UK Regional Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 9

Review: RICHARD III, Royal Shakespeare Theatre
by Gary Naylor - July 01, 2022

Gregory Doran brings the RSC's decade long History cycle to its conclusion with a worthy, if wordy, Richard III...

BWW Review: THE SOUTHBURY CHILD, Chichester Festival Theatre
by Gary Naylor - June 18, 2022

Funny, frightening and thought-provoking, The Southbury Child cannot quite keep all its plates spinning, but is bold in its ambition and execution...

Review: PLAYBOY OF THE WEST INDIES, Birmingham Rep
by Laura Lott - June 16, 2022

It's been over a century since John Millington Synge's Irish play The Playboy of the Western World was first performed, and almost 40 years since Mustapha Matura transported the story to Trinidad in the original version of Playboy of the West Indies. Sadly, Matura passed away in 2019 before he finis...

BWW Review: SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, Birmingham Hippodrome
by Laura Lott - June 08, 2022

Often cited as one of the best movie musicals ever made, the 1952 romantic comedy Singin’ In The Rain, starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds, has a special place in many people's hearts. It was first adapted for the West End stage in 1983 and since then there have been multiple pr...

BWW Review: NOISES OFF, Pitlochry Festival Theatre
by Fiona Scott - June 05, 2022

Forty years on from its debut at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London in 1982, Michael Fryan’s farce-within-a-farce, Noises Off, returns to Pitlochry Festival Theatre as part of their 2022 summer season. The comedy was last performed in Pitlochry in 2010 and this marks the first professional vers...

BWW Review: SUNSHINE ON LEITH, PITLOCHRY FESTIVAL THEATRE
by Fiona Scott - June 02, 2022

The sun is certainly shining on Perthshire, as Pitlochry Festival Theatres celebrates the opening of its recently renovated building. A cheery actor-musician revival of The Proclaimers’ jukebox musical Sunshine on Leith opens their 2022 summer season, a co-production in collaboration with Capital Th...

BWW Review: GAMBLE, Northern Stage
by Bryony Rae Taylor - May 20, 2022

Gamble is a show about gambling addiction. Informed by Walker’s own experiences of being the partner of a gambling addict, the multi-media show marries glorious levels of glamour with the humbling testimonies of those who have had issues with gambling....

BWW Review: WAITRESS, Birmingham Hippodrome
by Laura Lott - May 18, 2022

If there's such a thing as the perfect recipe for a musical, then Waitress has surely found it. Like each of Jenna's delicious freshly-baked pies, the show achieves the ideal balance of sweet and sour. By turns hilariously funny, heart-wrenchingly sad and achingly sweet, Waitress knows how to take t...

BWW Review: JUNIPER AND JULES, Soho Theatre
by Paige Cochrane - May 06, 2022

It must have been said at some point in history that the course of lesbian love never did run smooth. Jules is vivacious and unconventional, whereas Juniper is thoughtful and quiet. Lustful glances across a noisy bar leads the pair to embark on a fiery relationship, learning to love and trust each o...

BWW Review: MAMMA MIA!, Birmingham Hippodrome
by Laura Lott - May 05, 2022

There aren't many places in the UK where you can experience the charms and sunshine of a Greek island, but the Mamma Mia! tour is one of them. Read our critic's review. ...

BWW Review: JERSEY BOYS, King's Theatre, Glasgow
by Fiona Scott - April 21, 2022

Oh, what a night! The UK tour of Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Balli & The Four Seasons returns to Glasgow. Read our critic's review....

BWW Review: HENRY VI: REBELLION and WARS OF THE ROSES, Royal Shakespeare Theatre
by Gary Naylor - April 21, 2022

Arthur Hughes is in showstealing form as the Duke of Gloucester, soon Richard III, as Henry VI loses his wife, his kingdom and his life. Read our BWW critic's review. ...

BWW Review: THE TAXIDERMIST'S DAUGHTER, Chichester Festival Theatre
by Paige Cochrane - April 20, 2022

Chichester Festival Theatre welcomes their 60th Anniversary season with The Taxidermist’s Daughter, a gothic tale of revenge set across the Sussex marshes in 1912. Adapted from her best-selling novel, author Kate Mosse has transported her literary vision to the stage in the very heart of the town th...

