Clementine – Theatr Clwyd The internet generation has an obvious infatuation with period drama adjacent shows, and there seems to be a never-ending conveyor belt of production to feed this appetite. Bridgerton and the new “Wuthering Heights” adaptation are just around the corner, and as an Austen…

Sally Ann Matthews Joins The Cast of Here & Now The producers of the UK and Ireland tour and Whatsonstage Award-nominated musical HERE & NOW, presented by UK pop sensation, Steps, are delighted to announce that Coronation Street star Sally Ann Matthews will take over the role of Patricia from 23rd…

Guess How Much I Love You? – Royal Court Theatre As a young couple wait in a hospital room for the results of a 20-week pregnancy scan, they chat happily, the possibility of a wonderful future stretching in front of them. Baby names are discussed and discarded, dreams of happy family holidays…

The Execution of Private Slovik – 53two It is well known that, in response to potential harm, the human body can go into fight-or-flight mode. It is a physiological survival mechanism, and some people choose to face the danger, whilst others will run away. This play concerns the true story of…

ROTUS: Receptionist of the United States – Park Theatre What is the role of the ROTUS? Keeper of cue cards to remember the music tastes and coffee orders of Washington's VIPs? Or is it a surreptitious post for sleuthing? For Chastity Quirke, this front-facing job descends from one into the…

Miss Saigon – Hull New Theatre The musical, Miss Saigon, has been watched by over 33 million worldwide. You can add probably a few more thousand on to that figure, if Wednesday night's attendance of the show at Hull's New Theatre is anything to go by. The place was packed. Miss Saigon is in the…

Into The Woods – Church Hill Theatre Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group (EUSOG) opens their production of Into The Woods this week at the Church Hill Theatre. Sondheim's notoriously complex and finicky musical score provides quite the challenge for both the performers and musicians, especially…

Top Hat – Sheffield Lyceum Irving Berlin’s classical romantic spectacle ‘Top Hat’ slides its away across Sheffield Theatres’ stages with pomp and playfulness, marking a highly respectable and enjoyable musical instalment to the current season of live entertainment in the heart of the city. Matthew…

Murder at Midnight – The Lowry The latest outing from writer Torben Betts is a gleefully farcical affair that never once pretends to be believable. From the opening moments where the audience is faced with the aftermath of what is described by a policeman as murderous ‘carnage’, Murder at Midnight…

The Bodyguard – Palace Theatre The Bodyguard returns to the Palace Theatre Manchester under the direction of Thea Sharrock, bringing with it all the high-stakes drama and musical spectacle audiences have come to expect from this stage adaptation of the Warner Bros. film. With a screenplay by…

Later Life Letter – Southbank Centre ‘Later Life Letter’, a book of poems, written and performed by Luke Wright, is a quietly extraordinary piece of contemporary, poetic storytelling that reminds us of the power of spoken word when it is rooted in lived experience and delivered with absolute…

The Olive Boy – Southwark Playhouse Borough In Ollie Maddigan’s The Olive Boy, he tells us how his mum used to compare him to the stoned fruit not only because he was born with a condition where his skin looked green, but because he is “pure and sweet”. Of course, Maddigan thinks this is…

Dick Whittington – Montgomery Theatre Sheffield Wales Community Theatre Players give the Montgomery Theatre - Sheffield audience a heart-warming pantomime that is traditional in every way with a fast moving script, detailed direction and some excellent performances. Dick Whittington by arrangement…

Rapunzel – Rainhill Village Hall Looking for a fun filled magical night? Look no further than Rainhill Musical Theatre Company's wonderful production of Rapunzel. Rainhill pleasantly surprise me every time I see them by adding magical moments which are unexpected and fun within their shows. The…

Lear’s Shadow – Hull Truck Theatre On Thursday evening, a really bizarre thing happened to me in my long theatre reviewing career. I was at the Hull Truck Theatre to watch a one-man, one-night production - Lear’s Shadow - and, searching out my seat, E4, I found it occupied by - wait for it - an…

Hamlet – National Theatre Live Theatre should be for the many, and not the few, so by bringing ‘National Theatre Live’ into the cinema, and ‘National Theatre at Home’ to your armchair, there is more chance than ever for everyone to enjoy theatre.  On the 22nd January, Hamlet will be available to…

Natalie Palamides: WEER – Soho Theatre Fresh from a run at New York’s Cherry Lane Theatre, Natalie Palamides’s one-woman romcom WEER, returns to London. Palamides plays both sides of the couple; her left side is Kristina, and her right side is Mark, and her hair, makeup, and multiple costumes are…

