Author: The Reviews Hub - Yorkshire & North East

Writer and Director: Paul Hendy In the words of writer and director Paul Hendy, “The Last Laugh is my love letter to the golden age of British comedy”. It surely must be one of the most finely crafted love letters ever written. For a one-act play that features three of British comedy’s greatest – Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe, and Bob Monkhouse (well, actors portraying them) – you’d be forgiven for expecting something of a mere tribute act featuring some classic material, but this is so much more. The audience is not disappointed on that front, as the phenomenal cast delivers…

Full casting has been announced for the upcoming UK tour of Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of), written by Isobel McArthur after Jane Austen. McArthur will also direct the production. Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) is a unique and audacious retelling of the classic Jane Austen story, featuring pop classics including Young Hearts Run Free, Will You Love Me Tomorrow and and You’re So Vain. The cast for this tour includes: Georgia Firth, who returns to the show but this time in the role of Elizabeth Bennet; Eva Hope as Jane Bennet and Lady Catherine de Burgh; Roxanne Morgan as Mary Bennet, Lydia Bennet…

This autumn, Anthony Almeida will direct a new production of William Shakespeare’s Othello in a co-production between Northern Stage, HOME, the Citizens Theatre, and in association with Royal & Derngate. This new production reframes the play as a tragedy of assimilation, asking what do we become when belonging depends on performance. This staging will examine the everyday negotiations that hold communities together until they quietly begin to tear apart, relocating the action to Britain during the early 1980s against the backdrop of the Falklands War. Leading the cast in the titular role is Dwane Walcott, recently seen in the hit production of A…

Music and Lyrics: Dolly Parton Book: Patricia Resnick Director: Paul Jepson A satire on sexual politics in the workplace, 9 to 5 the movie was released in 1980 and was based on the work of a real-life organization for working women’s rights of the same name that was founded in the early 1970s. In the intervening five plus decades, sexual equality in the workplace has come a long way – although sadly nowhere near as far as it should have, meaning that this musical adaptation of the film (originally staged in 2008) still has a sharp bite even when the source of the comedy should have been muzzled years ago. However, putting…

Writer: Moira Buffini Director: Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder There seem to be a good few plays these days based on imaginary conversations between the great and the good, but a glance at the cast list shows Handbagged to be rather different. T and Q represent Margaret Thatcher and the Queen in later life (i.e. after Thatcher’s eviction from the Premiership); their younger selves are rather disrespectfully dubbed Mags and Liz; and Moira Buffini’s masterstroke comes with the creation of Actors 1 and 2, filling in all the other parts. These two actors are of a distinctly left-wing persuasion, arguing over events that…

Brand new Indie musical How Soon Is Now? is set to embark on a UK tour this autumn. The musical tells a story of mates, music and magic – finding your place and finding yourself. It celebrates Northern voices and features a live soundtrack of iconic 90s Indie anthems from the likes of The Stone Roses, Radiohead and The Smiths. The show captures the high and lows, darkness and light of a big night out on New Year’s Eve. Bethan McLean plays Jean, a Welsh outsider, is stuck in a life that feels too small. In a 90s nightclub in Manchester, Jean…

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s global sensation Cats is currently enjoying a summer season at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. The production will head out across the UK and Ireland on a major tour, produced by Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals. Initial casting for the tour has now been announced. The UK and Ireland tour cast will include: Fin Adams (Alonzo), Kalisha Amaris (Old Deuteronomy), Carla Bertran (Electra and Co-Dance Captain), Elliot Broadfoot (Bustopher Jones and Gus), Grace Burrows (Offstage Swing), Matthew Caputo (Skimbleshanks), Josie Chambers-Sims (Syllabub), Brianna Craig (Rumpleteazer), Katie Dunsden (Bombalurina), Joshua Samuel-Freeman (Tumblebrutus), Regan Garcia (Pouncival), Aaron Jenkins (Offstage…

This Christmas, the New Theatre Royal in Lincoln will present Beauty and the Beast as their annual family pantomime. The is Lincoln’s longest running pantomime and promises a classic yet revitalised story full of humour, heart and a talented company of actors, who have now been revealed. Olympic medallist and Strictly Come Dancing winner Louis Smith MBE returns to the New Theatre Royal Lincoln pantomime in the role of Flash Hugo. This marks his fourth pantomime at the theatre. Also returning is Lincoln’s dearest dame Alex Singh as Mrs Tallulah Potts. This year will be Singh’s fifth pantomime in Lincoln. Shane Tyler also returns…