Thursday 7th July 2022 at the Old Red Lion Theatre, London ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reviewer: Jonathan Walfisz The experience of watching Report to an Academy at the Old Red Lion Theatre is one of two halves, despite being a one-act play. The play is based on the 1917 Franz Kafka short story of the same name and... Continue Reading →
Review: The Concrete Jungle Book
Wednesday June 1st 2022 at the Pleasance Theatre, London. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reviewer: Maygan Forbes Spectacular! Energetic! Electrifying! A true masterpiece of a musical, thoughtful and well rounded – The Concrete Jungle Book is an explosion of black talent in the UK theatre scene. Described as a hip hop musical and survival guide, Dominic Garfield (writer and... Continue Reading →
Review: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole at Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch
Saturday 30th April 2022 at Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reviewer: Maygan Forbes Life’s pretty hard when you’re a misunderstood and spotty teenager living in a cul-de-sac in 80s Leicester. Adrian Mole is no exception. However dreams of a potential romance with the new girl Pandora and the prospect of living an intellectual life of socialist... Continue Reading →
Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Touring)
Tuesday 13th April 2022 at Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a particularly exemplary adaptation. In the hands of Simon Stephens as adaptor and Marianne Elliott as director, it takes its source material - the brilliant best-selling novel by Mark Haddon - and transforms... Continue Reading →
Review: Northern Broadsides’ “As You Like It”
Wednesday 23rd March 2022 at York Theatre Royal. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ As You Like It is a tricky comedy to stage. It’s rich with famous Shakespearean gems and some great characters, but it’s also labyrinthian in places and it’s certainly one of the more overly generous of Will’s plays in terms of running time, which makes it... Continue Reading →
Review: Cluedo (Touring)
Tuesday 22nd March 2022 at Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ First a humble board game (a creation of Anthony Pratt), then a film, and now a play - it’s been quite a journey for the classic “Whodunnit?” pastime. This latest instalment in its history very much takes its cue from the likes of... Continue Reading →
Review: Macbeth (Leeds Playhouse)
Friday 4th March, 2022, at Leeds Playhouse. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ In Shakespeare’s epic tragedy, ambition provides the ultimate downfall for its eponymous tragic hero. In this production though, ambition finds rich rewards, and as with her 2019 Hamlet, this take on Macbeth provides a great example of Director Amy Leach’s impressive talent for staging Shakespeare’s work for... Continue Reading →
Review: The Bone Sparrow
Wednesday 2nd March 2022 at York Theatre Royal. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Zara Fraillon’s novel about a young boy born in an Australian detention centre for refugees has been adapted for the stage by S. Shakthidharan - and it’s an adaptation with a keen sense of its own emotive power. Esther Richardson’s direction of this Pilot Theatre production... Continue Reading →
Interview: HandleBards AD Tom Dixon Talks Shaking Up Shakespeare
February 2022 The playfully irreverent HandleBards travel the land armed with lively, comic takes on Shakespeare’s plays, bringing the funny to plays in which we might least expect to find it. This inventive troupe are currently bringing a comic take on “Macbeth” to audiences, touring it until March 9th, before taking on “Twelfth Night” until... Continue Reading →
Interview: Zana Fraillon, S.Shakthidharan & Esther Richardson Talk “The Bone Sparrow”
January 2022 Published in 2016, Zana Fraillon’s The Bone Sparrow tells the story of Subhi, a young Rohingya boy who has spent his entire life inside an Australian detention camp. His world has been shaped by fences, but in his imagination he is free. The book was shortlisted for both the Carnegie Award and the... Continue Reading →