Tambo and Bones
It is rare these days that I go to the theatre to see a play or show that I know so little about, however Tambo and Bones was an intriguing mystery to me. I was promised a journey lasting 500 years with a minstrel show and hip hop with surprises along the way.
Picture You Dead: Darkness And Deception In The Art Underworld
Laying bare the criminality of the fine art underworld and the spurious characters who inhabit it, there was no mistaking that foul play was afoot from the outset. As blood oozed from the Picture You Dead curtain backdrop, the voice of author Peter James himself warned of the dire consequences of keeping your phones on during the performance.
Tiger Country By Nina Raine
York Actors Collective is heading into Tiger Country for its next production at Theatre@41 Monkgate in York. The title of this doctors and nurses drama refers to a term used in surgery – when a surgeon operates near a big blood vessel they’re in dangerous territory and might warn the team: ‘Careful, you’re approaching tiger country’.
Godber’s Homage To Northern Soul Comes To Scarborough
John Godber is the dramatic gift that keeps on giving. If it’s got his name on it you know what to expect, something endlessly funny, always breaking new ground, yet ever demotic, disturbing and heartwarming. In Do I Love You? he returns to the music of his 1970s’ youth, Northern Soul, and indeed the play takes its name from a classic track of that genre.
Debbie Joins The Military Wives
Writer and director Debbie Isitt admits that the new musical Military Wives – which has its world premiere at York Theatre Royal in September - is a slight departure from her past work but she’s not about to abandon her usual agenda. “I’m about making new work whether it’s on stage or film.
Sisters 360 Skating Into a Venue Near You
A lovely heartwarming tale of two stepsisters who follow their dreams even in the face of separation. Set in a simple but effective urban skatepark the story is one of following your dreams no matter what. But whilst simple on the face of it there are a number of sub plots that are introduced as we travel through the story.
Giving a voice to the unheard and overshadowed
The stage version of Khalistan Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner has proved one of theatre’s most successful touring productions in recent years. Now the author’s ‘spiritual sequel’ comes to Leeds Playhouse in Ursula Rani Sharma’s play A Thousand Splendid Suns from 28 May to 14 June.
Krapp’s Last Tape: York Theatre Royal
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As requested by the management, I sat on my hands to prevent them clapping ‘in order to enhance the audience experience’ as the house lights dimmed and the stage lights rose.
Red Ladder Local Brings Two Powerful Shows To Leeds
A thought-provoking show about a nuclear weapons treaty, and a poignant one-woman play set against the backdrop of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, are brought to Leeds next month by Red Ladder Local.
Northern Ballet's Jane Eyre: A Powerfully Emotive Interpretation of Brontë's Classic
From first reading Jane Eyre whilst at school, I have never tired of revisiting this well-loved classic, and this evening's interpretation by the Northern Ballet does not disappoint.
Rapturous, Appreciative Applause For The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe
On the opening night at the Grand Opera York, celebrating the 75th anniversary of C.S. Lewis's classic novel, we watched in awe and wonder as The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe came to life in this spectacular production, directly from the West End.
Be Prepared To Be Scared: Ghost Stories
As someone who shrieks and jumps out of their skin at the unexpected - to the abject embarrassment of their nearest and dearest - I approached reviewing Ghost Stories with trepidation. The magnificent almost two centuries old Newcastle Theatre Royal could not be a more appropriate venue for the spine-tinging show.
Paula Through The Ages
Don’t worry If you’re out and about in Hull and spot a familiar-looking woman trying to listen in to other people’s conversations. Paula Wilcox is not being nosey just researching the local accent for her latest stage role.
The Smartest Giant in Town
Breathing new life - An Inspector Calls
 and Alice Darling (Edna). Photo by Mark Douet.jpg)
J B Priestley’s well known and oft studied play, written in 1945 and set in or around 1912, tells the tale of a mysterious police inspector, who unexpectedly calls to interview the northern but well-to-do Birling family about the suicide of a young working-class woman, Eva Smith, who has died in hospital after drinking disinfectant.
Gary Stages A Comeback
Gary Oldman has made only a handful of appearances on stage in the last 40 years. Perhaps most notable was stepping on stage at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood to collect a best actor Oscar in 2018.
