Drama

Writers: John Kirkpatrick and Neil Gore Director: Louise Townsend Reviewer: Claire Hayes Today’s gig economy may feel like a modern invention, but it shares its heritage with the piece-workers of the early 20th Century, toiling away beneath the breadline with none of the rights bestowed on regularised employees. Townsend Theatre’s latest production brings this connection into sharp relief, by focusing ...

Writer: Cora Bisset Director: Orla O’Loughlin Reviewer: Dominic Corr Can you smell the chippy? Visualise the iconic image of Patti Smith’s ‘looks could kill’ photo? What about the stale sweat of a grunge bands’ van? Well, after Scottish theatrical wonder Cora Bisset’s autobiographical gig What Girls Are Made Of you’ll have no issues doing so. The multi-layered performance sees Bisset’s ...

 Writer: Jules Verne Adaptor: Laura Eason Director: Theresa Heskins Reviewer: Tate James With mathematical precision, Phileas Fogg winds his way about the world, hopping from train to boat to elephant in Jules Verne’s 1873 novel; and it is with the same mathematical precision that this exceptional adaptation by Laura Eason bounds across the stage, dragging its willing audience across continents ...

Director/Choreographer: Matthew Bourne Music: Tchaikovsky Reviewer: Alex Ramon When Matthew Bourne collected his well-deserved Special Award at the Olivier ceremony two weeks ago, the prize was in recognition of a body of work that's not only significantly raised the profile of British dance but also helped to completely transform it as an art form. Principal among the productions that have ...

Writer: Charlotte Keatley Director: Michael Cabot Reviewer: Steve Turner Writer Charlotte Keatley once observed “our memories aren’t chronological. The order is dictated by what you need to tell”. Keatley uses this maxim to great effect in her oft-revived, much performed and translated play which follows 60 years in the lives of the women of a Lancashire family. Played out on ...

Writer: Christopher Bond, Dale Boyer and Trevor Martin Director: Benji Sperring Reviewer: Mike WellsThe title alone is enough to excite any horror movie aficionado. The original Night of the Living Dead™vmight be over 60 years old now, but five sequels and two remakes later, it’s legacy as an icon of the genre is as strong as ever. It redefined the ...

Writer: Joseph Conrad Adaptor: Andrew Quick and Pete Brooks Director: Pete Brooks Reviewer: Jim Gillespie This is not Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, although it would be improper not to give him a writer’s credit. It is also inaccurate to describe it as an adaptation, although much is made of the difficulties of adapting a Victorian novel about events in Africa ...

Writer: Mike Leigh Designer: Janet Bird Director: Sarah Esdaile Reviewer: Gareth Davies Mike Leigh's classic piece of retro social satire made a star of its original lead actress and remains one of the writer-director's best known and most recognised works. So ingrained are its late-seventies social symbols and pop culture references that it's all but impossible to remember that these ...