In the dying days of World War II, a meeting takes place between two men who were unlikely to ever cross paths, Norbert Masur, a representative of the World Jewish Congress and Heinrich Himmler, a prominent Nazi. ‘The End of the Night’ by Ben Brown and directed by Alan Scrachan tells the tale of this meeting, how Himmler’s trusted physiotherapist Felix Kersten made it all happen, and how it saved thousands of lives. Masur (played by Ben Caplan) believes that, with Hitler in h

When it comes to musicals, some are just more well known than others and if you were to ask someone who perhaps isn’t as knowledgable on the subject as you and me, they would still probably be able to name a few and one of those would most probably be Les Miserables. This famous show has celebrated many a birthday, and is only a few years away from the landmark age of 40. It’s been seen by millions all over the world and it is still has loved as it was when it first opened. T

When it comes to making people laugh, there is one theatre company that we are incredibly fortunate to have in our lives that we can rely on to raise the giggles and leave us smiling like overexcited Cheshire cats and that is Mischief Theatre. The team behind such hits as ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ and BBC Television show ‘The Goes Wrong Show’, to name but a few, never seem to run out of new ideas and new ways of making us laugh, with a multitude of new shows and projects hav

‘Do you think you could live without a face?’ A strange question, you could say, but one that sends Chris White down a path of exploration, misunderstanding and spirally down towards a society that is falling apart at the seams. Facial, written and performed by Chris White, is part of the Theatre Royal Plymouth’s Solo Voices season, taking place in the Drum Theatre. It features Chris telling a dark and twisted story using poetry and comedy exploring the ideas of what could ha

(Please note, the photographs in this review may not feature some of the cast members mentioned) #Pressreview - gifted After such a long period of no theatre or live music to capture the attention and imagination of young people, it is really no surprise to see the Theatre Royal Plymouth stuffed full to the rafters with happy audience members for the opening night of The School of Rock. Performing at venues up and down the country in its first, and majorly delayed (thanks cov

After starting life as a short performance in a school, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Tim Rice’s ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat has gone from strength to strength and many a theatre fan now sees it as a classic. Over the years, productions of this sung through Bible story stage adaptation have bounced through the West End, over Broadway and all over the country in UK Tours, and in 2019 it returned to the home of variety, The London Palladium, in a sparkling new prod

They say that three is the magic number, and for Disney, three is the number spreading magic all over the glittering West End with The Lion King, Mary Poppins, and now Frozen delighting audiences of all ages. Over the years, Disney theatrical have pushed the boundaries of what can be done on stage when it comes to special effects, with The Lion King leading the way in terms of puppetry and Mary Poppins proving to be a shining example of special effects, but when it comes to F

Let’s go back a couple of years, and Waitress the musical was earning rapturous applause on the West End, snuggled in rather nicely in the Adelphi Theatre, the smell of apples and cinnamon wafting through the air. Now, sadly Waitress was one of the casualties of the pandemic, a show that didn’t get a proper closing night and seemingly disappeared in a flurry of enforced closed doors. Thankfully, after quite a long wait, the UK Tour hit the road and brought this sweet, heart-w

(Please note, I could not find a cast board anywhere at the performance I attended, therefore I apologise in advance if I get any names of the cast wrong as I am unsure if there were any understudies on and cannot be completely sure as to which children were performing) Not another screen to stage adaptation, I hear you cry, and okay, maybe sometimes I have to agree, there’s a lot of them out there and a growing lack in new original work, but okay hear me out. Sometimes there

In today’s theatrical world, screen to stage adaptations are two to a penny but that doesn’t stop a stage musical adaptation from being a big box office draw. After opening in Manchester in early 2020, ‘Back to the Future the musical’ came roaring into the West End last Autumn, transforming the Adelphi Theatre into Hill Valley. Based on the 1985 film of the same name, Back to the future tells the story of Marty Mcfly (played here by Olly Dobson), who accidently finds himself

