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,

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

‘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

Oh look, just when you thought that she may have finally moved on and found something else to obsess over, she’s back and she’s talking about ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ again. Okay, I’ll admit, you may be starting to wonder why on earth I keep going back, or how on earth I still laugh at a comedy that I have now seen 21 times, and I hope you’ll be satisfied with my answer to those questions. One – I keep going back because it makes me happy, pure and simple. I feel a sense of

These days, screen to stage adaptations is about as common as Sunday roasts and train strikes, but something that is perhaps a little bit less common in the world of theatre is a radio to stage adaptation, but here we are. ‘Bleak Expectations’ a comedy by Mark Evans premiered on BBC Radio 4 back in 2007, and has proved wickedly popular since, with the show still being broadcast on a regular basis on BBC Radio 4 Extra. A pastiche of the works of Charles Dickens, it follows Phi

Please note - The photographs in this review feature the original cast, not the cast that are currently starring in the production It isn’t uncommon for stage productions these days to have had other lives before they even reach the stage itself, with screen to stage adaptations becoming increasingly popular and the idea of audience members having some idea of what to expect helping to put bums on seats. In the case of this particular production, it was Deborah Moggach’s 2004

Okay, I’ll admit. Upon being invited to the press night of the UK Tour of Heathers at Theatre Royal Plymouth, I didn’t know masses about it. I knew it was an American high school drama, based on an 80’s cult classic, that took some dark turns and had a massive following of passionate fans, but that was about it. And if I’m being honest, sometimes I really enjoy going into productions mostly blind, ready to be both surprised and entertained, but when it came to this production

It’s not very often that the vast majority of the people in a room together can admit that they’ve had the same or even very similar experiences, it’s not very often that the vast majority of audience members for the same production can watch and say that they’ve been there, they know those feelings, they can relate. But here we are, it happened. After all, no matter what someone has gone on to do with their lives, they can all say the same thing. They all went to school, the

Okay, hands up in the air, time for some honesty. I did not know anything about ‘The Ocean At The End Of The Lane’ before I was kindly invited to the press night of the stage adaptation at Theatre Royal Plymouth. Beyond the knowledge of it being based on a novel by Neil Gaiman (Good Omens, Stardust, Coraline), I knew nothing of the plot, and made the decision not to look it up before going to see the show. Because, after all, sometimes going into something blind can be worth

London is big, it is bold, it is in your face; it surrounds you with noise and hits you full force. The theatre world that calls London home can be just as big, can be just as bold and can be just as loud, but not always. Like the night plunging the city back into winter weather after a sunny day, some shows sneak up on you, catch you unaware with their different style of approach, delving deeper and presenting you with the unexpected. Vault Festival, London’s smaller but jus

When it comes to comedy in the world of theatre, there is one company that continues to prove themselves to be at the very top of their game, and that is Mischief Comedy. With such successes as The Play That Goes Wrong, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, The Comedy About A Bank Robbery and Mischief Movie Night already under their belts, 2022 saw the company branching out and trying new things, only adding to their success story. Magic Goes Wrong has enjoyed two west end runs and a popular

What makes a show a musical and what makes a show a play with music. It’s a thin line and one that many shows walk like a tightrope, especially when said show is about a musical act itself. ‘The Commitments’, currently touring the UK, walks this line, balancing music with story in a humorous and believable tale of a band trying to make it big. Based on the Roddy Doyle book, ‘The Commitments’ tells the tale of a group growing up in Dublin in the 1980’s, brought together by you

Please note the photos in this review are of the original cast, not the current cast It’s one of the hottest tickets in town, and perhaps one of the most talked about shows around. The theatre has had a massive makeover and the audiences continue to flock over a year after opening. This is Moulin Rouge, the musical, the spectacle, the experience; and I’m not over exaggerating when I say that there really isn’t anything else like it. You may shake your head and simply call it