Author: The Reviews Hub - Yorkshire & North East

Choreographer: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa Composer: Peter Salem Dramaturg: Clare Croft Gentleman Jack by Northern Ballet has been years in the making. It is a co-production with Finnish National Opera and Ballet. Its world premiere was performed in Leeds in March this year. Anne Lister, the heroine, is a complex character and exceptional for her time in the early 19h century. She was an astute business woman, had female lovers and went on to inherit Shibden Hall in Yorkshire. She was a prolific diarist and wrote in a self-made code from mathematics and Latin. If it was not for her diaries…

Director: Jonathan O’Boyle Music: Cy Coleman Lyrics: Michael Stewart Book: Mark Bramble Mere weeks after the Bristol opening of similarly themed The Greatest Showman, a musical adaptation of the film, Bradford welcomes the 2026 tour of the original flimflam musical, Barnum. Treading roughly the same path as the perhaps better-known film but first performed in 1980, Barnum presents the life story of famous American showman Phineas Taylor (PT) Barnum (played by Lee Mead). Set between 1835 when Barnum’s American Museum opened, and 1880 when the Barnum and Bailey Circus was formed, the audience are treated to a whistle-stop tour of…

Writer: Danny Robins Director: Matthew Dunster and Gabriel Vega Weissman 2:22 A Ghost Story opens to audience gasps, as Jenny (played by Shvorne Marks) abruptly appears onstage, serenely painting a door, halfway up a ladder. This is the first, and fortunately not the last of the shocks in store from the play, which effectively pulls out all the stops to shake up the audience. Jenny is painting because she has recently moved into this home with her stargazing but sceptical husband Sam (James Bye) and baby Phoebe, and will be hosting an old friend Lauren (Natalie Casey) and her new…

The latest in Kirklees Council and Opera North’s relaxed lunch-time concerts should have featured the Cellos of the Opera North Orchestra, but disappointment at its postponement to next season must surely have been dissipated by this excellent concert of works by Beethoven featuring violin, cello and piano played by Oliver Baily, Richard Jenkinson and David Cowan. The main work was the Piano Trio, Opus 97, known as the Archduke because of its dedication to Archduke Rudolph of Austria who studied with Beethoven for many years and supported him financially. Jenkinson, introducing the work, commented on its aristocratic stateliness. This is…

Writer: Paul Laverty Adaptor: Dave Johns Director: Mark Calvert Unfortunately, this play is just as moving in 2026 as the film was ten years ago. While the play’s realist performances, tragic structure and canny characterisation all serve to build up its emotional ending, the true power of I, Daniel Blake is in its relevance. Based on socialist director Ken Loach’s film, this production about food banks, benefits and desperate solidarity continues to bring audiences to tears. Daniel Blake (David Nellist) can’t work. He wants to, but for very understandable medical reasons, has to go through the benefits system instead. This…

Music: Igor Stravinsky Libretto: Jeremy Sams Director: Jack McNamara The Soldier’s Tale is a unique piece of performance art, developed by Stravinsky and his writer friend Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, in Switzerland in 1918. Struggling for funds during the war, they chose to adapt a Russian folk tale into a small-scale piece of travelling theatre. The story tells of a soldier who sells his violin, presumably representing his soul, to the devil for riches. It doesn’t take a genius to guess how that plays out. Seven musicians, two actors, two dancers and a narrator were the original performers, when it was first…

Story: Joe Brumm Music: Joff Bush Bluey’s Big Play is a joyful theatrical adaptation of the Emmy® award-winning children’s television series, masterfully bringing the beloved Heeler family from screen to stage with charm, colour and abundant laughter. Anchored by an original story from creator Joe Brumm, the production centres on a relatable and endearing premise: Dad (Bandit) seeks a peaceful Sunday afternoon nap, yet Bluey and Bingo have other plans. What ensues is a lively and inventive sequence of games aimed at coaxing him off the bean bag, much to the delight of audiences young and old. The production adeptly…

Composer: Ruggero Leoncavallo Conductor: Gerry Cornelius Director: Eleanor Burke It’s a mystery why some operas seem to fall victim to opera companies’ desire to produce something striking even if it means dismantling the whole dramatic basis of the opera, but Pagliacci seems to be a regular target these days. English Touring Opera’s production is ultimately overpowering, but the first 45 minutes or so seem to be dominated by perverse decisions. Pagliacci is one of the great operas of the verismo movement, realistic operas set within ordinary lives, frequently those of the working poor in Italian villages.  A group of travelling…