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	Agua, Playhouse, EdinburghAlonzo King Lines Ballet, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh Pina Bausch's death last year shocked everybody, not least her company Tanztheater Wuppertal. All the Globe's a stage – even for women writers They aren't so much smashing through the glass ceiling as sweeping aside layers of dusty parchment; but it is progress. As the first play penned by a woman opens at Shakespeare's Globe today ... Clybourne Park, Royal Court Downstairs, LondonThe Maddening Rain, Old Red Lio... The sun is shining over Chicago, at first. Wicked soars into its fifth year The witches of Wicked will defy gravity to soar into their fifth year in the West End; the Laurence Olivier Award-winning musical extends its booking period today to 29 October 2011. Donmar debuts Spelling Bee in 2011 The Tony Award-winning musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will receive its UK premiere at the Donmar Warehouse next spring as part of a season that also includes the first major Lon... Sophie Thompson As Sophie Thompson prepares to return to the London stage, she chats to Matthew Amer not about her famous family, but about being voted a bitch, Fruit Pastilles and unemployment. Clybourne Park Following his dissection of middle class guilt in The Pain And The Itch, American playwright Bruce Norris turns his biting wit onto the subject of prejudice across a period of 50 years. Autumn Access London Theatre brochure out now The new Access London Theatre brochure is now available and contains details of over 120 assisted performances taking place across London’s Theatreland this autumn. Clean Break is Charged at Soho Women’s theatre company Clean Break will bring together six of Britain’s finest contemporary female playwrights at the Soho theatre this autumn for a cycle of shows entitled Charged. Nigel Lindsay is Shrek Nigel Lindsay will have to get used to feeling a little green at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane next year as he takes on the role of Shrek in the forthcoming musical adaptation which opens in May 2011. Chess, Newcastle Theatre Royal ASK most people to name a famous chess player and we’re still in the realms of Bobby Fischer beating Boris Spassky in 1972, which undoubtedly had an influence on Sir Tim Rice, Bjorn Ulvaeus and B... Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal, Playhouse, Edinburgh The choreographer Pina Bausch made her name with darker works, taking a confessional look at frantic needs. Later in life, she lightened up. In Agua, her 2001 celebration of Brazil, Bausch lu... Opera at the cinema THE next couple of weeks feature two real treats for anyone wanting to enjoy an opera in the cinema. Dance in cinema BALLET is an expensive art form to produce and this is often reflected in the ticket prices. Now the theatre can come to you An often-voiced frustration from around the country comes from would-be theatre goers who might read of some outstanding new production opening in London, but are prevented by distance from attendi... Review: Blood Brothers at Venue Cymru, Llandudno IF you only ever go and see one musical in your life or you're just stuck for something to do this week- then please, I implore you, go and see Blood Brothers! Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh Alonzo King's Dust and Light starts with a soloist crouched in a pool of light. Still squatting, she rises on pointe, then stretches one leg out. The balance is difficult, but it's also... Graham and Beaumont find Enlightenment in Hampstead Julie Graham and Daisy Beaumont will star in Shelagh Stephenson’s Enlightenment at the Hampstead theatre from 30 September to 30 October (press night 6 October). Hampstead welcomes RSC long ensemble The Royal Shakespeare Company is to premiere three new plays at Hampstead theatre from April to June 2011 as the final chapter in the work of the company’s current long ensemble. Michael Clark Company, Tate Modern, London Michael Clark's dancers go stalking through the huge Turbine Hall of Tate Modern. The stage is so big that they sprint into place, stopping dead in cool, assured poses. Clark has been in resi... Penelope, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Enda Walsh has long been one of the best and most challenging of all Irish playwrights; his new piece, Penelope breaks out of his Cork confines and deposits us in a drained swimming pool