UK Regional Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 5

Review: THE GOOD ENOUGH MUMS CLUB, Birmingham Hippodrome
by Laura Lott - October 30, 2023

Society places a huge amount of pressure on mothers to be perfect, so it's a joy to see this new musical that reassures mums that their best is good enough. With a book and lyrics by Emily Beecher, who developed the show after her own diagnosis of postnatal depression, this production is produced, d...

Review: THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, Salisbury Playhouse
by Cheryl Markosky - October 27, 2023

All aboard for a new rendering of The Girl on the Train at Salisbury Playhouse, with clever background projection to lift a journey that doesn’t quite make its connection....

Review: 2:22 A GHOST STORY, Theatre Royal Brighton
by Caroline Cronin - October 26, 2023

2:22 A Ghost Story has made a bit of a mark for itself in its regularly rotating cast – often well-established actors known more widely for their off-stage work. As the show sweeps into its Brighton leg of the tour, the cast du jour boasts Joe Absolom, Charlene Boyd, Nathaniel Curtis and Louisa Lytt...

INTERVIEW: 'The Play Couldn't Be More Timely': Actor Samuel Collings on Being in a 'Perfect Couple' and the Relevance of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN at Salisbury Playhouse
by Cheryl Markosky - October 23, 2023

Samuel Collings, from Hammersmith in West London, is one of the UK’s most versatile actors and can be found on stage, screen, radio and voicing audiobooks. He spoke with BroadwayWorld about his journey into acting, being part of a 'perfect couple' and the relvance of the story today....

Review: FREE YOUR MIND, Aviva Studios
by Franco Milazzo - October 20, 2023

Few venue openings have been as much-anticipated as that of Aviva Studios. With around £100m of public funding and £35m just from the naming rights, its opening production from Factory International was announced over a year ago: Free Your Mind would be “a large-scale immersive performance based on ...

Review: THE SCORE, Theatre Royal Bath
by Cheryl Markosky - October 20, 2023

If the multi award-winning TV drama Succession taught us anything, it’s that no one can take Brian Cox’s place. Fans of the Scottish actor will be pleased to know that he commands centre stage – with Logan Roy-esque verve – in Trevor Nunn’s The Score, a new play by actor-playwright OIiver Cotton at ...

Review: SHAKESPEARE'S R&J, Reading Rep
by Jess Ashley - October 17, 2023

Joe Calarco’s electrifying interpretation of the legendary star-crossed lovers is nothing short of excellence. While mainly recited in its original Shakespearean form, Calarco brings a fresh take on the tragedy, through a modern setting and intertwining of a queer narrative....

Review: A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, Chichester Festival Theatre
by Gary Naylor - October 12, 2023

It may be old enough to collect its state pension, but this classic play still has much to say about life as it's lived today...

Review: SEA OF TROUBLES, Screening, Royal Opera House
by Matthew Paluch - October 11, 2023

Kenneth MacMillan was renowned for being a major film buff, so we can assume he’d revel in his 1988 work Sea of Troubles being transferred to the big screen...

Review: THE BOOK THIEF, Leicester Curve
by Laura Lott - October 06, 2023

With a charming libretto by Jodi Picoult and Timothy Allen McDonald, and folk-style music and lyrics by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson, The Book Thief is filled with the warmth of a young girl's friendships and discoveries. But the dangers of war and Nazi rhetoric are a constant threat beneath the ...

Review: RUNESICAL, Streaming Online
by Charlotte Bois-Pursey - October 05, 2023

An interactive adventure brimming with typical Gigglemug silliness....

Review: QUIZ, Chichester Festival Theatre
by Gary Naylor - September 29, 2023

Did they do it? It's a 50/50 and you decide. And you have a lot of fun getting there too....

Review: SHREK: THE MUSICAL, New Wimbledon Theatre
by Abbie Grundy - September 27, 2023

The touring production of Shrek The Musical brings the fairy-tale-inspired story to life....

Review: SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, Mill Studio, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
by Katy Scott - September 18, 2023

A celebration of the power of art and one of the most loved of all Sondheim / Lapine collaborations...

Review: DREAM TEAM, Liverpool Royal Court
by Sarah O'Hara - September 13, 2023

The story of the Sandman has been told for generations in song, books and on the stage - and this time, it was the turn of Liverpool’s Royal Court Youth Theatre to bring the tale to life in Dream Team. And what happened when they did? Well - it was truly magical....

Book Review: BREAKING DOWN YOUR SCRIPT by Laura Wayth
by Laura Lott - September 14, 2023

The moment when you're presented with a whole new script can feel a little overwhelming for an actor, but Breaking Down Your Script: A Step-by-Step Guide for the Actor is here to help. It's written by Laura Wayth, who has worked as an acting teacher in Italy, Morocco, China and the UK....

Review: MACBETH, Shakespeare North Playhouse
by Sarah O'Hara - September 07, 2023

Macbeth has been brought to the stage once more in a phenomenal production of the drama at the Shakespeare North Playhouse....

Review: JEEVES & WOOSTER IN PERFECT NONSENSE, Salisbury Playhouse
by Cheryl Markosky - September 06, 2023

What did our critic think of JEEVES & WOOSTER IN PERFECT NONSENSE at Theatre Royal Bath?...

Podcast Review: HOW TO WRITE A PLAY WITH MIKE BARTLETT
by Cheryl Markosky - August 30, 2023

Are you a budding writer not sure where to begin? Perhaps you’ve managed to get something onto the page, but don’t have any theatre contacts to proceed further. Or maybe you’re a bit nervous about offending someone and ending your writing career before it even gets going....

Review: ROMEO & JULIET, Shakespeare in the Garden
by Aliya Al-Hassan - August 24, 2023

In theory, watching Shakespeare in a bucolic pub garden on a summer's evening is one of the nicest ways to spend your time. Open Bar Theatre was formed in 2016 by Nicky Diss and Vicky Gaskin to produce Shakespeare for Fuller’s pub gardens, with the intention of creating accessible theatre....

Film Review: THEATER CAMP
by Abbie Grundy - August 21, 2023

The kind of movie that theatre kids (and theatre adults) everywhere will resonate with....

Book Review: DIVA, V&A Exhibition
by Cindy Marcolina - August 04, 2023

The term “diva” rose to prominence with its relation to an operatic background and popularly revolves around the traits of someone’s character. Typically (and misogynistically) attributed to women, it’s used to describe a person whose temperament and self-importance are quite difficult to handle. Tr...

Review: A GREASY SPOON, Liverpool's Royal Court
by Sarah O'Hara - August 03, 2023

This two-hour non-stop, quick-fire comedy is delivered superbly by a cast of familiar faces to Liverpool’s Royal Court and newcomers to the theatre’s main stage. ...

Review: BONNIE & CLYDE, Original West End Cast Recording
by Abbie Grundy - July 28, 2023

The Original West End Cast Recording of Bonnie & Clyde is a tense, cinematic treat....

Review: BBC PROMS AT SAGE GATESHEAD: SELF ESTEEM & ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA, Sage Gateshead
by Bryony Rae Taylor - July 24, 2023

I like my orchestral music organised around Northern talent. An evening of two halves, this BBC Proms event saw Nottingham (which is geographically more North than South, so let’s forget for a moment that it’s in the midlands) was repped by four-piece band Divorce. Then, Rotherham-born Self-Esteem -...