Martin ThomassonTheatrical 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...
Carmel ThomasonA new musical is waiting to sweep you off your feet Bollywood style at the Opera House this week as the venue hosts the UK premiere of Come Fall in Love: the DDLJ Musical. For those who don’t know what DDLJ stands for, it is short for the 1995 Hindi...
“England is not a trick question – I promise you.” So says Gareth Southgate in the National Theatre’s brilliantly entertaining production of James Graham’s take on Southgate’s time managing the England men’s football team. Southgate (played...
Dave PorterIf you’re not a fan of audience participation, this show is probably best avoided. The cast mingle with the audience queuing up outside the theatre to get in and once inside anyone sat in the first few rows is seen as fair game for some friendly...
Lucy Tobin“I’m hoping for absolute chaos!” It’s an unusual aspiration for the creative behind a brand-new musical to want from his audience reaction – especially when he adds that he wants the audience to be “shouting out and jumping up and down and...
Dear England, the hit Olivier Award-winning play by James Graham, comes to Lowry, Salford direct from a 10-week run at the National Theatre in London. After scooping the award for Best New Play In 2024 the production has been updated following last...
Combining art forms to create something beyond traditional description has become a hallmark of Factory. Hence why Hamlet Hail to the Thief is advertised not as a play or musical, but as ‘a live experience, fusing theatre, music and movement’. In...
Cathy CrabbAll the hype over the past few weeks is true – A Knight’s Tale is a firework of a show. And I mean literally at points. Figuratively it zings, glitters and explodes. Faux leathering their way through one jukebox banger after the other, the...
Arthur Miller was originally going to call Death of a Salesman ‘The Inside of His Head’, and it’s easy to see why in this lucid and powerful production of the postwar American classic. Willy Loman is a man in disintegration and assailed from voices...
Steve TimmsGizza Job. Welcome to the gig economy. The game may have changed but the rules of a capitalist society remain the same: for the powerful to thrive, the working class must be oppressed. Zero hours contracts usually involve working for companies who...