James Graham’s Dear England is a play that shouldn’t work as well as it does. On paper, a drama about Gareth Southgate and the England men’s football team could so easily have been little more than locker-room caricature and sporting cliché. But in practice, what unfolds on stage is a gripping, humane and wonderfully entertaining piece of…

Few musicals have left as deep an impression on British theatre as Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers. First performed in 1983, it tells the tragic story of twins separated at birth: Mickey, raised in hardship in a working-class Liverpool household, and Edward, raised in comfort and wealth by a childless upper-middle-class couple. Fate draws the two…

In its current tour at Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall, Fiddler on the Roof—the award-winning Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production—proves itself to be a stirring, emotionally intelligent revival of a musical classic. Fresh from its Olivier Award triumphs for Best Musical Revival, Best Set Design, and Best Sound Design, this iteration of the much-loved story of Tevye and his…

The macabre and mysterious Addams clan have descended on Salford this week, bringing their deadpan humour and darkly romantic charm to The Lowry. In this musical comedy, Wednesday Addams – no longer the morbid child of TV and film – has grown up and fallen for Lucas Beineke, an achingly “normal” young man from a…

Has the summer holiday left your home feeling like ‘A Squash and a Squeeze’? Well, the solution is ‘easy peasy’, get your little ones to The Lowry to enjoy a Squash and a Squeeze.  Julia Donaldson’s much loved children’s classic is adapted with love by Barb Jungr and Samantha Lane. While many of Donaldson’s plays…

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal doesn’t begin with the explosive, high-octane spectacle one might expect from a show about a global music icon. Instead, it opens in stillness, in a church of Tina’s childhood, quietly setting the stage for a story that is as much about survival and spirit as it is…

The high-heeled powerhouse that is Kinky Boots has strutted into the Theatre Royal Nottingham this week with all the razzle-dazzle you’d expect, though not without a few stumbles along the runway. Let’s start with the standout: Johannes Radebe’s Lola is simply magnetic. With effortless charisma, total command of the stage, and sublime movement, Radebe delivers…

Bat Out of Hell, currently playing at the Regent Theatre in Stoke as part of its 2025 UK tour, is a production of contradictions. It boasts one of the finest vocal casts currently touring the UK, but is utterly hamstrung by chaotic direction, a nonsensical script, and staging decisions that often confuse more than they…

Stage Productions’ amateur staging of Shrek the Musical is a triumphant, laugh-out-loud joyride packed with heart, humour, and some truly fantastic performances. Bursting with colour, energy, and character, the show proves a firm reminder of why the musical, based on the DreamWorks animation, is such a favourite for audiences of all ages. From the very…

While Calamity Jane herself was a real person, the story of the musical is entirely fictional: Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock work as gunslingers in the Wild West town of Deadwood.  ‘Calam’ rides the stagecoach, protecting it from bandits and bringing in supplies and passengers to the otherwise isolated town, including talent for the local…