February 2022 Following on from the success of “Big Boys”, the latest new work from Tom Foreman is “Swell” - a climate-conscious drama based on real events which follows siblings in a town decommissioned due to rising sea levels. The play runs at The Lion and Unicorn Theatre from 8-12 February, so I caught up... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
January 2022 The much-celebrated and multi award-winning Morecambe and Wise remain beloved titans of the British comedy scene. Now, 81 years after the original double act started out, Ian Ashpitel and Jonty Stephens are honouring the pair with the concert-style show Eric and Ern. It’s a show with a journey beginning in 2002 with a... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
January 2022 Guest voice: Emma Gadsdon on Quintuple L Productions’ Joffrey! Pantomime has a long history in parody. While they are best known for their spoofs of classic folk tale (such as Dick Whittington, Cinderella or Jack and the Bean Stalk), in growing number, we are seeing pantomime productions parodying various pop culture properties. Quintuple... Continue Reading →
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 →
Tuesday 14th December 2021 at the Grand Theatre and Opera House, Leeds. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is to know the secrets of the illusions in this show… I’ll start as others have and confess that I don’t know the movie and I didn’t know anything about the story going in, but... Continue Reading →
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 →
Always Time For Theatre 