Author: The Reviews Hub - Scotland

Conception: Lou Wakefield & Carol Hayman Adaptation: Jonathan Harvey Director: Joanna Reid Before the world had ‘frenemies’, we had Ladies of Letters – a benchmark of the finest passive-aggressive tactics the nation is quite well known for. From radio play to ITV hit, Lou Wakefield and Carol Hayman’s Ladies of Letters has remained a success throughout the years. And while the guise of the titular Ladies may change over the seasons and adaptations, a few things remain positively clear – the animosity, the one-upmanship, the humour, and tenderness which ripples through the chaos. This time, a chance meeting under the table at her daughter’s…

Music and Lyrics: Cole Porter New Book: Timothy Crouse and John Weidman Director and Choreographer:  Kathleen Marshall  All aboard folks – we’ve been through a lot, and perhaps the antidote we’re all looking for is a spot of seafaring adventure. Simple and clean, glitzy and glamourous, a traditional romantic tale with a flair for the dramatic and comedic, Anything Goes pulls into port at the Festival Theatre to a full house, and an eagerly awaiting audience complete with rubber rings and their armbands. But the crossing may not be as smooth as thought. Aboard this liner from the U.S to England…

Book: Chris D’Arienzo Arrangements and Orchestrations: Ethan Popp Director and Choreographer: Nick Winston Time to dig out the Jukebox list: Lovers? Check. Back catalogue of a specified genre’s finest? Check. Business Tycoon seeking to crush dreams? Ja. A flamboyantly fabulous narrator? You bet your ass. But is Rock of Ages more than that? Is it really the Mamma Mia for the dads some think it to be? Well, appearances can be deceptive. And for all the glory of the Sunset Strip the show pledges, there’s a dream for everyone down at the famous Bourbon Room. But dreams are made for changing – they’re funny little things,…

Writer: Caroline Bird Director: Wils Wilson Red Ellen, Labour MP who staunchly opposed the party’s luke-warm indifference to the Führer’s rise in Germany at the dawn of WWII, is traditionally associated with her March for Jobs for Jarrow, Bird channels a specific side of Wilkinson for the production; the woman who makes her mark as an outsider, compromising for the opportunities of power, burning at both ends to face every injustice she can. Chartering the endless campaigns of a woman at the heart of it all; saving Jewish refugees, Challenging Westminster’s grip, campaigning for British intervention to fight Spanish Fascists, engaging…

Writer: Agatha Christie Adaptation: Leslie Darbon Director:  Michael Lunney Not quite reaching the monumental feat of Christie’s juggernaut of the Westend, The Mousetrap, A Murder is Announced continues its tour originating from 2015 by Middle Ground Theatre – still an impressive feat for the production, and an evident cry at the nation’s continued passion for their favourite topic, Murder. In the local Gazette, a murder is quite literally announced as the personal advertisements reveal the intentions of a killer – to take the life of an inhabitant of the village, on a specific date at 6.30pm, at the home of Letitia Paddocks. Most…

Based on the screenplay by: Betty Comden and Adolph Green Music & Lyrics: Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed Director: Jonathan Church The studio era, a Golden time for Hollywood’s finest performers and a haven of films which continue to stand the test of time, an era long soaked in nostalgia, for better or worse, and revered those in the biz. To imagine that even in the fifties, with the release of the now genre-defining Singin’ in The Rain, tribute was already setting the time in stone, with Gene Kelly’s now-iconic number under all those tonnes and tonnes of watery…

Adaptation: Chris Bush Lyrics: Chris Bush and Miranda Cooper Music: Miranda Cooper and Jennifer DeCilveo Director: Amy Hodge Anne Frank, Joan of Arc, Malala Yousafzai, Emeline Pankhurst, Rosa Parks, and Miss Piggy: Women you have heard of who have changed the world. Martha Gellhorn, Alexandra David-Néel, Bobby Gibb, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, and Rosalind Franklin: Women who you may not have heard of who have changed the world. Time to change that. Left behind by her school on a museum field trip, Jade (Kudzai Mangombe) feels a sense of loss – magnified by her parent’s divorce, nothing seems to be going…

Choreography & Direction: David Nixon OBE Music: Sir Richard Rodney Bennett OBE The glint of green light across the waterfront – a spectre of hope, curiosity, and the nightmare of A-Level English students up and down the country. F.Scott Fitzgerald’s novel of concealment and life-balancing ironies is the perfect ballet in waiting, with its opulent decor the idealistic. And even the most fleetingly familiar with the work of David Nixon’s time at Northern Ballet will know that narrative-based productions are the lifeblood of the company’s repertoire, so there’s a complete understanding of what tempted Nixon towards The Great Gatsby – framing…