Theatre is back and getting stronger! Thank you to everyone who has committed so much to mounting productions, online and offline, during these unprecedented times. The Mates are with you! If we can help promote your project, give us a shout!
MyTheatreMates is a portal for independent theatre bloggers in London and around the UK. We have dozens of bloggers whose sites and content are regularly featured here. Find out more about all our Mates and access their posts.
Terri Paddock co-founded MyTheatreMates in 2015 with the help of leading theatre critic and industry commentator Mark Shenton, a mate for life! Find out more about the original ethos behind the website.
Featured shows
NEWS: Guinea Pigs premiere marks 70th anniversary of first British nuclear detonation
25th September 2022Guinea Pigs, a new play that shines a light on Britain's decades-long nuclear testing cover-up, written by the daughter of a test veteran, premieres next month at London's The Space, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of Operation Hurricane, Britain's first nuclear… .. Read more
‘Harold Shipman was my GP for four years’: Writer & performer Edwin Flay on depicting the serial killer in The Quality of Mercy
24th September 2022The Quality of Mercy, a new one-man play about notorious British serial killer Harold Shipman, premieres at London's Courtyard Theatre this month. Taking a break from rehearsals, writer and performer Edwin Flay told us more about his very personal family connection to Shipman's crimes. Time… .. Read more
Other recent articles
New post-show Q&A: Philip Ridley’s The Poltergeist goes from online to the Arcola Theatre & Terri Paddock is on hand to find out more
26th September 2022After post-show Q&As for Tonight with Donnie Darko, Vincent River, Angry and Tender Napalm, I’m delighted to be invited to chair another discussion with Philip Ridley, one of the UK’s greatest and most innovative living playwrights. This time for the… .. Read more
‘Powerfully switches between the personal & the public’: FOR A PALESTINIAN – Camden People’s Theatre
26th September 2022Camden People’s Theatre, London – until 1 October 2022, then at Bristol Old Vic from 13-16 October 2022 Identity is the sum of the stories we tell ourselves. Some of these are personal, and some political. Sometimes they blend, sometimes clash.… .. Read more
‘There is a good play somewhere in here’: THE SNAIL HOUSE – Hampstead Theatre
25th September 2022Hampstead Theatre, London – 15 October 2022 The set (by Tim Hatley) is absolutely beautiful in this much anticipated, new original play from celebrated theatre director Richard Eyre, giving a sense of occasion and opulence. Portraits look on in the private… .. Read more
‘You will still jump out of your seat’: 2:22 – A GHOST STORY – Criterion Theatre ★★★★
25th September 2022Criterion Theatre – until 8 January 2023 Guest reviewer: Claire Roderick Danny Robins’ nerve-jangling ghost story never fails to make me jump, even on my third viewing. While Jenny’s husband Sam was away, terrifying things began happening at 2:22 each morning,… .. Read more
‘Highly watchable comedy drama’: BRIGHT HALF LIFE – King’s Head Theatre ★★★
24th September 2022King’s Head Theatre, London – until 1 October 2022 Watching Tanya Barfield’s bittersweet two hander, receiving its UK premiere here following an Off-Broadway run and a couple of American regional productions, it reminded me that last year’s critically lauded West End… .. Read more
‘Couldn’t be more topical’: EUREKA DAY – Old Vic Theatre ★★★★★
24th September 2022Old Vic Theatre, London – until 31 October 2022 In a beanbagged, bright-coloured primary school in Berkeley, California, its executive committee of five seek consensus over reclassifying the drop-down menu for applicants. Is “transracial adoptee” as important a definition as… .. Read more
‘I was hooked from the first number’: Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch – Touring ★★★★★
23rd September 2022Touring – reviewed at MAST Mayflower Studios, Southampton It’s rare as a reviewer to be invited to a tour of the theatre as part of your invitation package. Before watching Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch a group… .. Read more
‘Experience it if you can’: ROSE – Park Theatre
23rd September 2022Park Theatre, London – until 15 October 2022 September 2020 and the pandemic was quietly raging. So too was Maureen Lipman in Hope Mill Theatre’s online production of Martin Sherman’s intense monologue Rose; her performance was routinely recognised as a tour… .. Read more
‘Powerful without being sentimental’: THE APOLOGY – Arcola Theatre
22nd September 2022Arcola Theatre, London – until 8 October 2022 It always takes one lone voice, someone brave enough to stand up and speak about what happened to them. Soon, others will follow inspired by that first individual and that is how… .. Read more
‘Dialogue whizzes back & forth like leather on willow’: STUMPED – Original Theatre (Online show)
22nd September 2022When in 1964 Samuel Beckett (Stephen Tompkinson) and Harold Pinter (Andrew Lancel) play in the same cricket match in the Cotswolds, you might expect something out of the ordinary. Filmed live at Lord’s, the ‘home of cricket’, Stumped imagines what… .. Read more