on the swe... Backstage: David Stringer, Wardrobe Master Whether it be dealing with an enthusiastic opera singer, learning the Spanish words for body armour or finding the nearest dry cleaner to any given theatre, the life of a Wardrobe Master is an unus... The Black Panthers: The soul survivors The revolution may have fizzled out before it could be televised, but that hardly deters its admirers from reliving its finest moments. Almost half a century after the Black Panthers began to... Puss In Boots walks into Arts Kacey Ainsworth and Ben James-Ellis are to star in a new production of Puss In Boots at the Arts theatre this Christmas from 18 November to 9 January (press night 30 November). Henshall makes spirited appearance at Apollo Laurence Olivier Award-winning stage star Ruthie Henshall is to join the cast of Thea Sharrock’s production of Blithe Spirit at the Apollo theatre next spring. Claire Skinner: From washing up to the West End The other day Claire Skinner was watching a documentary about a schoolgirl from the Isle of Man when she felt a flash of recognition. Wikipedia springs 'Mousetrap' ending First WikiLeaks stood accused of unnecessarily revealing closely guarded secrets. Now it's Wikipedia's turn. The online encyclopaedia is refusing to yield to criticism from Agatha Christie's ... Vieux Carré, Royal Lyceum, EdinburghThe Gospel at Colonus, Playhouse, Edinbur... It ain't exactly pretty. Imported by the Edinburgh International Festival, Tennessee Williams's Vieux Carré looks, knowingly, like a pile of junk. Not entirely old junk. Opera preview THERE'S a chance to be interactive when English National Opera launches its autumn season with its first Opera Preview on Friday in the Sky and Balcony Bars of the Coliseum. Review: Le Cirque Invisible, Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank, London SE1 IT WAS THE best news I had read in a very long time. "We have no metaphysical messages or cultural theories, " boasted Jean Baptiste Thieree and Victoria Chaplin in their programme notes. Edinburgh Festival Fringe THIS year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, now in its 64th year, is the biggest edition yet of the world's biggest arts festival, with nearly 2,500 shows crammed into a three-week span that ends tomorr... The Moira Monologues, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh Alan Bissett is one of the leading lights of a vibrant, young Scottish literary scene with three novels – Boyracers, The Incredible Adam Spark and Death of a Ladies’ Man under his belt. He’s ... Honest, Assembly Rooms Is honesty always the best policy? For Dave, the angry young man protagonist of DC Moore’s searing - and searingly funny - playlet, it’s the only policy. Van Outen, Stenson and Dillon go Blonde TV judge, West End star and new mum Denise Van Outen is to return to the London stage in October, when she joins Sheridan Smith in the cast of Legally Blonde The Musical. Goldberg withdraws from Sister Act Whoopi Goldberg, who is currently playing the role of Mother Superior in Sister Act, has had to withdraw from the rest of her run due to family illness. Gutted: A Revenger’s Musical, Assembly Rooms There’s much fun to be had at Gutted playing spot the stand-up behind the costumes, wigs and grease-paint. There’s Doc Brown as the warm-hearted handy man, Sara Pascoe as the slow-witt... History repeats as Corden returns to National Theatre James Corden, best known as the star of Gavin And Stacey, will return to the National Theatre next year to lead the cast of The Servant To Two Masters in May 2011. A wave of celebration for Morris dancing on the Southbank Next weekend, the village green comes to London's brutalist Southbank with a three-day celebration of Morris dancing. At least, the village green would be the preconception most people hol... The royal rogue that Spacey was 'born to play' He is Shakespeare's gloriously Machiavellian monarch-in-waiting, who machinates and murders his way to the throne during the 15th-century Wars of the Roses. My Hamlet, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh "Who's there?" cries Hamlet on the battlements of Elsinore, kick-starting the greatest revenge tragedy in the language. "Who's there?" cries Linda Marlowe as an old cleaning lady, sweeping up... Darling Of The Day: Lost Musicals, Ondaatje Wing Theatre, The National Portra... BASED on Arnold Bennett's play The Great Adventure, Darling Of The Day is a remarkable example