When it comes to creating magic both on screen and on stage, Disney certainly know what they are doing. From ‘The Lion King’ to ‘Frozen’, Disney theatrical productions have been thrilling audiences for many years, and their stage adaptation of ‘Mary Poppins’ might just be one of the most magical. The world’s most famous nanny fills the Prince Edward Theatre with magic with its lovable characters and some of the best dance numbers you can currently see on the West End. With th

Mischief Theatre have well and truly made a name for themselves in the world of comedy, with worldwide theatrical success and multiple BBC credits under their belts as they have laughed their ways into the hearts of countless theatre fans. Their first smash hit ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ has been running at the Duchess Theatre in the heart of the West End for seven years to critical acclaim and it is still as fresh, as slick, and as brilliantly funny as the day it first opene

They say that laughter is the best medicine, and when it comes to finding something to give you just the dose that you need, you can do wrong by picking Mischief Theatre to be your doctor. The team behind hit shows ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’, ‘Peter Pan Goes Wrong’ and BBC’s ‘The Goes Wrong Show’ blessed the West End with not one but two new productions during their 2019 residency at the Vaudeville Theatre with ‘Magic Goes Wrong’ proving to be one of their most ambitious and

“This is good Christopher. It’s very exciting. I like the details. They make it more realistic.” – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time proves to still be a heart-warming, raw and relevant production. Adapted from Mark Haddon’s award winning novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time follows the story of a neurodiverse fifteen-year-old, named Christopher Boone. After discovering his neighbour’s murdered dog, he sets out to solve the mystery and fin

It’s safe to say that Mischief Theatre have well and truly earned their place amongst the elite when it comes to comedy, with hit shows ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’, ‘The Comedy about a Bank Robbery’ and ‘Peter Pan Goes Wrong’ under their belts as well as a much-loved BBC sitcom ‘The Goes Wrong Show’. If we look back to the lighter days before the dreaded C-Word came into our lives, the team at Mischief were awarded a yearlong residency at the Vaudeville Theatre where they prem

With a West End run coming up to celebrating 23 years and a statistic that states that 1 in 10 UK citizens have seen it, ‘Mamma Mia!’ is up there with some of the longest running and most well-known musicals in the world and after everything that we have been through in the last couple of years, this tonic of a musical, a Greek holiday wrapped up in stage show, is exactly what we all need right now. Now running again in London, the show is also hitting the road once more on a

They say that laughter is the best medicine, and after everything that we have been through over the last two years, we have been searching for laughter here, there, and everywhere to put a smile on our faces and distract us from the near constant barrage of bad news. Throughout 2020 and last year, theatre has been fighting against the odds to not only get back on stage but to keep us all entertained from the comfort of our own homes and when it comes to laughter, we have a l

After opening on Broadway in 2019, Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge was one of the most hotly anticipated West End transfers around and after a number of delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, it finally opened late last year at London’s Piccadilly Theatre. It would appear that the delays only fuelled the excitement further as the show became the hottest ticket in town before it even opened. After being affected by a number of Omicron enforced cancellations, I was lucky enough to

Forty years ago, the Cornish village of Mousehole was shook to the core when eight volunteer lifeboat men from the town took to sea in the lifeboat ‘The Solomon Browne’ in attempts to rescue a stricken ship broken down in a late December storm, never to be seen again. The Penlee lifeboat disaster of 1981 is talked about and remembered to this day, with the Christmas lights dimmed in the village every year as a sign of respect to the sixteen who died on that horrible night; th

Pantomime is big business for the theatre industry, and a special part of the festive season for many families. And after the last couple of years of enforced closures, regulations and last-minute cancellations, panto came back this season with all guns blazing, with bigger sets, bigger costumes and all the theatrical magic that we have all been missing so much. Up and down the country, classic fairy tales have been given the pantomime twist with dames, dancing, and dastardly