Author: The Reviews Hub - Yorkshire & North East

In a new co-production between Leeds Playhouse, Birmingham Rep and Nottingham Playhouse, in association with Actors Touring Company, Small Island will come to audiences outside London for the first time. Directed by Olivier Award winning Matthew Xia, a talented company will take to the stage in Helen Edmundson’s adaptation of the novel by Andrea Levy. The full cast includes Anna Crichlow as Hortense; CBBC presenter and Strictly Come Dancing semi-finalist Rhys Stephenson in his professional theatre debut as Michael; Mark Arends as Bernard; musical theatre star Bronté Barbé as Queenie; Daniel Ward as Gilbert; Paul Hawkyard as Arthur; Rosemary Boyle as Mrs Ryder;…

Music: Irving Berlin Director: Kathleen Marshall Choreographer: Kathleen Marshall Originally written as a film starring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, featuring Irving Berlin’s Hollywood’s iconic songs, Top Hat the Musical is a spectacular depiction of the rich and famous in the nineteen thirties. It’s a tale of mistaken identity, involving Dale Tremont an attractive model, an ill-fated theatre producer Horace Hardwick and his American Broadway star Jerry Travers. Also in the mix is an Italian high couture fashion designer Alberto Beddini, Madge a domineering wife, a droll man-servant in disguise and an abundance of wonderful songs that include Puttin on…

The preshow publicity tells us to expect a night of ‘fun, frolics and frivolity’. Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show at the Sunderland Empire tonight was certainly that and more. This nostalgic show, which first opened in London in 1973, sends us back with a bang to 1950’s America. The cult following of this show was very much in evidence tonight, with many audience members dressed in basques, hats, fishnet tights and colourful feather boas, thus creating a party atmosphere prior to curtain up. There was much anticipation, as they gathered to take their seats, that this was going to be…

Sheffield Theatres have announced casting for the world premiere production of The Ladies Football Club by Stefano Massini and adapted by Tim Firth. The production is directed by Sheffield Theatres’ Artistic Director Elizabeth Newman with movement by Frantic Assembly’s Scott Graham. With its roots firmly set in Sheffield, this new play is a universal story brough to life by some of the leading forces in contemporary theatre. Joining Massini, Firth, Newman and Graham in the creative team are: Designer Grace Smart; Lighting Designer Ben Jacobs; Sound Designer Ella Wahlström; Video Designer Joe Ransom; Composers Ella Wahlström, Tim Firth and Steve Parry; Casting Director…

Writer: Susan Hill Adaptor: Stephen Mallatratt The Woman in Black at Grand Opera House York is still an effective and often tense piece of theatre, even if this touring production doesn’t fully live up to its reputation as a truly frightening experience. The play is framed around an older Arthur Kipps, revisiting a past event with the help of a professional actor. The opening section is deliberately staged as a rehearsal, which means the first part feels slightly slow as the scene is set and the play within a play narrative is made clear. The story he wishes to tell…

Choreographer: Carlos Acosta Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Arrangements: Pepe Gavilondo A fantastic, family-friendly and fun show. It’s Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, the story of a young girl whose Christmas gift of a toy nutcracker takes her on a flight of imagination to the Land of the Sweets, where wonderful confections of dance are performed just for her. Except… the music is reworked with Latin rhythms; the setting, style and colour schemes are Cuban not European; and the movement is a mix of elegant classic ballet and sultry Latin moves. Leave your expectations at the door and let yourself wallow in the…

Writers: John Cleese and Connie Booth Director: Caroline Jay Ranger Following a sold out West End run, Fawlty Towers: The Play continues a UK tour. What can you expect? Herds of wildebeests sweeping majestically across the plains? Sydney Opera House perhaps? Adapted for the stage by none other than John Cleese himself, the plot follows three fan-favourite episodes – The Hotel Inspector, Communication Problems and The Germans – and cleverly ties them together in an explosive finale. If you’re new to the fifty-year-old sitcom, check in at the dilapidated Fawlty Towers on the English Riviera. Surly hotelier Basil Fawlty isn’t…

Writer: Rachel Price Director: Paul Birch This zany one hour exploration of the Nativity story aimed particularly at the young certainly lives up to Riding Lights’ avowed policy of using the Christian faith to create entertaining performances. Jared More is the proprietor of the Bethlehem Inn and Spa and has received intimation that a “very special guest” will show up that night: it’s a family legend that this will happen when a star appears – and it has. He thinks this guest will be immediately obvious and repeats his qualities constantly. In the course of the play a Roman soldier,…