Tag Archives: Play

Writer: James Kettle Director:  Didi Hopkins & Selina Cadell Review: Matt Forrest Mary Poppins seems to be in the public conscience an awful lot at the moment. This is of course due to the recent cinematic release of Mary Poppins Returns, which is keeping the magic alive. However writer James Kettle is also doing his bit for the ‘Poppins’ legacy, all ...

Based on the book by Barry Reed Adapted for the stage by Margaret May Hobbs Director: Michael Lunney Reviewer: Mark Clegg Based on Barry Reed’s 1980 best-selling novel, this newly adapted version of The Verdict is the first time the story has been dramatized since the 1982 Paul Newman-starring movie. Featuring a failing, drunken lawyer finding a new lease of ...

Writer/Director: John Godber Designer: Graham Kirk Composer: Joey Firth Music Choreographer: Lynette Pickering Reviewer: Ron Simpson It’s over 40 years since the first version of Bouncers was staged at the Edinburgh Festival, some 35 years since, in its mature form, it set out on the road to international success. For a play that reflects the contemporary world so acutely, that’s ...

Writer: Rona Munro from an original storyline by Ian Rankin Director: Robin Lefevre Designer: Ti Green Reviewer: Lauren Humphreys It is a retired John Rebus who appears in his first stage outing, Long Shadows. Currently trying to keep off the cigarettes and booze, Ian Rankin’s best-selling and much-loved detective is living a very different life in his Edinburgh flat. Not ...

Writers: Ian Rankin and Rona Munro Director: Robin Lefevre Reviewer: Ruth Gerrard Ian Rankin has treated theatre audiences to a brand new outing for his much loved woebegone detective John Rebus (Charles Lawson). Now retired from the force; this new piece picks up an even more morose, shuffling older figure of a man now with more time on his hands to ...

Writer:  Ray Cooney Director: Marti Schep Reviewer: Matthew Forrest The undoubted king of the farce has been churning out classic British comedy theatre for well over 50 years. The actor and playwright has had 17 of his plays performed and must be considered ‘a national treasure’. Salford’s Barton Theatre Company have decided to undertake one of Cooney’s later offerings: Funny ...

Writers: Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields Director: Mark Bell Reviewer: Jim Gillespie Since winning the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 2015, The Play That Goes Wrong has become an international juggernaut, overwhelming audiences on a global scale. Sheffield’s beautiful Lyceum Theatre hosts the latest outing of this phenomenon, affording a fitting traditional space for this venture. Even ...

Writers: Agatha Christie & Frank Vosper Director: Lucy Bailey Designer: Mike Britton Lighting: Oliver Fenwick Sound Designer & Composer: Richard Hammarton Reviewer: Lauren Humphreys Adapted from a 1934 short story Philomel Cottage, Agatha Christie wrote an unperformed stage version of the same name which itself was re-written as Love From a Stranger by actor and playwright Frank Vosper in 1936. ...