of a misfiring masterpiece. The Merry Wives Of Windsor: Shakespeare's Globe, London I HAVE always loathed this Shakespearean potboiler, dashed off to satisfy Elizabeth I's whim to see Falstaff "in love" on stage. While You Lie/The Girl in the Yellow Dress, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh (2/5,... Punishing times at the Traverse this August – unless, that is, you happen to enjoy being locked in a basement in close proximity to warring couples, sadomasochistic power play and masturbating male... Grupo Corpo, Festival Theatre Brazilian dance troupe Grupo Corpo are a bouncy company, doing lots of flying leaps and cheerful samba shimmies. The dancers are lithe and polished, dancing with acrobatic ease. They're likea... Review: Les Miserables @ Lowry, Salford THE STANDING ovation that greeted the cast at the end of Les Miserables was well deserved. Review: Corrie! @ Lowry, Salford They aren’t the originals, yet those in Corrie at the Lowry are usually, though not always, so like their TV counterparts, you feel you, and the celebrity studded audience, are watching family. Lidless, Underbelly An uncomfortable watch in more ways than one, for Lidless the audience is lined up on tiny camping stools around the walls of a brightly-lit white box. Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's punchy play won the Y... Sonya’s Story, Riverside Studios, London Chances for creative teams to test-drive operas-in-the-making are few and far between. A big cheer, then, for Tête à Tête, the festival that brings us tomorrow's operas today as works-in-progress a... Caledonia, King's Theatre Alistair Beaton's new play has a thumping big subject in the Darien scheme, the 1698 plan to establish a Scottish trading colony on the isthmus of Panama. Huge amounts of money were raised be... Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think of You/ I'm Hans Christian Andersen/ Running ... Three young, female storytellers, all with their own tales to tell – and very different ways of telling them. Molly Naylor, a rising light of the London poetry scene, is a survivor of the 7/7... Jordan, Assembly Rooms Jordan grips from the first minute and doesn’t let go until the last. Standing on a blood-red set in a simple blue dress, Shirley Jones reveals how she comes to be standing in court, a... Wonderland, Assembly Rooms Gyles Brandreth’s new musical imagines a meeting between Lewis Carroll and a grown-up Alice Liddell, the little girl for whom he created Alice in Wonderland. Over tea and jam tarts in ... Speechless, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh "Clamped together like limpets" they were, said campaigning journalist Marjorie Wallace, who told the story of "the silent twins", June and Jennifer Gibbons, diagnosed as "elective mutes", in... Six and a Half Loves, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh This is lovely. Terry Saunders's bittersweet animated shorts "about perfect couples who can never quite fulfil their perfection" have become something of a cult hit on YouTube and are now brought t... Caledonia, King's Theatre, Edinburgh International Festival IT WAS a time when unfettered greed swept the land. A moment of folly when idle speculators put their trust in the promises of bankers who vowed to make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. Le Cirque Invisible, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London It's amazing to think that Le Cirque Invisible is 40 years old, that is, if you include its first incarnation as Le Cirque Bonjour, then as Le Cirque Imaginaire. A family business, headed by ... Into the Woods, Open Air, Regent's Park London The Sun Also Rises, Royal Lyce... Stephen Sondheim's fairytale musical Into the Woods adds a sardonic twist to your happy-ever-afters. Combining the composer's droll lyrics with James Lapine's satirical book, this pastiche (f... Tall tales: Meet the storytellers spinning edgy new yarns for the digital age Should you be at a loose end in the country next Saturday night, in a field in Higher Ashton, not far from Exeter, you'll find a storyteller named Martin Shaw. He will be giving a rendition ... OPERA: Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and Gergiev/LSO Scriabin/Stravinsky FROM THE start, director Dmitri Tcheniakov sets out to overturn hallowed memories of Bolshoi Opera's traditional Eugene Onegin and it's not surprising his production created a furore when first see... The