UK Regional Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 24

BWW Review: HAIRSPRAY, Bristol Hippodrome
by Tim Wright - March 06, 2018

Setting a musical in 1960s Baltimore against a backdrop of increasing racial tension between white and black American's doesn't exactly scream feelgood musical. Yet Hairspray manages to achieve a rare thing- a musical with all the schmaltz you could want but with just enough of a message stop you fo...

BWW Review: THE GAME OF LOVE & CHAI, Tara Arts Theatre
by Gary Naylor - March 06, 2018

Classic French farce gets a Bollywood makeover for the 21st century in Nigel Planer's enjoyable adaptation of Marivaux's comedy....

BWW Review: MACBETH, Wilton's Music Hall
by Gary Naylor - February 28, 2018

Macbeth delivered by dancers in a unique space, beautifully lit, creating an electrifying theatrical experience....

BWW Review: MACBETH, Tobacco Factory Theatres
by Tim Wright - February 28, 2018

There were more than a few raised eyebrows when the all new Factory Company from Tobacco Factory Theatres announced it's first play would be a Shakespeare. Having moved the acclaimed Shakespeare at The Tobacco Factory company from their usual Spring slot to accommodate its inaugural season, it seeme...

BWW Review: FROST/NIXON, Crucible, Sheffield
by Ruth Deller - February 27, 2018

A timely revival of Peter Morgan's play about David Frost's interviews with Richard Nixon is beautifully staged and powerfully acted....

BWW Review: A PRINCESS UNDONE, Park Theatre
by Gary Naylor - February 27, 2018

Princess Margaret brought to life by Felicity Dean in a production that promises more than it delivers about a tragic figure born a generation too early to change the Royal Family....

BWW Review: THE TEMPEST, Brockley Jack Studio Theatre
by Gary Naylor - February 23, 2018

Ambition not quite matched by execution in an all-female production of The Tempest, one of fringe theatre's more challenging plays to get right....

BWW Review: CARMEN 1808, Union Theatre
by Gary Naylor - February 14, 2018

Liberties have been taken with Bizet's opera, but none are diabolical, and what emerges is something which is sometimes less and sometimes more than its inspiration....

BWW ALBUM REVIEW: Andrew Lloyd Webber's 70'th Birthday Is To Be Celebrated With The Release of ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER: UNMASKED: THE PLATINUM COLLECTION
by Jade Kops - February 13, 2018

BroadwayWorld Sydney was given an exclusive taste of ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER: UNMASKED: THE PLATINUM COLLECTION ahead of it's release on 16th March 2018 through Universal Music. ...

BWW Review: THE UNGRATEFUL BIPED, White Bear Theatre
by Gary Naylor - February 09, 2018

Just when the grimness is becoming tiresome, Philip Goodhew's script is transformed by an injection of darkest comedy without ever losing its focus as a searing indictment of modern life....

BWW Review: THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE, Bristol Old Vic
by Tim Wright - February 07, 2018

Families are tricky things. They have the capacity to love and frustrate us like no one else. It is little wonder they provide such a rich vein for dramatists. In Andrew Bovell's Things I Know To Be True we're with the Price family who have four grown up children, all at different stages of flying t...

BWW Review: CYRIL'S SUCCESS, Finborough Theatre
by Gary Naylor - February 06, 2018

A little dated for sure, but with enough Ayckbourn (and even a touch of Fawlty Towers) to appeal to 21st century audiences, this is a pleasing, if unchallenging, evening's entertainment....

BWW Review: A PASSAGE TO INDIA, Bristol Old Vic
by Kerrie Nicholson - February 03, 2018

In a new UK tour currently playing at Bristol Old Vic, award-winning theatre company simple8 have joined forces with Northampton's Royal & Derngate to present Simon Dormandy's adaptation of E.M. Forster's novel A Passage to India....

BWW Review: KEN, The Bunker
by Gary Naylor - January 30, 2018

Terry Johnson tells us of his lifelong friendship with Ken Campbell, an eccentric giant of English Theatre, in a funny, poignant and beautifully performed production....

BWW Review: MISS SAIGON, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
by Gregor Dickson - January 25, 2018

The original production of Miss Saigon ran for more than ten years at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane throughout the 1990s, and a revised version - billed as the 25th Anniversary production - opened at the Prince Edward Theatre in 2014. Following its closure in May 2016, it's this version which ha...

BWW Review: SACHA GUITRY - MA FILLE ET MOI, Drayton Arms Theatre
by Gary Naylor - January 24, 2018

Though Sacha Guitry is largely unknown in the UK, this production weaves five extracts of his plays into a single narrative and shows that the tag of 'The French Noel Coward' was not undeserved....

BWW Review: AUSTEN THE MUSICAL, Mirth, Marvel and Maud Theatre
by Gary Naylor - January 23, 2018

One for fans of Jane Austen and for anyone who likes to see an intelligent production performed with technical skill and rewarding wit....

BWW Review: FEAR AND MISERY OF THE THIRD REICH, Brockley Jack Studio Theatre
by Gary Naylor - January 19, 2018

A fine production that grapples with the play's tricky structure to bring home Brecht's political points with a relevance for today that can hardly be missed....

BWW Review: SHREK THE MUSICAL, Manchester Palace Theatre
by Abigail Donoghue - January 19, 2018

Shrek The Musical tells the tale of an ogre trying to get his swamp back. And David Lindsay-Abaire's adaptation has certainly managed to turn the famous Dreamworks animation into a real life spectacle....

BWW Review: HEARTBREAK HOUSE, Union Theatre
by Gary Naylor - January 12, 2018

George Bernard Shaw's Chekhovian black comedy has plenty of political heft, but lacks the dramatic clarity required to engage from first to last....

BWW Review: EUGENE ONEGIN, Arcola Theatre
by Gary Naylor - December 20, 2017

OperaUpClose condense and update Tchaikovsky's classic tragedy for a new space and a new culture, but never lose sight of its deep set Russian roots....

2017 Year in Review: Gary Naylor's Best of Theatre
by Gary Naylor - December 20, 2017

Gary Naylor looks back on 101 shows reviewed in 2017 and picks the best of the best....

BWW Review: RENT PARTY, Crucible Studio, Sheffield
by Ruth Deller - December 17, 2017

Five talented performers share stories and songs in this contemporary British tribute to the tradition of the 'rent party'....

BWW Review: THE WIZARD OF OZ, Crucible, Sheffield
by Ruth Deller - December 14, 2017

Charming, affectionate and exuberant - this latest version of the Wizard of Oz is a magical crowd-pleaser....

BWW Review: DICK WHITTINGTON, Manchester Opera House
by Abigail Donoghue - December 14, 2017

Traditionally, Dick Whittington tells the tale of a man who travels to London to find his fortune. And with infamous showman John Barrowman playing the staring role, Dick Whittington, and a charming Seventies duo, The Krankies, this production has the foundations to be a fantastic show. But despite ...