Despite its strong cast performance, FATAL ATTRACTION doesn’t quite match the suspense, thrill, or energy of the original film.

It is 35 years since FATAL ATTRACTION first graced UK cinema screens. The erotic psychological thriller created somewhat of a controversy at the time of its release but became a huge box office success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1987 worldwide...

Patricia Hodge and Nigel Havers in PRIVATE LIVES. Photo: Tristram Kenton 

Glamorous, witty, and fast-paced, Nigel Havers’ new production of Noel Coward’s PRIVATE LIVES is as bubbling as a glass of champagne.

In the 90 years since Noel Coward wrote PRIVATE LIVES, society has changed, yet the basics of love, marriage and human nature still ring true, as demonstrated in this new production by Nigel Havers’ new theatre company.

Havers and Patricia Hodge square up as the warring ex-couple Ely...

Niki Evans & the cast of BLOOD BROTHERS UK 2022 Tour. Photo: Jack Merriman

Despite showing its age in parts, Willy Russell’s BLOOD BROTHERS is still capable of capturing the hearts of a modern audience.

Few musicals have received such acclaim as Willy Russell’s BLOOD BROTHERS. The multi-award-winning production ran for more than 27 years in London’s West End, surpassing over 10,000 performances to become the third longest-running musical production in West End history...