To Kill a Mockingbird – The Lowry If the rest of my theatrical year measures up to this stunning start, then I am in for a vintage 2026. My first outing is a superb stage rendering of Harper Lee’s 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird, currently midway through an extensive UK tour following its runaway…

Hades Town Teen Edition – The Forum Theatre This is another production at which NK excels, gathering a number of extremely talented young people together to bring out the best in their multiple abilities resulting in a gloriously entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable production, although I have to…

Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts – Liverpool Playhouse Twists, turns, murder and mystery sound like your kind of evening? If so, join the dynamic cast of characters in Inspector Morse at the Liverpool Playhouse from 13th to 17th January 2026. The staging is set, the lights are low and you are…

Drawing The Italian Renaissance – King’s Gallery, Holyrood Palace This is an excellent exhibition, inspiring, beautifully curated, and quietly revelatory. Drawing the Italian Renaissance does something deceptively simple but profoundly effective, it brings us closer to the act of thinking itself,…

Rocky Horror Show – Sheffield Lyceum Sheffield waited with antici……….pation and at last the Rocky Horror Show crash landed into the Sheffield Lyceum. With a well versed and non-virginal Rocky audience there were more sparkly tailcoats and top hats, green surgical gowns, heavy rocker leather…

Cinderella – Waterside Arts Sale Nomads are back at Waterside Arts with their annual post Christmas pantomime. This year Cinderella is the one in favour for the first time since 2017. In this production we have all the usual protagonists – Cinders, Buttons, Prince Charming, Dandini and of course…

Ghost In Your Ear – Hampstead Theatre A Ghost In Your Ear is set in a recording studio, where an actor, George, has turned up late to record a job at short notice, so short he hasn’t read the script yet. It turns out it’s a horror story. As he and his friend, the sound engineer Sid, settle into a…

Paranormal Activity – Ambassador’s Theatre Paranormal Activity, the iconic horror film franchise known to terrify cinema audiences worldwide, has successfully made the leap from screen to stage in a chilling and immersive theatrical production. From the very first moment, the audience is plunged…

Orphans – Jermyn Street Theatre Orphans was written by Philadelphia-born Lyle Kessler and first staged in 1983, directed by Gary Sinise at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, before going on to a successful Off-Broadway run. Later, in 1986, the play transferred to London’s West End, earning Albert…

Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker in Havana – Sheffield Lyceum The Nutcracker is inextricably linked to the Christmas season; a young girl, Clara, receives a gift of a nutcracker doll and as she sleeps, the doll transforms into a handsome prince and draws her into a world of adventure and fantasy. This…

Fawlty Towers – Leeds Grand Fawlty Towers is regularly voted the greatest ever British sitcom, so five decades after the madcap antics of the world’s worst hotelier were first broadcast it seemed ripe for a stage adaptation. John Cleese was famously moved to co-write his comedy masterpiece with…

Jack – Courtyard Theatre Having celebrated previously successful runs, ‘Jack’ (the musical) arrives in London with a gothic-electro music fusion bringing the vibes of Victorian London crashing into the modern day. This is an intriguing and exciting concept, based around the story of “Jack The…

Magic Awareness Society – The Royal Scots Club Set in the exuberant class of The Royal Scots Club, the highly esteemed Magic Awareness Society has gathered to instil the law - magic is banned and has been for decades. In this meeting we are informed on the dangers of magic, the tricks magicians…

Jamie Leonard, Wonder Boy – Edinburgh International Magic Festival As my final show in this year’s Edinburgh Magic Festival, Wonderboy brought energy, charm and an undeniable sense of youthful confidence. Performed at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, Jamie arrives fresh from a successful 2025…

Insane Christmas Magic – Edinburgh International Magic Festival There’s always a faint risk with festive spin-offs that the tinsel overwhelms the craft. Happily, Insane Christmas Magic avoids that trap entirely. This is not novelty magic with baubles glued on, it’s proper, high-grade conjuring,…

Tricky Ricky, Jingles All The Way – Edinburgh International Magic Festival There’s a particular challenge to the Christmas morning family show: you’re dealing with excitable children, coffee-deprived adults, and a room that’s already humming before you’ve said a word. Jingles All The Way, Tricky…

Four Magicians – Edinburgh Storytelling Centre Fit like, loons and quines? If floundering in the fog of ‘Betwixmas’ the answer will have been overwhelmingly positive after 80 minutes in the company of this engaging quartet from the north-east. Tricks, illusions and mirages lurked within a…