BWW Review: MAGIC GOES WRONG, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
by Fiona Scott - April 14, 2022

​Mischief Theatre has brought their characteristic “Goes Wrong” spin to several shows on our stages and screens. Their latest collaboration with magicians Penn & Teller, Magic Goes Wrong, is making a stop in Edinburgh at the Festival Theatre as part of their UK tour....

BWW Review: HAIRSPRAY, King's Theatre, Glasgow
by Fiona Scott - March 29, 2022

Hairspray has returned to Glasgow at the nicest “Kings” in town! The show follows the antics of aspiring teen dancer, Tracy Turner, and her dreams of dancing on TV and ending segregation in her 1960s Baltimore community....

BWW Review: BEAUTIFUL - THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL, Leicester Curve
by Laura Lott - March 06, 2022

At one point in Beautiful - The Carole King Musical, Carole declines a request to sing with a band, because she can't imagine anyone would want 'to hear a normal person sing'. As it turns out, millions of people want exactly that, and the show starts and ends with Carole performing her smash-hit alb...

BWW Review: SHEDDING A SKIN, Soho Theatre
by Paige Cochrane - March 05, 2022

Myah is in her thirties, recently single, homeless, now unemployed, and agonizingly uncomfortable in her own skin. After a tense weekend at her parents it's time to get her life together... again....

BWW Review: RICHARD II, Jack Studio Theatre
by Gary Naylor - February 25, 2022

A boutique Shakespeare, some of the religious aspects of the play are sacrificed for a version that proves to be an accessible, psychological political thriller....

BWW Review: TELL ME STRAIGHT, Chiswick Playhouse
by Abbie Grundy - February 17, 2022

Tell Me Straight is a hilarious exploration of the world of modern dating: Grindr, miscommunication and awkward romps at the back of a cinema. Led by Paul Bradshaw, the play is a semi-autobiographical glimpse into one man's search for love in London....

BWW Review: THE RED LION, Bristol Old Vic
by Tim Wright - February 09, 2022

Football is not a subject often tackled in the theatre. The Red Lion though is set a world away from the riches of the professional game. Here we find the kit man, the manager and a talented, young prospect – all in the changing room of the semi-pro non-league game....

BWW Review: PURPLE SNOWFLAKES AND TITTY WANKS, Royal Court
by Paige Cochrane - February 04, 2022

What do nuns, granola bars and a string of pearls all have in common? It sounds like the start of a bad joke but really, they’re all part of Sarah Hanly’s vibrant one-woman show, Purple Snowflakes and Titty Wanks....

BWW Review: DR SEMMELWEIS, Bristol Old Vic
by Tim Wright - January 27, 2022

'Doctors must not carry their ghosts,' advises Johann Klein to his impatient assistant Dr Ignaz Semmelweis, a 19th-century obstetrics doctor. But Semmelweis is troubled: he feels it is only by carrying those ghosts that progress can be made....

BWW Review: DOUBT: A PARABLE, Chichester Festival Theatre
by Paige Cochrane - January 28, 2022

John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Doubt: A Parable, is a court room built to question your understanding of integrity. Chichester Festival Theatre's offering is equally sharp and profound, echoing the vast ambiguity and loss of faith hidden within a pursuit of righteousness....

BWW Review: 9 TO 5, King's Theatre, Glasgow
by Fiona Scott - January 26, 2022

On the day that Nicola Sturgeon announced home-working Scots could once again return to the office, theatre fans could tumble out of bed and stumble down to the King’s Theatre Glasgow to catch 9 to 5, the first touring show to play there since Scottish venue capacities were relaxed last week....

BWW Review: THRILL ME: THE LEOPOLD & LOEB STORY, Jermyn Street Theatre
by Paige Cochrane - January 19, 2022

In Chicago, 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb each receive life, plus 99 years, for the despicable murder and kidnapping of 14-year-old Bobby Franks....