UK Regional Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 41

BWW Reviews: SASHA REGAN'S ALL-MALE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, Richmond Theatre, April 15 2015
by Gary Naylor - April 17, 2015

Gary Naylor enjoys an unorthodox version of one of British Theatre's most performed shows - and finds it as modern and majorly entertaining as ever!...

BWW Reviews: RUMPY PUMPY, Landor Theatre, April 14 2015
by Gary Naylor - April 15, 2015

Gary Naylor sees a debut musical that has great songs and an important message, but needs to get more from its cast in order to reach its potential....

BWW Reviews: THRILL ME - THE LEOPOLD AND LOEB STORY, Greenwich Theatre, April 9 2015
by Gary Naylor - April 10, 2015

Gary Naylor sees a scary, shocking, sordid evocation of a murder now 90 years in the past, but still capable of making one stop and think about whether we're really all that different from the psychopaths portrayed....

BWW Reviews: DEAD SHEEP, Park Theatre, April 2 2015
by Gary Naylor - April 04, 2015

Gary Naylor enjoys a funny, and very scary, play that imagines just what may have happened to see off Margaret Thatcher, one of two politicians to win a secure majority in a UK election in the last 45 years....

BWW Reviews: PENELOPE RETOLD, Birmingham Rep Theatre, April 1 2015
by Jenny Antill - April 05, 2015

Following a successful run at Derby Theatre as a companion piece to The Odyssey, Penelope Retold is now embarking on a national tour. The show intertwines myth and reality in a fast paced modern take on the military wife....

BWW Reviews: SPEND SPEND SPEND, Union Theatre, March 28 2015
by Gary Naylor - March 30, 2015

Gary Naylor sees a musical adaptation of one of the icons of British 20th-century tabloid media, Viv Nicholson, who won the pools, lost a husband (or five) and gained the wisdom of late middle age - and survived....

BWW Reviews: CREDITORS, Brockley Jack Theatre, March 26 2015
by Gary Naylor - March 29, 2015

Gary Naylor sees a claustrophobic examination of personalities on the edge of cracking, incapable of occupying the same space, yet lost without each other....

BWW Reviews: RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET, New Wimbledon Theatre, March 23 2015
by Gary Naylor - March 24, 2015

Gary Naylor sees a 25th Anniversary Show of a classic musical that, even after all those performances, still has the feel of a first draft in need of a tidying-up....

BWW Reviews: PLAYING FOR TIME, Crucible, Sheffield, 18 Mar 2015
by Ruth Deller - March 22, 2015

A haunting and wonderfully realised production of Fania Fenelon's memoir about her experience as a musician in Nazi concentration camps....

BWW Reviews: BETTY BLUE EYES, Old Rep Theatre Birmingham, March 19 2015
by Jenny Antill - March 21, 2015

Birmingham Ormiston Academy (or BOA as it is fondly known) may already be on your radar but if it isn't, you won't escape it for much longer. The performing arts academy for 14-19 year olds is an independent state-run establishment and was modelled on the very successful Brit School in London. In ge...

BWW Reviews: SHRAPNEL: 34 FRAGMENTS OF A MASSACRE, Arcola Theatre, March 16 2015
by Gary Naylor - March 17, 2015

Gary Naylor sees a fierce condemnation of the multi-faceted situation that led to 34 men, many of them teenagers, losing their lives on a mountain pass between Turkey and Iraq....

BWW Reviews: ENGLISH TOURING OPERA - LA BOHEME, Hackney Empire, March 13 2015
by Gary Naylor - March 14, 2015

Gary Naylor sees a tremendously impassioned production of Puccini's masterpiece, its power given full rein by musicians and singers who can fill a large theatre with this magical opera....

BWW Reviews: ENGLISH TOURING OPERA - THE WILD MAN OF THE WEST INDIES, Hackney Empire, March 12 2015
by Gary Naylor - March 13, 2015

Gary Naylor sees a rare revival of one of Gaetano Donizetti's many works and finds it lovely to listen to and as packed with emotion as one has come to expect from Italian opera....

