Agatha Christie. A mere mention of the name is enough to draw images of mystery, deception, distrust, and puzzles. To be able to construct a mystery in such a way as Christie is perhaps the dream of many a writer now, for not many could piece together a puzzle so intricate and clever that it keeps you guessing until the dying moments of the story itself. Her classic tale ‘The Mousetrap’ is the longest running play in West End history, but that, of course, isn’t her only hit.

On the stage at least, you would be forgiven for immediately thinking pantomime when you hear the show title ‘Aladdin’. Up and down the country, every festive season, the story of street rat Aladdin, his genie and the magical carpet is performed to eager panto goers, ready to cheer the hero and boo the villain, but let’s step away from that. Because this isn’t panto, this is a Disney Theatrical production to the highest degree. Large cast with a larger set, beautiful costumes

Livestream - Gifted I’ve seen quite a few pantomimes over the years, and if I’m being honest, I’d gotten quite used to the formula; a classic fairytale, in most cases, the princess and the prince, a dame, the clumsy always the bridesmaid never the bride best friend and the villain. It’s something that we are used to, families go into a pantomime knowing what to expect, and sometimes, these classic pantos can, in my opinion, feel a little tired. Jokes can feel overused, and a

Kylie. Bananarama. Donna Summer. Rick Astley. It’s a throwback of mammoth proportions, hit after hit, a dance party here and a dance party there. That’s Stock, Aitken and Waterman, the song writing record producing machine that brought us such hits, and now combined with a brand-new tale from writer/director Debbie Isitt (the brains behind Christmas hit Nativity and its sequels, admit it you love them all), there’s a new jukebox musical in town, and it’s one that is a guarant

Worth the wait?   Sometimes, no matter how big a fan you are of something, there can be a part of that something that simply escapes you, and it can take some time to find it. As you may be aware, I am a huge fan of all thing’s mischief theatre, and I’ve seen a lot of it. The Play That Goes Wrong (23 times and counting), The Comedy About A Bank Robbery, Magic Goes Wrong, Groan Ups, Good Luck Studio and Mischief Movie Night. But there has been one Mischief Theatre production t

Rodgers and Hammerstein, a double act famed for the role that they played in the world of musical theatre. Oklahoma! Carousel. The Sound of Music. Cinderella. South. Pacific. I could go and on, but I won’t. I just wanted to give you a taste of this team’s catalogue. These musicals are deemed classics, they are loved, adored the world over, timeless. And now out of a UK Tour, another R&H classic is once again charming audiences with its old school style, stunning costumes and

With shows like Midsomer Murders, Death in Paradise, Endeavour, and Vera still proving as popular as ever on television, it’s no wonder that murder mystery seemed to be a popular choice at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. After all, everyone loves a mystery, a puzzle, the question of who done it, but with A Highly Suspect Murder: Murder at the Movies, this wasn’t your average sit back and enjoy theatre production. No, here the audience themselves become the detective and you ar

Politics. A hot topic, but perhaps not a popular one, especially at the moment but let’s take a step away from the current political situation and instead look at the past. After all, they do say that hindsight is a fine thing, and even in politics, time changes things and can even open the door for comedy, or to be more precise, satire. Penned by Harry Hill, with music by Steve Brown, Tony! The Tony Blair Rock Opera rips up the rule book, recounting the early life and politi

At the Edinburgh Fringe, you don’t have to look very hard to find a show that involves at least some element of improv, and over the years some now rather well-known theatre companies have made a name for themselves doing just that; Showstopper! The Improvised Musical and Mischief Theatre to give you just a couple of examples, now legends in the world of improvisation. But now, I firmly believe that you can add another company who have proven themselves to be experts in the a

Rom-Coms. Stereotypical. Predictable. Formulaic. Loved or loathed. With ‘Actually, Love’, GOYA Theatre explore the tropes of rom-coms in a refreshing manner through the eyes of Alex (Sam Woof, also the writer of the piece) and Stevie (Jordan Broatch) as they question both how the genre works and their own relationship with each other. Alex is a struggling songwriter who has been told to just write a love song, if only it was that easy, and Stevie is an actor who upon returnin

