MyTheatreMates is a portal for independent theatre bloggers, run by Terri Paddock. We currently have over 45 bloggers whose sites and content are regularly featured and hundreds more guest bloggers. We love meeting new mates! Are you a champion of theatre? Do you regularly blog and tweet about it? Why not join us?
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 ethos behind the site. And join our mailing list.
Editor’s picks
Best of the Blogs: Uncle Vanya, The Welkin, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie & more
28th January 2020In our continuing series, our editor Lisa Martland picks out some of her Top Picks from the last week of theatre (to 26 January 2020), ranging from Maryam Philpott’s thoughts about Conor McPherson’s emphasis on comedy scenarios and personalities in his adaptation of Chekhov’s timeless play Uncle… .. Read more
WATCH Magic Goes Wrong post-show Q&A: What’s it like working with Penn & Teller… & JJ Abrams?
24th January 2020Abracadabra! As their weekly episodes of The Goes Wrong Show continue to delight television audiences, I was delighted to continue my series of Mischief Theatre post-show talks with a return to the Vaudeville Theatre to catch up with the company's… .. Read more
NEWS: Paul Merton will make his West End musical debut in Hairspray at the London Coliseum
24th January 2020Paul Merton, the popular comedian and star of BBC’s renowned programme Have I Got News For You – is to join the new production of Hairspray the Musical at the London Coliseum, making his West End musical debut as Wilbur Turnblad alongside Michael… .. Read more
NEWS: Shakespeare’s Globe announces its summer season 2020
23rd January 2020Shakespeare’s Globe’s summer season 2020 will include Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Antony & Cleopatra, a two-day event ‘Globe 4 Globe: Shakespeare and Climate Emergency’, a symposium ‘Shakespeare and Race’, a Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank production of Macbeth with 20,000 free… .. Read more
Featured shows
‘Eurovision, Cirque du Soleil & Las Vegas’: Costume designer Roberto Surace on Magic Goes Wrong & working with Mischief Theatre
29th January 2020Costumes play a key role in the success of Mischief Theatre and their latest hit comedy Magic Goes Wrong - so they always call on the designer they trust most. Costume designer Roberto Surace has worked on every single Mischief production… .. Read more
‘Working in strip clubs was never easy but it taught me a lot about the world’: Diane Herbert on her debut play Angels
29th January 2020Angels, premiering at VAULT Festival from 19 to 23 February 2020, will change your perceptions of women who turn to stripping for income. Former dancer Diane Herbert told us how her own experiences led to her playwriting debut. Have a read… .. Read more
WATCH: Hassan Abdulrazzak & transatlantic deportees discuss strains in The Special Relationshp
29th January 2020Huawei? Trump? Brexit? Are you worried about strains being put on the so-called "special relationship" between the UK and the US? Whatever your thoughts, Hassan Abdulrazzak's new play The Special Relationship will make you reassess... starting with these interviews with writer, director and three… .. Read more
PHOTOS & VIDEO: What can you expect from People Show 137? God Knows…
28th January 2020More than 50 years after they were founded in a Soho basement, the UK's longest-running alternative theatre company, People Show, bring their latest devised piece to London. What can you expect from? Check out production photos and show trailer for… .. Read more
NEWS: Fertility tale About 500 receives UK premiere at VAULT Festival
28th January 2020Simona Hughes' new play about eggs, time and the cruel lack of both, About 500, will premiere as part of London's Vault Festival later this spring. Time to book your tickets! The drama, which Hughes also directs, runs at The… .. Read more
NEWS: Old Red Lion stages first revival of Simon Stephens’ Nuclear War as part of triptych
27th January 2020Simon Stephens' 2017 one-act play Nuclear War gets its first revival in March as part of a new triple bill at London's Old Red Lion Theatre in Islington under newly appointed artistic director Alexander Knott. Revitalising the creative and cultural integrity… .. Read more
Other recent articles
‘Saunders triumphs in a role she was surely meant to play’: BLITHE SPIRIT – Touring & West End ★★★★
29th January 2020Touring – reviewed at Malvern Theatres One of my favourite Coward plays and starring the incomparable Jennifer Saunders in the resplendently iconic role of Madame Arcati. It’s a deliciously comedic role at the heart of a madcap tale involving a… .. Read more
Text of the Day: Scenes with Girls
29th January 2020Random and topical thoughts and quotes gathered by My Theatre Mates contributor Aleks Sierz, first published on www.sierz.co.uk. Favourite stage direction: “There are several ‘Hooptedoodles’ in this play. These are moments that exist outside of the narrative, designed to provide additional… .. Read more
Also visit Terri’s social media directory for musicals
‘I would love Cherie Blair to see the show, I’m sure she would relish every minute’: Lloyd Evans on why he wrote Cherie – My Struggle
29th January 2020Cherie - My Struggle, a one-woman play about Cherie Blair written by Spectator parliamentary sketch writer Lloyd Evans, returns to London's White Bear Theatre in February. Evans told us why he wanted to write about the former prime minister's wife and why he… .. Read more
‘Eurovision, Cirque du Soleil & Las Vegas’: Costume designer Roberto Surace on Magic Goes Wrong & working with Mischief Theatre
29th January 2020Costumes play a key role in the success of Mischief Theatre and their latest hit comedy Magic Goes Wrong - so they always call on the designer they trust most. Costume designer Roberto Surace has worked on every single Mischief production… .. Read more
‘Exquisitely performed’: SOLD – Vault Festival & Touring
29th January 2020Touring – reviewed at the Vault Festival, London In 1831, Mary Prince’s autobiography was the first book published in the UK about a Black woman. Her straightforward, emotive prose shares her lived experience of being an enslaved woman in the… .. Read more
‘Working in strip clubs was never easy but it taught me a lot about the world’: Diane Herbert on her debut play Angels
29th January 2020Angels, premiering at VAULT Festival from 19 to 23 February 2020, will change your perceptions of women who turn to stripping for income. Former dancer Diane Herbert told us how her own experiences led to her playwriting debut. Have a read… .. Read more
Twenty shows to look out for at the VAULT Festival 2020
29th January 2020Insofar as it is humanly possible for any one person to know everything that is happening at the VAULT Festival this year, I present a handful of my recommendations for 2020. In all honesty though, I think the best thing… .. Read more
‘The cast all give strong performances’: COPS – Southwark Playhouse
29th January 2020Southwark Playhouse – until 1 February 2020 Set in 1957, Cops tells the story of four very different Chicago police officers who, despite their differences, need to find a way to work together. There are broader plot elements, involving the mob, bringing… .. Read more
‘Jodie McNee’s leading performance burns with energy’: FAUSTUS: THAT DAMNED WOMAN – Lyric Hammersmith
29th January 2020Lyric Hammersmith, London – until 22 February 2020 The lure of immortality has been at the heart of the Faustus legend for centuries and its themes speak to the greed and despicable nature of a man who would sell his… .. Read more
WATCH: Hassan Abdulrazzak & transatlantic deportees discuss strains in The Special Relationshp
29th January 2020Huawei? Trump? Brexit? Are you worried about strains being put on the so-called "special relationship" between the UK and the US? Whatever your thoughts, Hassan Abdulrazzak's new play The Special Relationship will make you reassess... starting with these interviews with writer, director and three… .. Read more