Monday 4th April 2022 at Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This stage adaptation of the popular 2003 film is a treat. Not just because it features a cracking cast, but because it features a fantastic group of multi-talented young actor-musos who play their instruments live each night while telling us a witty and... Continue Reading →
Review: Jewish Hollywood
Saturday 19th March 2022, Upstairs at the Gatehouse. Reviewer: Jonathan Walfisz ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ When I was a teenager, I was taken to a production of Spamalot, the Monty Python musical. Already a fan of the soundtrack, the decision to alter one of the songs was immediately apparent. Clearly afraid of offending too much, the song "You... Continue Reading →
Review: 666 Comments
Saturday 5th March 2022, at Harrogate Theatre (Studio) ⭐️⭐️-⭐️ Aliki Chapple and Ben Rigby perform 666 comments posted in response to a (pretty great) comic about sexism shared online by Gabby Schulz in 2010. The whole shebang may have taken place twelve years ago, but it’s abundantly clear that the notorious “cesspit” of online pontification... Continue Reading →
Review: The HandleBards’ Macbeth
Tuesday 25th January 2022 at York Theatre Royal. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The HandleBards are back, and this time they’re taking on Shakespeare’s Macbeth in a loose, comic retelling. As with their recent tour of Romeo and Juliet, this production moves at a mile a minute and keeps all involved on their toes, with Emma Sampson directing three... Continue Reading →
Review: Wendy and Peter Pan at Leeds Playhouse
Friday 7th January 2022 at Leeds Playhouse ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ella Hickson’s adaptation of the J. M. Barrie classic places Wendy Darling more centrally but keeps a firm focus on Peter Pan too, doing well to strike a balance which does enough to please both established fans and newbies to this adventure. This production from directors Jonathan... Continue Reading →
Review: Dick Turpin Rides Again at York Grand Theatre & Opera House
Wednesday 15th December 2021 at The Grand Theatre and Opera House, York. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Berwick Kaler and all the gang are back together again - this time at the Grand Theatre and Opera House, York rather than the Theatre Royal. As with previous productions, the in-jokes are many and the reception of this returning panto family... Continue Reading →
Review: York Theatre Royal’s Cinderella
Wednesday 8th December 2021 at York Theatre Royal ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Buoyant and basking in fairytale fixtures from the get-go, York Theatre Royal’s Panto from writer Paul Hendry and director Juliet Forster isn’t doing things be halves. This Cinderella has the all the comforting panto traditions paraded out in full force (who doesn’t love the Panto sing-along?),... Continue Reading →
Review: Wise Children’s Wuthering Heights (Touring)
*Spoiler alert: if you don’t know the fate of Brontë’s characters and you don’t want to know in advance, you may want to abandon ship now…* Wednesday 10th November 2021 at York Theatre Royal. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ In Emma Rice’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s gorgeous Wuthering Heights, we lose a housekeeper and gain a chorus: The Moor... Continue Reading →
Review: Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Touring)
Tuesday 2nd November 2021 at Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Based on the true story of Jamie Campbell, “Drag Queen at 16”, this bouncy, uplifting musical follows a young teenager navigating school life while nurturing aspirations of becoming a drag queen. From lived experience to BBC documentary (2011), from theatre production to West... Continue Reading →
Review: The Hound of the Baskervilles (Touring)
Tuesday 19th October 2021 at York Theatre Royal. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ In a comic adaptation as eccentric as it is frenetic, a cast of just three bring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic thriller to the stage. Luckily, the trio are a real treat with their slick comic timing, great physical comedy and that unnameable twinkle in the... Continue Reading →