UK Regional Theater Reviews

Review: HAMILTON, Birmingham Hippodrome
by Laura Lott - July 01, 2024

It's a testament to Lin-Manuel Miranda's almost perfect show that even with some performance issues, Hamilton is still a stunning and moving experience. Its impact isn’t diminished even after several viewings, and its themes of love, grief, ambition, freedom, forgiveness and family are always resona...

Review: A CHILD OF SCIENCE, Bristol Old Vic
by Tim Wright - June 14, 2024

Ultimately, A Child of Science offers a vivid portrayal of the intersection between scientific pursuit and human longing. It’s a testament to the extraordinary efforts behind ordinary miracles. And how the path to creating life can be as intricate and moving as the lives it aims to bring into the wo...

Review: ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, Formosa Gardens
by Kat Mokrynski - June 17, 2024

All’s Well That Ends Wells, a production by Shakespeare in the Square and directed by Sioned Jones, is a touring version of Shakespeare’s work, being performed in gardens across the UK. The tale tells the story of Helena, a young woman living under the guardianship of the Countess of Roussillon who ...

Review: TWELFTH NIGHT, Shakespeare North Playhouse
by Sarah OHara - June 12, 2024

Award winning Theatre company Not Too Tame return with their latest production - William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night - and I can say without a doubt, that it is the best Shakespeare production you will see this year....

Review: CIRQUE: THE GREATEST SHOW, Leicester Curve
by Franco Milazzo - June 11, 2024

With its live singers, superb clowning and disappointing vaudeville acts, The Entertainers’ Cirque: The Greatest Show is bringing its dazzling show around the country....

Review: MY FAIR LADY, Leeds Playhouse
by Gary Naylor - June 08, 2024

Two terrific leads will delight audiences, but the source material's misogyny proves too much to simply sweep aside...

Review: ACCOLADE, Theatre Royal Windsor
by Kat Mokrynski - June 10, 2024

Written by Emlyn Williams in 1950, Accolade tells the fictional story of an accomplished writer named Will Trenting (Ayden Callaghan) who finds the world he has built falling apart in front of him as a secret from the past comes to haunt him. The production, directed by Sean Mathias, is part of Math...

Brighton Fringe Review: IT JUST SO HAPPENED: AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORY SHOW, Brighton Toy & Model Museum
by Kat Mokrynski - June 10, 2024

It Just So Happened: An Alternative History Show has a simple concept, as shown in the show’s description - “Three guest comedians/history buffs perform short stand-up sets based ‘on this day’ in history before exploring some possible alternative histories of Brighton people and events....

Brighton Fringe Review: RICHARD PULSFORD: GET RICH QUICK, Rotunda Theatre Brighton: Squeak
by Kat Mokrynski - June 10, 2024

Entering the Rotunda Theatre Brighton: Squeak for Richard Pulsford: Get Rich Quick, you are greeted by a screen with Tweets by Pulsford flashing by every few seconds. Each Tweet has a different joke on it, leading to a few chuckles from the audience as each new one appears on the screen....

Brighton Fringe Review: BEN GOLDSMITH: CRIMELANDTOWN, Presuming Ed's
by Kat Mokrynski - June 10, 2024

Walking into Ben Goldsmith: Crimelandtown, you are greeted by Goldsmith putting on a character you’d find in The Godfather, thanking you for coming to visit Crimelandtown Casino on “the day of my daughter’s wedding” and handing each audience member a poker chip....

Brighton Fringe Review: CHIN WANG: WANG'S REPUBLIC, Rotunda Theatre Brighton: Squeak
by Kat Mokrynski - June 10, 2024

Chin Wang: Wang’s Republic begins with Wang filling out an online form, the site projected onto a screen behind her. The first question? “What’s your country or region?” It’s a strange question, and anyone who has lived in a different country can definitely relate to Wang’s confusion....

Brighton Fringe Review: GHOST WALKS OF THE LANES, The Druid's Head
by Kat Mokrynski - June 08, 2024

Ghost Walk of the Lanes is an eighty-minute tour of “Brighton’s oldest and most haunted quarter,” with a storyteller dressed in a Victorian costume leading audience members around several historic sites of the city, stopping and telling stories, ringing a bell to lead the way....

