Friday, 2nd February 2024 at York Theatre Royal ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Cronus and Rhea. Aphrodite. Zeus and Hera. Persephone. Dionysus. Eurydice and Orpheus. Aside from the wonderful poetry of the names, the stories of the Greek gods are an assortment of the unexpected, the macabre and the downright bizarre. Orpheus Dismembered takes audiences on a whistle stop... Continue Reading →
Review: Jack and the Beanstalk at York Theatre Royal
Tuesday, 12th December 2023 at York Theatre Royal. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jack and the Beanstalk has landed at York Theatre Royal as this year’s panto offering. It’s a very modernised version with more re-writes than you can shake a stick at, and it’s helmed by a great cast who never waver in energy and enthusiasm. Nina Wadia’s... Continue Reading →
Interview: Nina Wadia talks York Theatre Royal’s Jack and the Beanstalk
December 2023 York Theatre Royal’s panto opens this week, bringing a classic back to the stage with “Jack and the Beanstalk”. Nina Wadia (“EastEnders”, “Citizen Khan”, “Goodness Gracious Me”) is set to play Fairy Sugarsnap and chats to Steve Pratt here about first impressions of panto, her charity work and some career highlights so far…... Continue Reading →
Review: The Merchant of Venice (1936) – Touring
Tuesday, 14th November 2023 at York Theatre Royal. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Mild spoilers ahead… The Merchant of Venice: comedy? Romance? So some say. To me it’s always been a tragedy of powerlessness which wrongfully sidelines its most compelling character, so I am a huge fan of this latest adaptation which restructures and reframes the story to place... Continue Reading →
Interview: Anna Soden talks York Theatre Royal’s “Jack and the Beanstalk”
November 2023 It’s almost Panto season, and this year’s offering from York Theatre Royal (8 December - 7 January) is “Jack and the Beanstalk”. Anna Soden, whose theatre credits include Romeo and Juliet (UK Tour), Sleeping Beauty (Liverpool Everyman) and Return to Elm House (Battersea Arts Centre), is now set to play Dave the cow... Continue Reading →
Review: Noises Off (Touring)
Wednesday, 1st November 2023 at York Theatre Royal. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Michael Frayn’s farce is an ode to theatre in all its eccentricities, celebrating those who make it and those who enjoy it from the other side of the curtain. The piece takes shape as three performances from varied angles: an eventful dress rehearsal, the chaotic opening... Continue Reading →
Review: Learning to Fly (Touring)
Thursday, 26th October 2023 at York Theatre Royal. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Learning to Fly, with its premise of a lonely teen unexpectedly bonding with the isolated old lady in the creepy house down the road, engages with a pretty popular dynamic when it comes to telling tales and reflecting on the state of ourselves and our world.... Continue Reading →
Review: Frankenstein (Touring)
Tuesday, 24th October 2023 at York Theatre Royal. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein really is one of the greats, and it takes vision to adapt it for the stage as Séan Aydon adapts and directs this production from Tilted Wig Theatre. Here we have a lens shift to consider more recent and current ideas such as... Continue Reading →
Review: Metamorphosis (Touring)
Tuesday, 10th October 2023 at York Theatre Royal. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ “This is a twisted house” says a visitor to the Samsa abode - and it’s a verdict which pretty much sums up this tale and this production. Metamorphosis is both a study of man’s inhumanity to man within the context of financial stresses and an ambitious... Continue Reading →
Interview: Scott Graham & Lemn Sissay talk Frantic Assembly’s “Metamorphosis”
October 2023 Frantic Assembly’s Metamorphosis arrives at York Theatre Royal this week, before continuing its tour until March 2024. Here, Lyn Gardner chats to Artistic Director Scott Graham and writer Lemn Sissay, who has adapted this version of Kafka’s famous tale… In 2019, when actor, writer and director Fraser Ayres suggested to Scott Graham, the... Continue Reading →