NE Theatre York Present Rodgers And Hammerstein’s Carousel
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NE Theatre York follow this month’s production of The Sound of Music with another stage musical classic - Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel. A fully-staged concert version with an 18-piece orchestra is being staged at Tempest Anderson Hall in Museum Gardens, York, from 5 to 7 June Rodgers and Hammerstein followed the success of Oklahoma!
The Story Forge Make Your Own Myth
There’s an old theatrical adage ‘never work with children or animals’ but someone doesn’t seem to have reminded the Rubbish Shakespeare Company and Silly History Boys of this as they took to the stage to perform in a theatre full of young people and grown-ups. What ensued was just over an hour of madcap fun for all ages.
Dear Evan Hansen - Something Different
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A musical about suicide and teenage social anxiety doesn’t sound to be the most uplifting of topics for an evening at the theatre, but I would urge you all to give it a go as Dear Evan Hansen is one of the most profound and moving musicals I have seen in a long time.
The Picture Of Dorian Gray
Andrew Liddle sees a stunning production at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre This is the best theatre of its kind this critic has seen in a long time. It is a compelling, thrilling, super smart crystallisation of Oscar Wilde’s only novel, synthesising so many dramatic motifs of the physical and the melodramatic.
Matthew Xia Chats About Tambo & Bones
 Director Matthew Xia and Daniel Ward (Bones) . Photo by Korey J Ryan.jpeg)
If you’re watching Tambo & Bones for the very first time theatre director Matthew Xia advises the following: “You’ve got to strap in, go on the ride, get off at the end and ask ‘what does that mean?’.” Once might not be enough. “One thing I’ve learned about this show is that it really does benefit from a second watch, or even a third in some cases.
The Curious Incident Of The Dog
Based on the multi-million selling novel by Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time follows fifteen-year-old Christopher Boone – a neurodivergent boy who, after falling under suspicion of killing his neighbour’s dog, makes it his mission to track down the real culprit.
An Unmissable Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less) At The SJT
This crazy, quasi, quondam Love’s Labour's Lost, currently showing at Scarborough’s SJT, is guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. The laughter turned to near hysteria in the second half and the applause grew ever more vociferous. People were standing on the back rows, waving their arms in the air.
& Juliet What If? Life After Romeo
My previous experiences of juke box musicals, and this is definitely a juke box musical, are that they are just an excuse to showcase a number of songs around a questionable story line, but & Juliet is different. Yes, it is a celebration of Max Martin’s music, but it is also a clever twist on a Shakesperean classic that introduces Shakespeare to a new generation.
The playwright bringing African stories to life
Tayo Aluko is a Nigerian-born writer, singer, actor, and producer based in Liverpool. Coleridge-Taylor of Freetown – A concert in a play, written and performed by Tayo, tells the story of George Coleridge-Taylor, a retired Sierra Leonean diplomat, caught up in the civil war in Sierra Leone in 1999.
Mouth Music For All The Family
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International non-binary beatbox star SK Shlomo has collaborated with Bjork, Ed Sheeran and Gorillaz, toured the world and performed on main stages at festivals like Glastonbury. And now they’re back on tour with their 5-star sell-out show Shlomo's Beatbox Adventure for Kids. We caught up with the mouth-musician to find out more. Hi Shlomo!
NOW That's What I Call A Musical
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The 1980s were a time of shell suits, Rubik's cubes, dodgy haircuts, and great music—a period in time that has influenced this new show, NOW That's What I Call A Musical, written by award-winning comedian Pippa Evans with direction and choreography by Craig Revel Horwood. This musical comedy evokes a sense of nostalgia by transporting the audience to a simpler era.
Marley The Musical Messiah
Somehow Bob Marley had a Messianic quality and to this day – 45 years on from when he was claimed by cancer in 1981 - Jamaica’s first son still has a devoted following of reggae disciples. And, last night, they were out in their droves at Bradford’s Alhambra to see Legend – The Music of Bob Marley.
Emma Rice Chats About Adapting North By Northwest For The Stage
Emma Rice is no stranger to turning a movie into a stage production. But her latest project North by Northwest, based on the classic Alfred Hitchcock screen thriller, is different. For starters it’s a rare example of a project that came to her. “I was offered the chance to work on it and jumped at the chance,” she recalls. “It’s such an honour to work on a Hitchcock movie.
In Conversation With Elizabeth Godber & Nick Lane
Elizabeth Godber and Nick Lane have ‘rewritten’ Shakespeare, giving it a modern twist in Love’s Labour’s Lost (more or less) at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough.