Central Reviews

Writer: Timberlake Wertenbaker Director: Fiona Buffini Reviewer: John Kennedy Looking for possibly the definitive antecedent of The Dirty Dozen trope? The maverick junior officer who puts his career on the line to take on a disparate, desperate cohort of the meanest scum on the planet and, up against all the odds, the disbelief of his seniors, and especially said scum ...

Writer: Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton Director: Ellie Jones Reviewer: Selwyn Knight Serge, Marc and Yvan are three Parisian men, friends for many years. Serge, according to Marc’s introduction, is ‘REALLY KEEN on art.’ Indeed, Serge is keen on anything modern and new; Marc, on the other hand, sees himself as rather more down-to-earth. Yvan is in crisis with an impending ...

Conductor: Guy Barker Reviewer: Selwyn Knight With a wry smile, Clare Teal explains that this concert, First Ladies of Swing, has been two years in the planning.  Since its genesis, there was the Swing Jazz Prom in 2017 that featured tonight’s guest vocalists – all of whom are male. Later, conductor Guy Barker leads a tribute that he arranged to ‘that ...

Writers: Michael Gyngell and Mark Haddigan from the screenplay  by  Ronald Cass and Peter Myers  Director: Racky Plews Reviewer: Maggie Constable At Milton Keynes theatre this week we dive on that red bus for a trip across Europe with Summer Holiday, the musical based on the iconic 60s movie of the same name which starred Cliff Richard and The Shadows. Featuring ...

Royal and Derngate and The Core at Corby Chief Executive, Martin Sutherland, will leave his role and head up the Coventry City of Culture 2021 team, it was announced today, 16 May 2018.  Having joined the Royal & Derngate, who have phenomenal respect both regionally and nationally, ten years ago, Sutherland has been an integral part in overseeing the development ...

Creator and Director: Calixto Bieito Reviewer: Selwyn Knight Creator and Director, Calixto Bieito, says that he has suffered from an anxiety disorder since childhood but didn’t know until 20 years ago, explaining the choice of subject matter in The String Quartet’s Guide to Sex and Anxiety. In creating the piece, he’s taken writing from a range of writers from Robert ...

Librettist: Glyn Maxwell Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Director: Valentina Ceschi Reviewer: James Garrington Opera Up Close may have moved on from their roots performing in tiny pub theatres, but that doesn’t mean that they’ve distanced themselves from their audience. They pride themselves on producing accessible new versions of classic opera, and The Magic Flute is certainly no exception. Forget any ideas you ...

Writer: In-Sook Chappell Director: Jennifer Tang Reviewer: James Garrington There is a Chinese story about a man who decided to build a road even though there were two mountains in his way. When people pointed out that he would be unable to level the mountains in his lifetime, replied that he can’t, but after him there’ll be his children, and his children’s ...