The Secret Room – Lauriston Castle Perched on the edge of the Firth of Forth, Lauriston Castle is one of those Edinburgh buildings that seems to exist slightly out of time. Parts of the structure date back to the 16th century, though what we see today is largely the result of a late-19th-century…

Kevin Quantum ‘Christmas Special’ – Church Hill Theatre Renowned Edinburgh Magician Kevin Quantum is joined by Taylor Morgan and Rebecca Foyle for an evening of showmanship, finesse, and artistry in Kevin Quantum ‘Christmas Special’ as part of the Edinburgh International Magic Festival. Founded by…

Boys in the Buff – Golden Goose Theatre The history of nudity on stage is a rich, epic and often hilarious subject. It is also a bit tawdry and sporadically ugly. From the semi-nude stationary women in 1950s Soho clubs, posing in ‘Classical’ tableaux to handfuls of dirty old men, to the…

The Highgate Vampire – Omnibus Theatre Based loosely on real events, The Highgate Vampire is a dark comedy play which follows the occurrences surrounding reported supernatural sightings near Highgate Cemetery in the late 1960s. Alexander Knott plays a Mark-from-Peep-Show-esque, self-serious,…

Christmas Day – The Almeida Sam Grabiner's 'Christmas Day' is a deft exploration of religion and family politics. Over a Chinese meal in a barely habitable warehouse guardianship, a Jewish family debate their sense of belonging within their faith, giving rise to deep rooted tensions within their…

Beauty and the Beast – The Atkinson, Southport KD Productions have been bringing Southport’s professional pantomime for the past three years. This year the traditional tale of Beauty and the Beast. Obviously, there are things that cannot be done due to copyright. But all of the things are in…

Jack and the Beanstalk – Festival Theatre What never fails to amaze about Edinburgh’s panto is that year after year, it seems to reinvent itself. This year the city’s beloved panto team delivered the most intriguing combination – an unpredictable quirkiness on a stage dressed with the most…

Finding Balance – Traverse Theatre Five writers, five directors and twenty five actors come together for the inaugural event from Balancing Act Theatre. Scratch nights are a little like winter allotments: the soil is cold, the beds are uneven, and what you’re really being asked to admire is not…

Rachmaninov with Sir Stephen Hough – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Tonight, the Philharmonic welcomed back world-renowned pianist and composer Sir Stephen Hough for a remarkable performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 1. However, the concert began with the orchestra playing Francisco Coll’s…

Indian Ink – Hampstead Theatre The desire to see this Hampstead Theatre revival of Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink, was initially fuelled by the theatrical double whammy of Felicity Kendal, combined with one of the UK’s most celebrated living playwrights. This dramatic cocktail of talents is an…

Twelfth Night: RSC at the Barbican Sometimes a director tries too hard to bring a novel or unusual interpretation to Shakespeare's work, producing a confused and ultimately unsatisfactory production. This unfortunately is the case with Prasanna Puwanarajah's version of Twelfth Night for the Royal…

Prashasti Singh: Divine Feminine – Soho Theatre Over the course of a very entertaining hour, Prashasti Singh reckons with her relationship to femininity and womanhood, while discussing childhood, dating, aging, and self-help podcasts. Although it may seem like Singh is rehashing topics that have…

Top Hat the Musical – Southbank Centre 90 years after Irving Berlin’s 1935 classic film ‘Top Hat’, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers enthralled audiences, this latest musical adaptation by Matthew White and Howard Jacques is doing the same. The opening scene of ‘Putting on the Ritz’ kicks…

Shaun The Sheep’s Circus Show – Aviva Studios For families looking for an alternative production this festive season, Aviva Studios has the European premiere of Circa and Aardman’s Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show. First appearing in Wallace & Gromit’s 1995 classic A Close Shave, Shaun has…

Christmas Carol Goes Wrong – Apollo Theatre Mischief’s comedy crew are back and better than ever in their latest rendition of A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong at the Apollo Theatre. Directed by Matt DiCarlo, the story follows the fictional Cornley Drama Society in their attempt to re-create Charles…

Beauty and the Beast – Hull New Theatre Panto season is upon us once more and as young and old packed into Hull New Theatre on Sunday evening to watch Beauty and the Beast, the excitable atmosphere among theatregoers was palpable. As a reviewer, I have been fortunate to watch many such productions…