Author: The Reviews Hub - Yorkshire & North East

Writer: Reginald Rose Director: Christopher Haydon If you put twelve men in a room, give them the responsibility of deciding whether another man lives or dies, and then take away the option of simply agreeing to disagree, it is unlikely to unfold as a quiet conversation. Twelve Angry Men instead is a tense, absorbing and at times surprisingly funny play, demonstrating how twelve very different personalities can clash over the evidence in front of them. The courtroom drama may be familiar to those having seen the 1957 black and white MGM film starring Henry Fonda, or one of the West…

Following a critically acclaimed run at Soho Theatre in 2024, Bright Places is touring the UK. This is a joyous and life-affirming about coming to terms with being diagnoses with multiple sclerosis (MS). We spoke to writer Rae Mainwaring about the play and her experiences of living with MS. What is Bright Places about and what inspired you to write this play? “The play is a riotous autobiographical play about growing up in the shadow of a life changing diagnosis. I was inspired by the lack of representation on stage and screen. Chronic illness was portrayed as incredibly negative, reductive, almost pitying. I wanted…

Full casting has been announced for the new stage adaptation of the Victoria Wood sitcom dinnerladies. Commissioned by the Victoria Wood Estate, in association with Phil McIntyre Live and Sustainable Entertainment, the show will embark on a major UK tour in 2027. As previously announced, Les Dennis stars as maintenance man Stan. He is joined by Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver as Jean and Eastenders favourite Karen Henthorn as Dolly. Amy Drake will play Bren, the iconic role that Victoria Wood embodied on screen. Also in the show are: Gemma Dobson as Twinkle; Faye Weerasinghe as Anita; Jimmy Fairhurst as Tony; Josie Brightwell as Petula;…

Introduced as “half Spanish, half Welsh, all funny”, Ignacio Lopez has over recent years established himself beyond the comedy club circuit with appearances on Live at the Apollo, various panel shows and several TV projects of his own. His Mediterranean good looks and thick Spanish accent belie a quick wit, a talent for sharp observational comedy and a very British sarcasm. His new tour, Nada, has been on the road for a while and will continue until the end of 2026, with his stop at The Stand in Newcastle a very welcome visit to a packed venue of (mainly) Geordies…

Composer/Librettist/Director: Nwando Ebizie This is probably the strangest theatrical/operatic event your reviewer has witnessed: genre-defying, immersive, often more ritual than opera, it is described as “a mystery opera”, but that is mystery as in mystery plays. Nwando Ebizie’s libretto is based on the medieval mystery play, Ordo Virtutum, by the mystic, writer and composer Hildegard of Bingen. The work has been a long time in bringing to a successful conclusion as Ebizie and her collective of performers and support team have been working on it since her 2018 residency with Opera North. Now it has been brought to fruition with…

Writer and choreographer: Anthony Lo Guidice In a week when England hit the headlines thanks to Suella Braverman’s ham-fisted attempts to gatekeep nationality and identity, Se Gæst / The Guest provides a more satisfying exploration of culture and country. An outwardly simple tale sees an amphibian child washed ashore in a storm to be greeted with bafflement, suspicion, acclaim, hatred and forbidden desire. This is a richer brew than political posturing: England emerges in shards and fragments; a text drawn from ideas that came out of hours of workshops and dialogues with community groups across the country. The effect is…

Based on the Book by Robert Tressell  Writer: Stephen Lowe Director: Mark Dornford-May  Following their superb Hamlet earlier this year, Ensemble ’84 has chosen a lesser-known work for their sophomore production in their new venue. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists was written in 1914 by Irish house painter Robert Noonan under the pseudonym Robert Tressell. Published posthumously, the book is a semi-autobiographical narrative that mainly focuses on the divide between the lower classes living in poverty, and the upper classes who exploit them for their own gain. This mirrors the rise of socialism at the time as well as the recent formation…

Creators: Tim Etchells, Richard Lowdon, Claire Marshall, Terry O’Connor Director: Tim Etchells There are nights at the theatre when you settle into your seat knowing roughly what the next couple of hours will bring. Cold Sweat is not one of those nights. Created by Forced Entertainment, Cold Sweat is a contemporary theatre work with original text and sound by the group’s artistic director Tim Etchells. Building on the lip-syncing approach used in their 2024 production Signal to Noise, three performers lip-sync to AI-generated American voices layered with looping music and sound. There isn’t a conventional story to follow. Instead, fragments…