Tempest, Durham Castle THE Lord Chamberlain’s Men may be an open-air theatre company, but this audience member, at least, was praying for good weather as the days and hours counted down to opening night of a two-show run... The Diary: Friendly Fires; Kate Dimbleby; Mrs Moneypenny; Blake Teenage Riot/Apples, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Theatre for the Skins generation, Teenage Riot locks eight randy, rebellious adolescents in a shed and then makes us watch the results. For an hour. Riot is the word: beer is sprayed, clothes... Pressure carries over to this year's Edinburgh Festival for Ella Hickson In 2008 Ella Hickson burst on to the Edinburgh Festival scene with Eight, a play she wrote and directed at the tail end of her final year studying at Edinburgh University. Debuting in the perhaps l... The Sun Also Rises, Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh You could probably read the entire novel in the time it takes for New York's Elevator Repair Service to present Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, the opening theatre show in the Edinburg... Cinderella, Coliseum, London English National Ballet celebrates its 60th birthday this year, with a summer season of Cinderella. And doesn't the company look good! Michael Corder's choreography is full of classical steps, show... Free Independent Drama: Late poet Ted Hughes is remembered in Dreaming of Foxes The late poet laureate Ted Hughes would have been 80 this month, and to mark the occasion, The Independent is giving you the chance to listen to and download an exclusive new drama by ... Ballet tour brings US one step closer to Cuba Just as officials in Washington ponder a partial easing of the ban on Americans travelling to Cuba at least for cultural, educational or research exchanges, the American Ballet Theatre has re... Do We Look Like Refugees?!, Assembly@George Street, Edinburgh Alecky Blythe's latest verbatim piece is based on interviews collected at the Tserovani refugee camp, outside Tbilisi. A cast of five Georgian actors from the distinguished Rustaveli Theatre plays ... Into the Woods, Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park, London Into the Woods goes virtually site-specific with this sharp, spirited revival of Sondheim's 1987 musical. Offering a Freudian take on fairy tales as psychological rites-of-passage, the piece ... My Edinburgh: David Nicholls, author I first visited Edinburgh in 1988, playing a small role in an obscure Jacobean tragedy set, like so many before and since, in an office. Each afternoon I'd perch on top of a filing cabinet and over... Primadoona, Gilded Balloon Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" is playing as Doon MacKichan, star of Smack the Pony and Brass Eye, gangles on to the stage. It's grimly apt for this, the tale of Doon's downward spiral in th... Bunny, Underbelly Jack Thorne confirms his position as a powerful voice for Britain's youth with this new one-girl play. The Skins writer, whose new four-parter with Shane Meadows, This is England '86, starts ... Michael McIntyre, Sunderland Empire “TONIGHT I’m Michael Mackemtyre” the popular comedian tells his Sunderland Empire audience as the BBC cameras rolled to capture one of six Comedy Roadshows to be shown from next month. 50 years of Corrie, a trip down memory lane They aren’t the originals, yet those in Corrie at the Lowry are usually, though not always, so like their TV counterparts, you feel you, and the celebrity studded audience, are watching family. Rebecca Peyton: My grief made me dance, drink and cry "Actually, the first idea I had was something called 101 Uses For Your Murdered Sister," reflects Rebecca Peyton. "I sat on the bus and wrote down all the things that I'd had the chanc... Fringe notes: 17/08/2010 The Book Festival has a tempting new late-night programme, Unbound, this year. Five Guys Named Moe, Udderbelly's Pasture, Edinburgh Five Guys is one of the original "have a good time" jukebox shows in the West End, and the pleasure of seeing it again is like that of seeing an old friend: familiar, heart-warming, with faul... Roadkill/Sub Rosa, Traverse Theatre/Hill Street Theatre This is powerful stuff. Herded on to a bus outside the theatre, audiences are delivered to a faded tenement on the other side of town. Theatre review - Les Miserables at The Lowry THE STANDING ovation that greeted the cast at the end of Les Miserables was well deserved. Shakespeare the Man