Raise your hand if you love musicals, and a cry of me, me, me is heard. Whether you aspire of being on the stage yourself, or just love the feeling of taking your seat in the auditorium and witnessing something wonderful, there will be something in Alexander S. Bermange’s ‘I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical’ that will feel like it was written and it is being performed just for you. In this exploration of musical theatre, from the viewpoints of both the performer and the fan,

Punctuation can make all the difference and can be incredibly important when it comes to naming something, after all it is punctuation that takes a classic story by Oscar Wilde and gives it a new title in the case of this production. And with an ellipsis and a question mark, Wilde’s story of nobility’s search for entertainment and escape from triviality becomes Say It Again Sorry’s ‘The Importance of Being… Earnest?’, a show that takes the story and twists it, mixes it delici

What do you get when you combine classical music, a classic horror story and the much-loved science fiction genre? A strange combination, you might just say, but in the case of Bowjangles: Dracula in Space, it just works. String quartet Bowjangles are no strangers to the Fringe, having won ‘Spirit of the Fringe’ with their previous show Excalibow back in 2018. As they proudly proclaim, they are genre spanners, taking everything you might know about string quartets and flippin

Laughter is something that the Edinburgh Fringe is certainly not short of, comedy is a part of its beating heart, something that people go to the festival for. But not all comedy productions set out with the sole purpose of making you laugh. In Playing Latinx, a solo show by Guido Garcia Lueches, comedy is used as a tool to convey an important message in a way that both entertains and educates. Taking place in Cairns Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, Playing Latinx takes the form

So they’ve both swiped right. Now they’re meeting for the first time. Facing each other. As if that’s a normal thing to do. But she’s being uncomfortable, and he’s a total bore. The vibe is horrific and the banter is even worse. But something is keeping them in their seats. Something is making them stay. Miriam Battye, whose writing credits include Succession, Dead Ringers and Trip The Light Fantastic, presents Strategic Love Play, a new co-production with Soho Theatre and Be

‘This is not fiction’. This is the phrase that covers the posters for ‘I, Daniel Blake’, the new stage adaptation of Ken Loach’s 2016 film of the same title. When the film, which depicts the life of Dan as he battles against the state, jumping through hoops as he is declared fit to work against doctor’s orders, was released it was commented upon in the house of commons, where politicians declared it a work of fiction. But in today’s world, where there are more food banks than

Please note, photos included are general Showstopper images, not show specific What does it take to construct a musical? A storyline, music, lyrics, choreography, set, costumes; all of that and you are only skimming the surface, all of that and there is possibly months and months of work to be done in order to get it all running smoothly. That is, of course, unless you are about to witness an entire musical, plot, songs and all, pieced together in just 2 hours. Madness, I hea

Okay, hands up, I’ll admit. I am one of those people who has never really ‘got’ Shakespeare. The language has always been a struggle for me, and I was always worried that I wouldn’t understand it but here we go, I decided to finally give it a go with the Stafford Gatehouse’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, the first indoor production in the history of the Stafford Shakespeare Festival. With the action transported to Athens, under the direction of Sean Turner (The Play That Goes

Heartbreak, grief, treacherous journeys, loss, war, mental health and the process of seeking asylum, a hard-hitting combination that may be difficult to convey in a way which people would be able to understand and relate too, but these are all topics that are bravely and sensitively covered in the stage adaptation of Christy Lefteri’s number one best seller ‘The Beekeeper of Aleppo’. Driven from their home by war and threats upon their lives, married couple Nuri (Alfred Clay)

When it comes to stage productions, taking a classic story and giving it a twist is hardly something new, from ‘Unexpected Twist’ and ‘Bleak Expectations’, to Say It Again Sorry’s fringe hit ‘The Importance of being… Earnest’ to name but a few. And now here we are with the Olivier Award winning ‘Pride & Prejudice* (*Sort of), a show that takes the classic Jane Austen story, throws it into the mixing pot and tops it up with dashes of Six, lashes of Jukebox musical fun and even