Drama

Writer: Sarah Waters Adapted for the stage by: Hattie Naylor Director: Alastair Whatley Reviewer: Tom Ralphs The desire to turn every successful book by every successful author into a film, TV series or stage play is arguably as much about milking a franchise than it is about bringing the writer or the writing to a new audience. While it can ...

Writer: Isobel McArthur from the book by Jane Austen Director: Paul Brotherston Reviewer: Katie Burchett It is a truth universally acknowledged, that every Jane Austen novel adapted for the stage must include karaoke. Or if it wasn’t before, it should be now, thanks to Tron Theatre Company’s all-female co-production of Pride and Prejudice*(*sort of).  Raucous and vibrant, Isobel McArthur’s adaptation ...

Writer: Paul David Young Director: Evan Yionoulis Reviewer: Carrie Lee O’Dell Watching a parent age is difficult, especially if their memories are unreliable. Add a contentious past to the mix and it’s hard not to let frustration boil over into anger. An aging mother unloading a decades-old secret that challenges all that her adult son knows to be true about ...

Writer: Danusia Samal Director: Tanuja Amarasuriya Reviewer: Richard Maguire Consistently championing new writing, Theatre503 is a springboard for many young playwrights and over the years the theatre has produced a number of brilliant plays. Out of Sorts, its latest offering, is one of the best for some time. Danusia Samal’s play follows two days in the life of Zara, the ...

Writer: Miles Tredinnick Director: Barnaby Eaton-Jones Reviewer: Scott Matthewman The original television version of Up Pompeii, which after a 1969 Comedy Playhouse pilot consisted of just 13 episodes in 1970, has lasted in the British comedy psyche to this day. It s enduring appeal is down almost entirely to Frankie Howerd’s performance of Lurcio, the idle slave around whom all ...

Writer: Jamie Hale (Not Dying) Directors: Kate O’Donnell (Not Dying), Shereen Hamilton (Showcase) Reviewer: Scott Matthewman Jamie Hale’s health is the focus of his spoken-word piece Not Dying, which forms the first half of the Barbican’s latest Pit Party, evenings of curated art and theatre. Hale’s progressive disability means they are dependent on a 170kg powered wheelchair and hoists. Their ...

Writer: Hassan Mahamdallie Directors:  Evie Manning and Rhiannon White Reviewer: Rich Jevons Common Wealth produce site specific theatre and are based in Bradford and Cardiff. They have an impressive roster of previous work including Radical Acts, We're Still Here, No Guts, No Heart, and Our Glass House.  I Have Met the Enemy is directed by Evie Manning and Rhiannon White ...

Writer:  Martin McDonagh Director: Mark Babych Designer: Sara Perks Reviewer: Ron Simpson The Beauty Queen of Leenane is the first, and best known, of a trilogy of plays set in Leenane in Connemara and written in the 1990s. Since then Martin McDonagh has made his name even further West with such films as Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. As revealed ...