Theatre Reviews & More

A love affair best left in the past: If seeing a new play is like going on a first date, and seeing an adaptation of a classic is like meeting an old friend, then a revival play that hasn’t been staged in nearly 16 years is like hooking up with an ex. Or at least, it is with D.C. Jackson’s My Romantic History, directed by Johnny McKnight. And perhaps that is appropriate. This romcom follows Tom and Amy’s utterly doomed office fling. He’s only with her because he can’t say no;

A Crowd-pleasing Comedy Revival: So it has been about two months since the Timothee Chalamet “no one cares about ballet and opera” scandal – and what did we learn? Well, firstly, that that’s not exactly what he said, secondly, that people don’t know how Oscar voting works, and thirdly, that people will immediately jump to the defence of the performing arts…even if they rarely actually go. As lovely as it was to see Opera and Ballet companies rally together, how many of the cr

The One with Jazz Hands and Sex Jokes: To pay the prices big regional theatres charge, most audiences want something safe, not exceptional. That is why we have so many musicals in general, but specifically why we see mostly touring favourites, jukebox shows, and whenever we do see something new, it is based on a franchise. Such is the case for Friends: The Musical Parody. We are all expecting mediocrity, more or less, but we are still hoping for comfort and comedy. Friends, l

Breaks no ground but pleases the crowd: Air travel has experienced a comedic resurgence of late. 90's sitcom The High Life is returning as a musical next year, airport manager and reality star Jane Boulton has been enjoying her (second) fifteen minutes of fame, and a soundbite from a certain airline has dominated social media this summer. Fresh !nk Theatre’s two-hander comedy Cabin Fever sees performers Aurelia Harris-Johnstone and Beth Miles switch between several different

Romances with rugs, flings with futons, and crushes on coffee tables: Do you ever name items of furniture in your home? Personify them to make them feel like a part of the family? A favourite in my childhood home is a mini pink sofa called Dolores. Well, writer and performer Emily Weitzman takes that idea a little further with her show Furniture Boys. In her house, items of furniture are boys she’s loved, cared for, taken in and now can’t bear to throw away. This one-woman ab

Autobiographical dance comedy has its charms: When I hear a title like Chunky Jewellery, from Barrowland Ballet, my Gen Z mind races thinking about the kind of chunky jewellery I know. The likes of Tatty Divine, big plastic bananas and moustaches dangling from wrists and ears, and the millennial celebration of all things bright and tacky that was slowly phased out to make way for more conservative trends. Then I see an array of big-beaded necklaces, the kind you would find in

A jelly-filled musical treat. There’s a time and a place for a silly musical – in the afternoon at the Fringe. Light-hearted musicals are...

A sandal-clad power struggle Usually, a critic aims to be a fly on the wall, to blend into the crowd and let the performance unfold before

Dinosaur parody is a roaring good time It’s not often that a limited budget works in a show’s favour. Usually, if you are putting on a

Feathered fun with a crazy swan: You probably know that Swan Lake is a story that can be told in many different ways. Some versions have...