from Stratford, Assembly Hall, Edinburgh Simon Callow is a renowned actor, but not Shakespearean. His Orlando was bizarre, his Falstaff (twice) less than great, but he did let rip satisfactorily as Titus Andronicus. En Route, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh "If you find yourself getting lost, geographically, technologically – or psychologically, just give us a call," says the Australian woman in a soothing voice as she straps an iPod to my wrist and p... Love in Shakespeare shows love's language lost You would enjoy Love in Shakespeare at Dunham Massey if only for the picnic, and lovely surroundings. The Persians, Cilieni Village, Brecon BeaconsEarthquakes in London, NT Cottes... It's not every day you find yourself wandering round a ghost village, on a Welsh hilltop, in pursuit of an ancient Greek tragedy. Pride and Prejudice, Durham Gala Theatre JANE AUSTEN’S classic novel, expertly adapted for the stage by Laura Turner, is delightfully presented by the touring Chapterhouse Theatre Company. Up 'n' Under, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh With Abi Titmuss cast as a gym instructor in a play whose title might suggest some full-on, raunchy locker-room action, it's almost disappointing to report that Abi's a model of rectitude, ... Edinburgh Diary: Emma Thompson; Stephen K Amos; Tom Wrigglesworth; Theatre Ni... Elevator Repair Service deliver the bare bones of the classic For most of its existence, the experimental theatre company Elevator Repair Service (formed in New York in 1991) has used found texts and improvisation as the basis for its productions. "Anyt... Review: Les Miserables at The Lowry, Salford Quays VICTOR HUGO'S story of love, hatred, trust and revolution has enthralled readers for almost 140 years and the stage musical has been packing them in for a quarter of a century. Biblical Tales, New End Theatre, London The New Testament has already had the Steven Berkoff treatment. In Messiah – Scenes from a Crucifixion, he presented Christ as a kind of cross between Che Guevara and David Blaine – a radic... Farm Boy, Assembly Rooms Is it "War Horse: the Sequel"? Not exactly, though Michael Morpurgo's Farm Boy does pick up the story of Joey the four-footed pal on Flanders field and his loyal Albert. In the course of a chat bet... Fair Trade, Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh Three years ago an art installation in Trafalgar Square charted the journey of a sex-trafficked girl from Eastern Europe to a Western brothel. A powerful clarion call, it inspired Lucy Kirk... Abba spectacular heading to Epsom The ultimate Abba celebration is heading to the Epsom Playhouse this week when all-singing, all-dancing stage spectacular Dancing Queen slinks into town on the 16 August. My Romantic History, Traverse Theatre "I haven't met a girl yet I couldn't make chuck me," smirks Tom on discovering that his drunken one-night stand with a colleague, Amy, has grown into a full-blown relationship. "I'm like a ro... Hot Mess, Hawke & Hunter Down the black lacquered stairs we go into the basement nightclub. The floor is striped with blue neon, the ceiling slashed with pink, a DJ plays Lady Gaga. We take our seats on leathe... Don Quixote, Royal Opera House, London The Bolshoi Ballet's London season went out on a delirious high. Don Quixote is a romp of a ballet, all flashing eyes, oompah tunes and virtuoso steps. Ivan Vasiliev and Natalia Osipova rampa... The Country Girl - review The Country Girl, Richmond Theatre A mid-week matinee with not a seat left in the house implies that the current pre-West End tour of Clifford Odet’s The Country Girl is something to talk about. Review: Spamalot at the Liverpool Empire 'IS it a pantomime?' asked my 16-year-old daughter as we settled down in the Liverpool Empire's plush stall seats to enjoy Spamalot. Review: Calender Girls at Venue Cymru, Llandudno IN the words of Neil Sedaka - "I love, I love, I love the Calendar Girls." Beautiful Burnout, Pleasance Courtyard Typical, you wait years for a play about boxing and then two come along at once. The similarities between Roy Williams's Sucker Punch, which has just finished its run at the Royal Court, and ... State Fair, Trafalgar Studios 2, London State Fair was the only musical that Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein composed specifically for the movies. Decky Does a Bronco, King George V Park These days, you can't walk down the street for plays in car