In this touring production of Beautiful, following on from lengthy London and Broadway runs, Daisy Wood-Davis plays Carole King from innocent 16 year old with enviable talent to an older and wiser woman.
‘An effortless performance by the cast’: GOD OF CARNAGE – Touring ★★★★★
God of Carnage is a dissection of the middle classes familiar in Yasmina Reza’s work, presenting the characters in a farcical light that is so tragically funny.
‘Gut-wrenchingly funny’: PETER PAN GOES WRONG – Touring ★★★★★
The masters of laughter, Mischief Theatre are back at it again with a gut wrenchingly funny touring version of Peter Pan Goes Wrong, which takes everything theatrical and jumbles it into a mess of impassioned, choreographed mayhem.
‘Energetic & engaging’: ONCE – Touring
The melancholic, Irish music performed by actor-musicians and the almost-love story set Once apart from the bold, brash showiness of musicals that stick more closely to traditional forms.
‘Will leave audiences laughing for days’: PETER PAN GOES WRONG – Touring ★★★★★
Peter Pan Goes Wrong is a show that will never be the same twice and will leave audiences laughing for days.
NEWS: Belgrade Theatre premieres beatbox stage adaptation of Alex Wheatle’s award-winning Crongton Knights
After The Gift this month, Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre hosts another world premiere modern play ahead of a major tour and London transfer: the physical theatre adaptation of Alex Wheatle’s award-winning 2016 Young Adults’ novel Crongton Knights, which features an original beatbox soundscape. Time to get booking!
REHEARSAL PHOTOS: Behind the scenes for ‘missing’ Black British history play The Gift
How have director Dawn Walton and the cast of Janice Okoh’s new play The Gift been getting to grips with a little-known chapter of 19th-century British history? Check out our bumper gallery of rehearsal photos. Time to get booking for this month’s premiere at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre, subsequent London transfer and tour!
‘The music is the heart & soul of this show’: ONCE – Touring ★★★★
A welcome return for Once, a gorgeous show with music truly at its heart and soul.
‘How can we talk about living together when something as basic as parenting is challenged?’ Writer Janice Okoh & director Dawn Walton on The Gift
This month, searingly funny play The Gift makes its world premiere in Coventry before embarking on a UK tour. Writer Janice Okoh and director Dawn Walton give insights into the true royal story behind the play, unsurfacing ‘missing’ Black British history and the relevance to cross-cultural adoption today. Time to get booking!
‘At the cutting edge of the zeitgeist’: SIX THE MUSICAL – Touring
As well as providing a welcome opportunity for performers to really cut loose, Six also – sadly – remains at the cutting edge of the zeitgeist.
NEWS: Janice Okoh’s The Gift, inspired by Queen Victoria’s adoption of an African girl, premieres this month
The Gift, partly inspired by the remarkable true story of an orphaned African princess adopted by Queen Victoria in the 19th century, receives its world premiere this month at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre ahead of a UK tour. Time to get booking!
‘Pure entertainment’: THE NUTCRACKER – Sheffield ★★★★
Saint Petersburg Ballet delivers exactly what you’re wanting from this production. A seasonal treat, a well formed and rehearsed ballet, and two hours of pure entertainment.
Mind The Blog’s top five musical choices for 2020
If you’re struggling with all the choice, Mind The Blog has come up with her top five musicals you do not want to miss in 2020.
Decade Round-Up: The Musicals
And so here it is… my top 10 musicals of the decade. It turned out to be a slightly emotional journey. But it turns out musicals meant a lot in that time and I’ll fight anyone who says musicals aren’t a serious artform.
Decade Round-Up: The Plays
This isn’t a ‘best of’ list it’s my best-of list, these are the plays that shaped me this decade and will stay with me well into the next.
20 shows to look forward to in 2020
Looking ahead to some of 2020’s exciting shows, most with an emphasis away from the West End and instead focusing at the London Fringe and across the UK.
NEWS: Ian McKellen is the first actor to top The Stage 100
Stage and screen star Ian McKellen has been named number one in The Stage 100, ‘the definitive guide to the most influential figures working in the UK theatre and performing arts industry today’. He is the first actor to ever top the list.
NEWS: Rachel O’Riordan’s debut season at Lyric Hammersmith continues with Chris Bush’s Faustus: That Damned Woman
Rachel O’Riordan’s debut season as artistic director at Lyric Hammersmith continues this month with Faustus: That Damned Woman, a co-production between the Lyric and Headlong, in association with Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
Theatre review of the 2019 & what to see in 2020
With a new year fast approaching, it is an interesting time to reflect on small changes across the theatre landscape in 2019 that will continue to shape how UK theatre will look as it moves into a new decade.