Let’s Hope Oldham Coliseum Survives Levelling Up
After being dropped from the Arts Council England portfolio the survival of the iconic venue is in doubt – who is to blame?
Theatre to look forward to in 2023
There are a lot of highly anticipated shows hitting the stage this year. Here are some of my top picks.
A Streetcar Named Desire is everything you want Theatre to be
The long-awaited revival of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Almeida is astonishing
Latest Articles
Blog
Let’s Hope Oldham Coliseum Survives Levelling Up
After being dropped from the Arts Council England portfolio the survival of the iconic venue is in doubt – who is to blame?
Theatre to look forward to in 2023
There are a lot of highly anticipated shows hitting the stage this year. Here are some of my top picks.
A Streetcar Named Desire is everything you want Theatre to be
The long-awaited revival of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Almeida is astonishing
BECTU Union’s Philippa Childs: “It does feel as if our whole infrastructure is creaking.”
The strike – and the threat of striking – should be celebrated precisely because it underpins many rights and freedoms we now take for granted. It is the second morning of the Royal College of Nursing strikes and after a challenging few years, Philippa Childs,...
Look Ahead
First Look: Into the Woods
Photo Credit: Marc Brenner Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Book by James Lapine; Co-Directed by Terry Gilliam and Leah Hausman This imaginative and delightfully playful new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods arrives as a...
Jerusalem returns
If life does indeed come down to just a single moment, mine probably arrived last week on Easter Monday when I witnessed Mark Rylance on stage as Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron in Jerusalem. His combination of theatricality and verbal vivacity is extraordinary. First...
Olivier Awards nominations 2022: Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club leads the pack
Rebecca Frecknall’s dazzling Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club up for 11 prizes 2022 Awards
National Youth Theatre and Contact, Manchester: Putting young people centre stage
With National Youth Theatre Chair Dawn Airey and Artistic Director Paul Roseby In this age of extremes, I often find myself at the sharp end of funding squeezes, local authority cuts, and am continually alarmed by the devastating demise of arts in our state schools....
Spotlight
NPO Funding decisions 2023-26
This year’s funding announcement comes against the backdrop of “Levelling Up” and Priority Areas outside of the capital.
£400 tickets for West End Cock? No thanks.
‘Dynamic pricing’ sees Cock ticket costs fluctuate wildly for the production’s final performances in the West End
Review: Oklahoma! — beguiling, brave & occasionally contentious
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1943 musical is no cinch to sell to a modern audience. So fair play to Daniel Fish and Jordan Fein’s stirring Tony-winning production for shooting for something new. Oklahoma! Photo credit: Marc Brenner It does so by bringing bring to the...
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella: Not So Happy Ever After
Cinderella will end in June at London’s Gillian Lynne theatre
Reviews
Mesmerising Sweeney Todd got me by the throat
Lots to love about Nick Bagnall’s stripped-back Sweeney Todd in Liverpool, including the cast, acting, and absorbing scenes between Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett and the decision to set it in a time of Brexhaustion. Everything seems fresh minted. Bagnall’s wickedly...
Standing at The Sky’s Edge
Standing At The Sky’s Edge’s portrayal of high-rise communities in the iconic concrete housing estate could hardly be bettered. It’s an evocative setting. Park Hill was built in the 1950’s as a solution to the city’s social housing. This new musical is all about that...
Young Frankenstein: do we all make our own monsters?
The gender roles in Young Frankenstein raise huge questions around our own collusion as audiences and Mel Brooks’ musical comedy starring Ross Noble, Hadley Fraser, Summer Strallen and Lesley Joseph is ruffling feathers. The background is that, in Natasha...