Category Theatre Reviews

When you visit the theatre to see a show you have booked it can still be a bit daunting. Perhaps you’ve seen the play performed by a different troupe. What if it doesn’t live up to that performance? What if it’s no good and you’ve paid a lot of money for your ticket? And that’s a show you know your going to watch. You know roughly what the performance is going to be about.

Now attend the theatre and not have a clue about what you will see…but this time you haven’t paid for the ticket...

The cast of PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS.                                                               Image Credit: Johan Persson

If you only see one play this year, make sure it’s PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS

When Duncan Macmillan’s PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS first made its premiere at the National Theatre in 2015, the theatre world went wild...

ALBA by Jo Bannon is a powerful story about paleness, blending in and standing out

Since its opening in 2000, The Lowry has always been at the forefront of contemporary theatre. From cutting edge dance pieces to pioneering performance art, the world-class arts centre prides itself on being “a safe space for those who think dangerously” with their new WTF Wednesday embracing these values wholeheartedly.

WTF Wednesday is a series of evening performances designed for the compulsively curious...

Tzu-Chao Chou as the Djinn of the Lamp in ALADDIN. Photo Credit: Bill Cooper

West End theatre meets classical ballet in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s latest production of ALADDIN

West End theatre meets classical ballet in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s latest production of ALADDIN, which flies into Salford this week for a four-night run at The Lowry.

Based on the Arab-style folktale of the same name, ALADDIN tells the story of a street urchin who frees a genie from a magical lamp and finds his wishes...

Uniquely redefined for the present day, Sarah Frankcom’s revival of Thornton Wilder’s OUR TOWN is hauntingly beautiful

It is said that Thornton Wilder’s 1938 drama OUR TOWN is performed at least once every night somewhere in the world. Hardly surprising when you consider the Pulitzer Prize-winning depiction of ordinary life remains Wilder’s greatest and best-known work as a playwright.

Set between 1901 and 1913, OUR TOWN tells the story of Emily and George, two unremarkable teenagers g...

Gary McNair in LETTERS TO MORRISSEY. Photo by David Moneith-Hodge

Powerful, funny and incredibly poignant, LETTERS TO MORRISSEY is a darkly comic and emotive coming-of-age story

Following its successful run at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Gary McNair brings his one-man show LETTERS TO MORRISSEY to Manchester for a week long run at HOME.

LETTERS TO MORRISSEY starts back in 1997 with a lonely teenage McNair searching for understanding in a world of confusion...

HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES is a hilarious tale of matrimonial mishaps, social discord and misunderstandings

When HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES first made its premiere in 1970, it cemented Alan Ayckbourn’s career as a successful dramatist. Almost 50 years later, the comedy of confusion continues to entertain audiences, with the latest revival embarking on a national tour following its critically acclaimed run at London’s West End.

HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES follows the lives of three couples: the w...

Clever, witty and delightfully silly, MR DARCY LOSES THE PLOT is a hilarious pastiche mash-up of plots and characters from the world of women writers

On the 200th anniversary of her death, literary spoof specialists LipService turn to Jane Austen for inspiration for their latest show, MR DARCY LOSES THE PLOT.

Delivered in true LipService style, MR DARCY LOSES THE PLOT takes Austen’s most famous novel, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, and turns it completely on its head...

The cast of THE ADDAMS FAMILY. Photo Credit: Matt Martin

What THE ADDAMS FAMILY lacks in drama and narrative, it more than makes up for in atmosphere and cast

With the possible exception of THE FLINTSTONES and THE SIMPSONS, few fictional families are as iconic as THE ADDAMS FAMILY...

WE WERE TOLD THERE WAS DANCING is a kaleidoscope of memories, people and experiences charting the changing attitudes to gay rights

Following the sell-out successes of THE FACTORY and NOTHING, the Royal Exchange Theatre’s award-winning Young Company return with a new original piece charting the shifting and stalling attitudes to gay rights.

WE WERE TOLD THERE WAS DANCING invites the audience to travel through space and time to experience what it’s like to fall in love with someone of the same...