Central Reviews

Writer: Amanda Whittington Directors: Jason Capewell and Alasdair Harvey Reviewer: Selwyn Knight Four disparate and apparently breezy ladies escape their humdrum lives in a fish packing company for a day, celebrating Pearl’s retirement by having a day at the races. During their day away, we find each has hidden depths as secrets are revealed. For each, the day is a turning ...

Writer: Jennifer Farmer (City Final),   Directors: Leon Phillips, Naomi Wood, Paul O’Donnell, Reena Jaisiah, Claire Proctor, Natalie Russo (City Final), Oliver Scott (Retold) Choreographer: Olver Scott (Retold) Reviewer: Selwyn Knight The 1950s was a big decade in Coventry’s history. Much of the city, including its historic St Michael’s Cathedral, most of its industrial capacity and over 4000 homes, was flattened in ...

Book: Dennis Kelly, from the book by Roald Dahl Music and Lyrics: Tim Minchin Director: Matthew Warchus Reviewer: Selwyn Knight Matilda Wormwood is a precocious, intelligent, imaginative and resilient girl with a strong sense of what is right.  By the age of five, she has taught herself the three Rs and has read many of the classics. Yet in a world where ...

Book, Music and Lyrics: Sam Kenyon Director: Erica Whyman Reviewer: James Garrington “We know about so many unremarkable men and so few remarkable women”. So says Joan Littlewood in this production, in a clear reference to herself – because for many outside the world of theatre, the name Joan Littlewood may not mean very much at all. Working during the mid-20th century, ...

Writers: Agatha Christie and Frank Vosper Director: Lucy Bailey Reviewer: Maggie Constable Prepare to be on the edge of your seat at Milton Keynes Theatre this week with Lucy Bailey’s brand new production of Agatha Christie’s Love From A Stranger. Christie originally wrote this in 1924 as a short story, Philomel Cottage, but then re-wrote it for the stage some ...

Book: Peter Stone Music and Lyrics: Maury Yeston Director: Thom Sutherland Reviewer: James Garrington Is it possible to create tension in a show where everyone in the audience knows the plot and knows how it ends? Not easily you may think, but that is exactly what Maury Yeston and Peter Stone have achieved with Titanic – The Musical. The show tells ...

Writer: Philip Goulding from the book by Compton MacKenzie Director: Kevin Shaw Reviewer: Selwyn Knight The programme notes for Whisky Galore tell us about a troupe of strolling players, The Osiris Players, which was an all-female theatre group touring adaptations of the classics to schools and other community spaces. Formed in the mid-1920s, the women-only rule might have been caused ...

Writer: William Shakespeare, adapted by Andy Barrow Director: Andy Barrow Reviewer: James Garrington Since it was established 29 years ago, Oddsocks has become famous for its unusual and comic versions of the classic Shakespeare plays – often to some acclaim. This year, alongside a rerun of last year’s Romeo and Juliet, we have a new production of The Tempest. It ...