parks and warehouses, but in 2000, when Grid Iron premiered Decky Does a Bronco in a park, they were pioneers of site-specific theatre. Obama Mia! Just the Tonic at the Caves Proving the old Fringe adage that all you need to fill a theatre is a recognisable name plus the word "musical", Obama Mia! a Musical Comedy is already doing good box-office business. Tanguera, Sadler's Wells, LondonTriple Bill, Royal Opera House, LondonLe Cors... Tango may be macho and even sexist, but it certainly isn't ageist. Beautiful Burnout, Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghEn Route, Traverse Theatre, ... This is stunning. Literally and metaphorically. Cameron and Ajay are wheeling around on a raised, revolving boxing ring, beating the living daylights out of each other with right and left hooks. The Magnificent Tale of Emily Law and Arturo the Waterboy The Magnificent Tale of Emily Law and Arturo the Waterboy, at the Capitol Theatre, is the i first play presented by the Library Theatre Company away from their old home. I It is beautifully scrip... Guys And Dolls, York Grand Opera House THE Summer Stage Experience, in which a bunch of teenagers under professional guidance put on a big musical in two weeks, goes from strength to strength under directorchoreographer Louise Denison. Review: Archbishop Desmond Tutu at Fairfield Halls, Croydon You might remember a few weeks ago I wrote an article previewing Archbishop Desmond Tutu's appearance at Fairfield Halls - well last night I was lucky enough to go along and see the great man for ... Beauty And The Beast, Durham Gala Theatre THE highly talented youngsters of the Gala Theatre Stage School have scored another hit with their latest and biggest production yet, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Henry IV Part One, York Shakespeare Project THIS is a massive undertaking in an unusual theatrical venue – a disused medieval church. Review: Time To Dance Grand Finale @ Town Hall, Accrington STRICTLY Come Dancing superstars wowed audiences as they foxtrotted, tangoed and quick stepped their way around Accrington Town Hall's dance floor last night. Review: Justin Moorhouse @ Brinsop Country Inn, Blackrod JUSTIN Moorhouse will always be a crowd favourite locally, thanks to his association with Peter Kay. Decidely odd - Make Believe at the 24:7 Theatre Festival I’VE been reviewing live theatre for more than 20 years and I thought I’d seen it all. REVIEW: Be afraid. Be very, very afraid of Ghost Stories... The last time I saw a sign warning those with a nervous disposition not to enter I was in a queue outside the Haunted House at Alton Towers. No View From The Window brings on tears at the 24:7 Theatre Festival No View from the Window is one of ten new plays which comprise the 24:7 theatre festival. Wind in the Willows York Theatre Royal DIRECTOR Damian Cruden and writer Mike Kenny have teamed up for another family-friendly summer theatre production – although this could hardly be more different to The Railway Children. Outstanding, irresistible and in your face - Pawn at the 24:7 Theatre Festival PAWN is certainly value for money. Billy Elliot The Musical, Darlington Arts Centre I MUST admit my heart sank when I saw more than 100 names listed for these performances by youngsters from Stagecoach Yarm and Darlington... particularly when the small arts centre stage was bulgin... Monty Python’s Spamalot: Newcastle Theatre Royal SO HERE I am, almost 40 years on, joyfully intoning along with the classic Python insult “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries”, which brings King Arthur’s quest for ... Sale Nomads take us back to the 80s I, and an encouragingly young audience, went back in time with Sale Nomads Theatre Club’s Back to the 80’s at the Club Theatre, Altrincham. Review: Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Fairfield Halls It may not have the glitz of the Apollo or the glamour of the Lyceum but Fairfield Halls certainly felt like it was in the West End on Monday as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat began ... Bent, Tabard Theatre - review Bent, Tabard Theatre Bent is more than a play, it’s as an experience. A vivid picture of Berlin life in the early 1930s when Hitler was first in power, it shows the plight of the homosexuals whos... Review: Spamalot @ Opera House, Manchester I WASN’T too sure what to expect from Spamalot — the Monty Python musical. Thanks for the memories - Library Theatre