This island belongs to all of us. Some stories linger forever in our memories. Perhaps it’s because we read them as a child, or studied them at school, or saw something in one of the characters that so strongly reflected our own morals, dreams and aspirations that they remained with us forever as fictional shadows.... Continue Reading →
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 →
Leeds Playhouse (At Home) Having rehearsed A Christmas Carol with live, socially distanced audiences planned, Leeds Playhouse has been hit with ‘COVID-closure’ once again. Pivoting swiftly, they’ve taken their show online and audiences now have the opportunity to watch Dickens’ classic tale from their sofas. So, what’s Dickensian Leeds like from sofas in front of... Continue Reading →
April 2020 With celebrations of good old William Shakespeare’s ‘birthday’ everywhere this week, I got to thinking about some of the great Shakespeare productions I’ve seen over the years... let’s face it, there’s not much else to do these days but take various strolls down memory lane! There have been many productions, but only five... Continue Reading →
Wednesday 4th March 2020 at Leeds Playhouse (Quarry Theatre). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oliver Twist has once more found his way back to a stage and in this production Amy Leach directs a brand new Dickens adaptation from Bryony Lavery - one that wholly embraces its gritty and disturbing origins. A co-production of Leeds Playhouse and Ramps on... Continue Reading →
Wednesday 16th October 2019 at Leeds Playhouse. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Charley Miles’ There are No Beginnings is pretty stellar new work. Set in a time of apathetic approaches to women’s voices and performed in the era of #MeToo and the rising up of women across every industry and day to day experience, it makes for an incredibly... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 5th March 2019 at Leeds Playhouse (Pop Up). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A female Hamlet? A northern tragedy? Multiple gender switches? Leeds Playhouse’s latest Shakespeare offering is a finely tuned combination of exactly that. As Shakespeare’s longest play, Hamlet is in so many cases numbingly over-long and mercilessly dark, but thankfully, Amy Leach’s direction and approach to... Continue Reading →
Friday 23rd November 2018 at Leeds Playhouse (Pop Up Theatre). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Adapting something so extraordinarily brilliant as this Charles Dickens masterpiece is surely a tough gig. A Christmas Carol is so rich with insight and detail that to do it justice in a stage adaptation is to ask an awful lot of the adaptor. Deborah... Continue Reading →
Friday 7th September 2018 at Leeds Playhouse (Pop Up Theatre) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jim Cartwright’s Road marks the first production to play in Leeds Playhouse’s Pop Up Theatre as well as the debut of their brand new Rep Company, directed here by Amy Leach. Going in knowing zilch but for the pitch, I think I was expecting... Continue Reading →
Wednesday 20th June 2018 at West Yorkshire Playhouse. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Alan Bennett really is a genius. Every so often, I forget this fact but a perfectly staged production like this becomes an impressive reminder. West Yorkshire Playhouse is producing the first 6 dramatic monologues of Bennet’s Talking Heads which landed in living rooms in 1988 and... Continue Reading →
Always Time For Theatre 