Central Reviews

Writer: Michael Harrison and Alan McHugh, from the book by J.M Barrie Director: Michael Harrison Reviewer: James Garrington It’s panto time in Birmingham and flying in this year is Peter Pan – and it’s the best panto the Hippodrome has seen in many years. We know the costumes and the sets will be spectacular, that it will have stunning effects and ...

Writers: Olivia Jacobs and Toby Mitchell  from the novella by Oscar Wilde Director: Olivia Jacobs and Toby Mitchell  Reviewer: Selwyn Knight Sir Simon de Canterville is having a hard time of it. Everyone wrongly believes he bludgeoned his beloved wife to death based on some flimsy evidence involving a bloodstained tablecloth. Even worse, he’s been dead for 300 years and unable ...

Writer: Alan McHugh Director: Ian Talbot Reviewer: Maggie Constable If you are fancying a fun foray into the forest, Sherwood in fact, there is no better place to be than Milton Keynes Theatre for the next month or so. It’s time to don those green tights and join in the adventures of Robin Hood, starring family-favourite actor Shane Richie in ...

Writer: Alan McHugh Director: Ian Adams Reviewer: Clare White Wolverhampton Grand Theatre’s festive family offering is a sparkling affair enjoyed by an audience of all ages. The pantomime production is a madcap farce delivered in the best British tradition and full of laughs - and let’s face it, we could do with a few of those. When Princess Beauty pricks ...

Writer: Nick Walker Director: Katy Stephens Reviewer: Nicole Craft ‘Please be reassured that tonight we will not be rationing the jokes!’ This is the promise on the flyer for this year’s ‘alternative pantomime’ offering from Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre which, over the last six years, has made the ‘anti-panto’ a recurring event in its festive calendar. Some of the previous efforts ...

Writer: L. Frank Baum Music and Lyrics: Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg Director: Liam Steel Reviewer: Selwyn Knight The REP describes this production as a ‘bold yet faithful reimagining’ of the world created by L Frank Baum and forever cemented in our heads by the iconic MGM film. And the blurb does not lie – the story and the songs ...

Book: Joe Kinosian and Kellen Blair Music: Joe Kinosian Lyrics: Kellen Blair  Director: Luke Sheppard Reviewer: James Garrington The tale of the country-house murder has been around for a long time, and Murder for Two is another incarnation of the concept, but with a few twists along the way. It’s the same basic concept, though, and builds on the sort of thing ...

Book and Lyrics: Robyn Grant and Daniel Elliot Music: James Ringer-Beck Director: Cat Robey Reviewer: James Garrington It’s a tale as old as time, yet in the hands of Fat Rascal Theatre, it is also pretty contemporary. Their take on the tale is different, but most of it has more than a slight ring of familiarity for most of the audience. Gender-swap ...