Tag Archives: Robert Pickavance

Writer: Jules Verne Adapter: Toby Hulse Director: Alexander Ferris Reviewer: Jay Nuttall There’s a split in the Leeds Playhouse ensemble! As their season draws to a close the female members are in rehearsal for Be My Baby whilst their male counterparts perform a lightning speed version of Jules Verne’s 1873 globe-trotting novel and race against the clock. With just four ...

Writer: William Shakespeare Director: Amy Leach Reviewer: Jay Nuttall The play is the thing in Amy Leach’s solid production of Hamlet, as Leeds Playhouse’s ensemble season continues in their pop-up space while the theatre continues redevelopment. This radically cut-down, easily digestible version of Shakespeare’s masterpiece places story first and foremost and injects a pace that can very often be the ...

Writer: David Greig Director: James Brining Reviewer: Jay Nuttall For the last couple of years, there hasn’t been a day gone by without Brexit being front page news. It is no surprise, therefore, that David Greig’s Europe is being staged by Leeds Playhouse as the UK’s departure from the European Union looms. A timely yet timeless play it has much ...

Writer: Jim Cartwright Director: Amy Leach Reviewer: Jay Nuttall It’s back to its roots for the Leeds Playhouse. While The Quarry and Courtyard theatres are closed for redevelopment for several months, the theatre is renamed from The West Yorkshire Playhouse to its original title of Leeds Playhouse and a new, repertory company of actors have been assembled – standard in ...

Writer: Roald Dahl Adapter: David Wood Director: Max Webster Reviewer: John Roberts Following on from their colourful and entertaining production of Roald Dahl's The Witches,  Leicester's Curve theatre alongside Kingston's Rose Theatre have joined forces to present this hideously grotesque, yet highly enjoyable tour of Dahl's deliciously disgusting duo. Under the direction of Max Webster, Dahl's dark tale is brought vividly ...

Writer: Roald Dahl Adaptor: David Wood Director: Max Webster Reviewer: Rosie Revell Leave reality behind at the door and join James for the adventure of a lifetime. James Henry Trotter (Chris Lew Kum Hoi) had the saddest life possible. His parents were eaten by a rhinoceros while shopping in London. He was then sent to live with his aunts Sponge ...

Writer: Nikolai Erdman Adaptor: Deborah McAndrew Director: Conrad Nelson Reviewer: David Noble [rating:4] There is something wonderful about seeing a performance that is knowingly verbose, that revels in its use of language and has a real grasp on the construction of dialogue. Enter: The Grand Gesture, Deborah McAndrew’s interpretation of Nikolai Erdman’s 1928 play The Suicide, a play written in ...

Writer: Kenneth Grahame Adapter: Alan Bennett Director: Gwenda Hughes Reviewer: James Garrington [rating:4.5] Toad, Ratty, Badger and Mole, adventures on the riverbank, escaping from prison dressed as a washerwoman and fighting the weasels; all of the elements of Kenneth Grahame’s classic tale are brought to life on the Crescent Theatre stage in this adaptation by Alan Bennett, which first appeared ...