Brighton Fringe Review: KIDS CAN HECKLE!, Laughing Horse @ The Walrus (Raised Room)
by Kat Mokrynski - June 08, 2024

Kids Can Heckle!, hosted by comedian Ollie Horn, has an interesting concept. As you might be able to guess from the title, children are allowed to heckle. In fact, according to the show’s descriptions, they are “encouraged to jump in, share their ideas, and be as silly as possible,” so you can defin...

Review: FANNY, Watermill Theatre
by Mica Blackwell - May 31, 2024

With a captivating performance from Charlie Russell leading a fantastic ensemble and a well crafted script by Calum Finlay, this should mark your next visit to the Watermill Theatre in its amazing summer season....

Review: PARTY GAMES!, Theatre Royal Windsor
by Kat Mokrynski - May 20, 2024

Written by Michael McManus and directed by Joanna Read, Party Games! is a “comedy-drama” that gives audience members an inside look into the political world of the United Kingdom through the “One Nation” party, which has been created in opposition to the other existing parties....

Review: COMIC CON LIVERPOOL, Exhibition Centre Liverpool
by Sarah OHara - May 15, 2024

Since hosting their first event at Exhibition Centre Liverpool in 2018, Comic Con Liverpool have delighted fans with one of Europe’s largest pop culture conventions - and this year’s was one of their biggest, best and most brilliant yet....

Review: THE DEEP BLUE SEA, Theatre Royal Bath
by Cheryl Markosky - May 14, 2024

Tamsin Greig is a marvel as Hester Collyer in Lindsay Posner's new revival of Terence Rattigan's 1950s classic, The Deep Blue Sea, at Theatre Royal Bath's intimate, 126-seater Ustinov Studio....

Review: THE HOUSE PARTY, Chichester Festival Theatre
by Gary Naylor - May 12, 2024

Superb performances anchor a hurtling rollercoaster of a play that will live long in the memory of anyone who sees it....

Review: POP UP PUPPET CINEMA, Exhibition Centre Liverpool
by Sarah OHara - May 13, 2024

At the first Comic Con Liverpool event of 2024, Pop Up Puppet Cinema delighted audiences with performances of two iconic films - Back to the Future and Jaws....

Book Review: A SENSE OF THEATRE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF BRITAIN'S NATIONAL THEATRE, by Richard Pilbrow
by Cheryl Markosky - May 13, 2024

In the summer of 1962, Sir Laurence Olivier invited lighting designer Richard Pilbrow to 'sort out the bloody awful lighting' at Chichester Theatre two days before it opened. Pilbrow replied there was nothing he could do in so short a time. 'Well, you're no bloody use, are you?' Olivier quipped....

Review: WHAT THE BUTLER SAW, Theatre Royal Windsor
by Gary Naylor - May 09, 2024

Landmark show creaks at the edges, but gets its share of laughs in this highly accomplished touring show...

Brighton Fringe Review: WHOA MAMA!, Spiegeltent, Bosco Theatre
by Caroline Cronin - May 09, 2024

The strapline for Stephanie Ware’s WHOA MAMA! had me intrigued – a one woman comedy about a 40-something woman and her choice to remain childfree. There’s certainly no shortage of rhetoric on this subject, particularly on social media where the childfree “movement” has a real chokehold. But the conc...

Review: VANITY FAIR, Open Bar Theatre
by Aliya Al-Hassan - May 09, 2024

Pub garden theatre specialist Open Bar Theatre has returned for a spring season with a deft and slightly chaotic version of William Thackeray's Vanity Fair. Dealing with the fortunes of two young women, the story explores early 19th-century English society, specifically how money and ambition can de...

Review: TIM RICE: MY LIFE IN MUSICALS, Liverpool Playhouse
by Sarah OHara - May 07, 2024

Currently on tour across the UK, Tim Rice: My Life In Musicals is two hours of musical theatre bliss that you will never forget....

Review: A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL, Salisbury Playhouse
by Cheryl Markosky - May 01, 2024

What can be more cheering on a dreary, wet evening than seeing a jolly Alan Ayckbourn comedy?...