Paul ThomasonWhether you were first introduced to the Addams Family from watching the original 1960’s TV show, the early 1990’s Angelica Houston movies, any of the numerous cartoon incarnations or are recently discovering the clan through Netflix’s heavily...
Carmel ThomasonBy Royal Appointment may be Daisy Goodwin’s debut play, but don’t let that confuse you as to the talent and experience that has gone into this new production about the late Queen and her dressers. Although she is new to stage writing, Goodwin is a...
Dave PorterIt turns out that nostalgia is what it used to be. That’s certainly the case with this show which depicts an imaginary meeting between a triumvirate of comedy – Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Bob Monkhouse – backstage in a dusty dressing room of a...
British Youth Music Theatre (BYMT) is the largest commissioner of new musicals in the UK, producing at least six new shows a year and developing many more. It works with the most exciting theatre professionals and hundreds of young performers. For...
What happens when you fail to reach the giddy heights of success as an actor? When a career high translates into a summer season in Blackpool rather than the bright lights of Broadway. That’s the intriguing premise of a play written by Andy Moseley...
Martin ThomassonTo begin at the ending. The audience loved it. Sadler’s Wells’ take on the 1979 film, based on The Who’s 1973 album, Quadrophenia, choreographed by Paul Roberts and directed by Rob Ashford, has a comfortable majority of us on our feet. By “us” I...
In 1945, a week-long series of meetings took place in Manchester which was to change the course of history in Africa. Several of the attendees went on to become presidents of African nations and it has been argued that the Fifth Pan-African...
Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures has grown a strong following at Lowry with innovative takes on classics like Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. The company’s latest production the Midnight Bell, which premiered in 2021, comes to...
Lorraine Worsley-CarterTake a stroll down any high street in the UK or across Europe, and it’s clear that the pet dog population has boomed since the pandemic. With more people welcoming a furry friend into the family, holidays are starting to look a little different...
Theatrical experiences are rarely all good or all bad. Sometimes a reviewer wants to rave about certain aspects of a production, while other features leave him cold. So it is for me with this physical theatre adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s 1891...