Author: The Reviews Hub - Yorkshire & North East

Original concept: Michelle Yim Michelle Yim has been performing her more-realistic-than-Disney version of the story of Mulan for some years and her assurance with the material is understandable, if still impressive. She is supported by co-producers Grist to the Mill and Red Dragonfly and puts on a polished, if small-scale, performance, with atmospheric sound and the original Chinese words periodically projected onto a screen behind her – the recital of them, mercifully, is in English! The story, an old Chinese legend, tells of a young woman who joins the imperial army because her father is ill, there is no one…

Writer and Director: Tom A. Wells The Departure – written over five years by Tom A. Wells, who also stars – although presented here as a Work in Progress is clearly in the latter stages of its development. Set in one room in a flat in London over the course of 80 minutes of real-time, the piece moves between comic beats, charged emotions, and tender connection seamlessly. Themes of loss, abandonment, mental health, parent-child relationships, nepotism and professional ambition are all linked through a meeting of two strangers and their ensuing conversation. Wells (playing Ross) and Harriet Chomley (playing Lily)…

Writer/Director: Philip Stokes Shellshocked began life as a success at Edinburgh Fringe and, after appearing at Leeds Playhouse, is now touring small, often ad hoc venues such as Queen’s Mill as part of Red Ladder’s Local programme. The production makes few demands on manpower –  playwright/director Philip Stokes, two actors and a technician called Tom – but the tiny acting platform is full of well-chosen furniture, notably a completely blank canvas, and the impact of the play is puzzlingly powerful, grabbing the attention of the sizeable audience. The later stages have their share of melodrama, though they also contain speeches that go…

Writers: Richard Goodale and David Goodale, after P.G. Wodehouse Director: Richard Avery East Riding Theatre celebrated the first night of their joyously inventive production based on P.G. Wodehouse’s The Code of the Woosters  by inviting all audience members to come in period dress for a fancy dress competition – strictly optional for everyone, including reviewers! Some splendid costumes – including a chap togged out in Bertie Wooster golfing gear – added to the jollity of the evening. The rather cumbersome title refers to the fact that the play is acted out by Jeeves and Wooster – aided by Aunt Dahlia’s butler…

The National Theatre’s acclaimed production of Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, adapted by Kendall Feaver and directed by Katy Rudd will embark on a major UK and Ireland tour, beginning in August 2027. In a crumbling house full of dinosaur bones and fossils, three adopted sisters – Pauline, Petrova and Posy – are learning who they are and discovering who they want to be. Under the watchful eyes and guidance of their new guardians and some unlikely lodgers, they fight to pursue their individual passions: but in a world that wasn’t built for women with big ambitions, can they forge a future,…

In 1984 this reviewer remembers the interval performance for the Eurovision Song Contest held in Ireland when Michael Flatley brought the spectacle of Riverdance to a new global audience. This Irish dancing brought him fame and he would be forever known for his incredible, breath-taking toe tapping. This short piece became a full length show. He went from this to create further master pieces including Lord of the Dance. It is 30 years ago that Lord of the Dance began its life and tonight at the Sunderland Empire a talented troupe of toe tapping dancers sweep onto the stage to…

This Christmas, the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough will present Puss in Boots which has been adapted for the stage by Nick Lane. The show will be directed by Paul Robinson and introduces audiences to Sam, the unluckiest kid in Scarbarocia. It’s not that he’s shy. It’s not that he’s allergic to almost everything. It’s not even that he lives in a draughty old mill with holes in the roof.  It’s that his mum has got to go away to look after his auntie and she might not get back for Christmas… leaving his sisters in charge. And they’re mean. To him… and…

Writer and Director: Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s 92nd play sees him back in the realm of futuristic science fiction. The Trial of Romeo Oscar makes the point that, whatever advances in science we make, such works as the plays of Shakespeare and the music of Tchaikovsky will still find a response in the human soul – or the android soul, if such a thing exists – for the other main point is to develop the android characters towards humanity. Ayckbourn is, to tell the truth, not wholly consistent: how is it that Hermione Quinque, waitress and aspiring actress, gets to act…