Since its publication on this day in 1813, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice has had countless stage and screen adaptations and has gained international recognition as one of the most famous love stories around. In today’s modern age, you may call it a will they, won’t they tale of mismatched lovers with its settings of grand country estates, beautiful period costuming and its tale of dropping one’s own pride and not being too judgemental of others. Over the years, its popula

Chocolate box cottages, rolling green fields, viewpoints out to the sea and little spaces buried into hillsides, the glow of bedroom windows the only light in dark cold evenings. That’s the image of Devon that is painted to many, but what sits beneath that perfect ideal? Villages where teenagers are left with little to do, their limited resources leading them to experiment with alcohol, drugs and loud, wild parties, small places with big skies where they are often forgotten.

The Orient Express, the train described as ‘Poetry on Wheels’ is stuck in a snow drift, trapping its passengers in a cold, dark claustrophobic warren of narrow corridors and sliding doors. The conductor is trying to contact a rescue team, the train company manager is trying to keep spirits high, and a world-famous detective is trying his best to keep his head down and get to London in a hurried response to an emergency telegram. But when a passenger is found brutally murdered

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

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

Growing up, I think it’s safe to assume that most children stumbled across at least one Roald Dahl story. Tales that oozed with magic, cheekiness, mystery and everyone, be that child or adult, ultimately getting what they deserved. The Twits, George’s Marvellous Medicine, James and the Giant Peach, the list could go on and on, but over the years a few of these classic stories have leapt from the pages onto our stages, with the biggest hits being Matilda and Charlie and the Ch

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

Decorations may be packed away, and trees sent off after another Christmas, but just as you may still be working your way through the leftover chocolates, the festive season isn’t quite over yet when it comes to pantomime at the Theatre Royal Plymouth, as ‘Sleeping Beauty’ continues through to January 14th. Whilst the classic fairy tale of princess Aurora (Stephanie McKenzie) being cursed to sleep on her 21stbirthday, with the hope of true love’s kiss being able to wake her,

Okay, hands up in the air, I’ll admit. I’ve never seen the film ‘Sister Act’. Shocking, I know, as many of you may consider it a classic, but here we are. So, other than knowing a few of the songs and having a very basic idea of the plot, I walked into the UK Tour of ‘Sister Act The Musical’ at Theatre Royal Plymouth relatively blind. ‘Sister Act’ tells the story of singer Deloris Van Cartier (played here by Sandra Marvin), who after witnessing her gangster boyfriend Curtis (

These days jukebox musicals, seen as guaranteed crowd pleasers, are commonplace up and down the country, entertaining those visiting the glittering west end and sending audiences flocking to their regional theatres in their droves. These popular shows often rely heavily on a singer/group’s most well-known hits, the types of songs that have theatregoers proclaiming, ‘hey I know this one’ and sending them home with a tune stuck in their heads, but sometimes a show can deep dive

Catchy songs, custard pies and peddle cars, ‘Bugsy Malone’ is a classic. Seen as a gangster movie for kids, it takes us back to 1920’s New York, when Speakeasy’s were all the rage and gang warfare was rife. The popular 1976 film saw the entire cast consist of children, playing adult roles with their singing voices dubbed by adults, so how exactly does that transfer to the stage. Directed by Sean Holmes and choreographed by Drew McOnie, this Lyric Hammersmith production of ‘Bu

Pictures in this review may not feature the 2022 touring cast I feel the need to start this review with a little bit of truth about me. I will willingly put my hands up and say that I have never got Shakespeare, I have always struggled with it as a whole. I was never really shown it at school, other than that modern retelling of ‘Romeo & Juliet’. But other than that, I had to sit and read it and be expected to understand it and the whole act of having it drilled into me made

Co-produced by Figueteatret I Nordland (Nordland Visual Theatre) and Theatre Royal Plymouth, and presented by Extraordinary Bodies, ‘Delicate’ explores the idea that sometimes in order to find your place in the world, things need to go wrong and fall apart. What exactly does the word ‘Delicate’ mean? The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as ‘needing careful treatment, especially because easily damaged’, but how does that apply to someone’s life. In this production, we are intro

Fresh from the Edinburgh Fringe, performer and producer Shôn Dale-Jones brings ‘Still Floating’ to the Theatre Royal Plymouth, revisiting his award-winning show ‘Floating’ from 2006 and twisting it with a present day tale of returning home and exploring how things have changed. In 2006, Dale-Jones played his on-stage alter ego Hugh Hughes in ‘Floating’, telling the surreal and comical tale of Anglesey floating away from the mainland, becoming an independent land under the rul

Please note that the photographs included in this review are of the 2021 cast After setting sail in its world premiere at The Hall For Cornwall last year, the musical adaptation of hit film Fisherman’s Friends (based on the film of the same name which is in turn based on the real-life story of Port Isaac’s famous shanty band) has returned to the stage, launching its hotly anticipated UK Tour at The Theatre Royal Plymouth. Men of the sea, devoted to their work, their families,

After a successful limited run in Truro’s Hall for Cornwall last year, the musical adaptation of the film Fisherman’s Friends returns to stage in a couple of weeks, launching its UK Tour at the Theatre Royal Plymouth. Based on the 2019 film of the same title, Fisherman’s Friends tells the story of a group of Cornish Fishermen who are discovered and launched into the limelight for their talent for singing sea shanties. Loosely based on the real-life tale of Port Issacs’s Shant

Springing onto the movie screens in glorious technicolour in 1952 and onto the West End in all dancing, singing spectacular in 1983, ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ is a staple in the world of classic musicals, harking back to the golden age of Hollywood. The story centres around Don Lockwood (played here by Sam Lips), a great star of silent movies in the 1920’s and the challenges faced in the move towards talking pictures. Lockwood is famed for performing alongside fellow star Lina La

Jukebox musicals, love them or hate them, have been around for quite some time and won’t be going anywhere any time soon. Mamma Mia, The Band, Sunshine on Leith, The Bodyguard and &Juliet are just some examples of shows based around the catalogues of popular artists from ABBA to The Proclaimers and whilst you may think that Jukebox musicals cater for the party audience, the light-hearted night out that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but Jim Steinman’s Bat out of Hell, ins

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