BWW Reviews: THE SIEGE OF CALAIS, Hackney Empire, March 7 2015
by Gary Naylor - March 08, 2015

Gary Naylor sees a reminder of the persistence of the brutality of war sung wonderfully well with the power of an orchestra in the pit and a libretto that does not flinch in the face of horror....

BWW Reviews: YARICO, London Theatre Workshop, March 6 2015
by Gary Naylor - March 08, 2015

Gary Naylor sees a show full of great songs and strong performances and the professional debut of Liberty Buckland - a name to remember....

BWW Reviews: ROMEO + JULIET, Rose Theatre Kingston, March 4 2015
by Gary Naylor - March 05, 2015

Gary Naylor sees a Romeo and Juliet that boldly goes into territory often left dormant by more orthodox directorial decisions....

BWW Reviews: LOSERVILLE, Union Theatre, March 3 2015
by Gary Naylor - March 04, 2015

Gary Naylor sees a show that will appeal to teens, show that takes plenty of liberties with computing history, but that fails to deliver its potential due to sound problems....

BWW Reviews: THE KING'S SPEECH, Birmingham Rep Theatre, February 26 2015
by Jenny Antill - February 27, 2015

Debuting earlier this month in Chichester, The King's Speech opened to critical acclaim. The show is a co-production with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre where I had the privilege of watching last night. When the film was released in 2010 starring Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, it became the most s...

BWW Reviews: OH, WHAT A LOVELY WAR!, Manchester Opera House, February 24 2015
by Adrian Bradley - February 25, 2015

Timed for the centenary of the First World War, Terry Johnson's revival of Oh! What A Lovely War still packs a serious satirical punch. It felt just as relevant and almost as hard hitting today as it would have done in 1963 - when it was first produced by Joan Littlewood at the Theatre Royal Stratfo...

BWW Reviews: RUDDIGORE OR THE WITCH'S CURSE, King's Head Theatre, February 19 2015
by Gary Naylor - February 21, 2015

Gary Naylor sees an entertaining revival of Gilbert and Sullivan's tale of reviving ancestors delivered with the Charles Court Opera Company's undying joie de vivre....

BWW Reviews: THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME, Wolverhampton Grand, February 17 2015
by Jenny Antill - February 18, 2015

Based on the 2003 novel by Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time premiered at the National Theatre in 2012. By the following year, it had transferred into the West End and won a massive seven Olivier Awards including Best Play. As well as continuing in London, it is also pla...

BWW Reviews: BLASTED, Crucible Studio, Sheffield, February 10 2015
by Ruth Deller - February 14, 2015

The Sheffield Theatres' Sarah Kane season gets off to a dynamic start with this 20th anniversary production of Blasted....

BWW Reviews: TOP HAT, Manchester Opera House, February 10 2015
by Adrian Bradley - February 11, 2015

After wowing crowds and the Olivier Award judges, Top Hat is touring the country bringing its infectious enthusiasm and the spirit of Fred Astaire around the country. Manchester's Opera House theatre hosted the latest leg of this affectionate adaption of irving Berlin's 1935 film staring Astaire and...

BWW Reviews: GODS AND MONSTERS, Southwark Playhouse, February 10 2015
by Gary Naylor - February 11, 2015

Gary Naylor sees a fascinating, powerful play that examines the life of cult Hollywood director James Whale, a man wrestling with a past and present that grants him no comfort at the end of a long and fulfilling life....

BWW Reviews: SHE LOVES ME, Landor Theatre, February 9 2015
by Gary Naylor - February 10, 2015

Gary Naylor sees a revival of a 1963 musical that looks gorgeous and is filled with lovely melodies, but doesn't reach its potential due to its leads not quite sparking as lovers....