Writer: Caroline Graham Adaptor and Director: Guy Unsworth Runs until 14 March 2026 and on tour
Author: The Reviews Hub - Central
The Reviews Hub - Central
The Central team is under the editorship of Selwyn Knight. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.
Writer: Torben Betts Director: Philip Franks With the music of Robbie Williams and Eurythmics blasting out over the speakers, we are transported to the home of Jonny “The Cyclops” Drinkwater on New Year’s Eve as he prepares to ring in the New Year with his partner Lisa and mother Shirley. But, through a series of quite remarkable and unexplainable events, the New Year celebrations go completely off the rails, as the luxury home of this notorious dog-loving, pig farmer becomes the scene of chaos, hilarity and carnage. Written by Torben Betts, who, a couple of years prior, saw success with…
Book: Matthew White and Howard Jacques Music and Lyrics: Irving Berlin Director: Kathleen Marshall Fifteen years is a long time between visits. The last professional production of Top Hat at Birmingham Hippodrome — the Tom Chambers version that many in this city will remember fondly — felt, even then, like a rare treat – golden-age Hollywood musical translated to the stage with considerable wit and style. Now there’s a new production doing the rounds, and the good news is that it more than justifies the wait. The 1935 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film has long since passed into the…
Original Devising Cast: Lindsay Foster, Dan McGowan, Richard Newnham, Craig Quat, Morgan Thomas and Martin Vick Director: Ben Pettitt-Wade Hijinx Theatre is a professional theatre company that aims to be inclusive, producing and promoting opportunities for actors with learning disabilities and/or autism. Founded in 1981, it now produces plays and trains actors as well. Ten years ago, Hijinx created the comedy Meet Fred to considerable acclaim; Fred, a two‑foot Bunraku puppet, has now been dusted off for a tenth‑anniversary tour. We first meet Fred as he wakes in the morning, not entirely sure of who – or what – he is. In…
Music and Lyrics: Richie Webb Writers: Ben Ward and Claire Wetton Director: Neal Foster There are children’s shows — and then there are shows that genuinely entertain the entire family. Horrible Histories – The Concert firmly falls into the latter category, transforming the beloved Horrible Histories into a loud, lively, and laugh-out-loud stage spectacular. Taking inspiration from the series of children’s books penned by Terry Deary and the subsequent BBC children’s infotainment show that followed, Horrible Histories – The Concert heads out on tour across the UK. Jackie Trousdale’s set is simple and functional, a simple drum riser band setup…
Writer: Edward Albee Director: Mike Tweddle There aren’t enough stars in the galaxy sufficient to praise this muscular but exquisitely nuanced production of Albee’s most celebrated, immersive and often psyche-draining drama. It bristles and bludgeons, seethes and salves with spellbinding humanity and visceral raw emotion. Director Mike Tweedle, in his programme notes, recalls Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf being described as both ‘electrifying’ and akin to ‘bloodsports’. This adaptation suggests he had elicited from this incandescent cast something akin to hooking up an amphetamine charged abattoir to the National Grid. From the outset, the text is complex, dense and demanding.…
Writer: Samson Hawkins Director: Jesse Jones Top Gs Like Me arrives at the Royal and Derngate at a very appropriate time. The play tackles one of the most discussed cultural anxieties of the moment: how people – and in particular young people – absorb identity from an internet that is constant and increasingly ideological. The plot follows Aidan and his friendship group as they navigate the language, attitudes and hierarchies of online masculinity culture. Influencer figures loom large, shaping how the young people speak, joke and measure themselves against one another. In some ways, this piece builds on Samson Hawkins’…
Book: Joe Penhall Music and Lyrics: Ray Davies Director: Edward Hall This is not only a Sunny Afternoon, but sunny, superb, soul-lifting entertainment. Remember The Kinks? They were one of the original British bands that formed part of the British Music Invasion in the 1960s, alongside The Beatles and The Who. This Olivier Award-winning jukebox musical is an absolute delight: from the music itself, which of course is brilliant and expertly performed, to the story of four young working-class, socialist young lads from north London who conquer Madison Square Garden in New York. The individual performances are magnificent: from Danny…