leaves its spiritual home THE curtain came down at the Library Theatre for the final time on Sunday night when the internationally renowned company said goodbye to its spiritual home. Spamalot - superb and silly IN my humble opinion, there just isn’’t enough silliness in the world today. We all take life far too seriously. George's Marvellous Medicine - Richmond Theatre Roald Dahl’s over-the-top classic George’s Marvellous Medicine bubbled its way into the Richmond Theatre this week, with the popular Birmingham Stage Academy taking the reins. Apples - review Richard Milward’s earthy story of drug and alcohol-blitzed contemporary Humberside teenage life, is bought to the stage by Northern Stage and Company of Angels. Glenn Miller Orchestra - review Forget your turkey trot and your jitterbug, we’re in dashing quickstep territory here to the boogie-woogie brass of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Review: The Road to Nab End @ Coliseum, Oldham THE decline of the cotton industry changed East Lancashire for ever. Review: La Boheme, Opera North, The Lowry, Salford Unbelievably, Phyllida Lord’s superb Opera North production of Puccini’s ‘La Boheme’ is 17 years old. In its latest outing at The Lowry, under the direction of Peter Relton, it remains as fresh and... Fool for Love (8th week) Burton Taylor Tuesday 15th – Saturday 19th June, 7.30p.m. “There are some touching moments of intimacy, but overall the production falls somewhat short of achieving the high degree of intensity and... The Maids (8th week) Frewin Undercroft Tuesday 15th – Saturday 19th June, 7.30p.m. “where they fall short of gaining the much sought-after title of Ultimate Student Play, is in forgetting that student theatre is also s... Review: Whistle Down the Wind at Venue Cymru IT'S six years since Jonathan Ansell first came to our screens as part of the four-piece vocal group G4, who auditioned for, and eventually came second in ITV's talent show The X Factor. The History Boys (8th week) Oxford Playhouse Monday 14th – Saturday 19th June “the mix of tragedy and humour was faultless, and while I may disagree with some of the bigger directorial choices, I cannot do anything but praise... The Blue Room (8th week) Keble O’Reilly Monday 14th June – Thursday 17th June, 7.30p.m. “Though at times it hits the heights that we might expect, this production more often than not comes across as what it ultimately is –... Review: The Hired Man @ The Octagon, Bolton The Hired Man is a powerful and moving account of private lives played out against the greater historical backdrop of industrialisation and the First World War. OUDS 125th Anniversary Gala (8th week) Oxford Playhouse Sunday 13th June, 6p.m. “Daaaaaaaaaaahling!!!!!! SuwEEEEEEEEEEtie!!!!!! PURR-RECIOUS!! If any of today’s hacktors wanted to know what they’ll look and sound like in fifty years ti... Shakespeare: The Man from Stratford Performance times: Monday 21st – Tuesday 22nd June (9th week), 7.30pm at the Oxford Playhouse William Shakespeare is the greatest writer the world has ever known. But what do we actually know about... Brady Aid (7th week) Moser Theatre, Wadham Friday 11th – Saturday 12th June, 8p.m., Saturday matinee 5p.m. “What a refreshingly unusual performance. Tom Brady’s event has transformed the Moser into a rare mix somewhere... Review: Diversity @ King George's Hall, Blackburn EXCITEMENT filled the air at the promise of a show headlined by the street dance and Britain’s Got Talent stars. Review: Flora's War at Clwyd Theatr Cymru THE story of war and battle is traditionally told by the victors – and they're usually male and grown-up. The Alchemist (7th week) Keble O’Reilly Wednesday 9th – Saturday 12th June, 7.30p.m. “The action moved slowly at first, and the production was a little rough around the edges (a few mangled lines and rushed lighting transi... Uncle Vanya (7th week) Fellow’s Garden, Merton Wednesday 9th – Saturday 12th June, 7.30p.m. “Reflecting the self-contradicting characters, the general tone of the production was bewildering, and the audience was tossed b... Titus Andronicus (7th week) Corpus Christi Auditorium Wednesday 9th – Saturday 12th June, 7.30p.m. “One actress was a ray of sunshine in the otherwise bleak production; Naomi Setchell as Marcus was refreshingly real, and bro... Review: Cirque du Soleil @ Arena, Manchester NOBODY does weird quite like the French. Or in this case the French Canadians. REVIEW: The Woman in Black More than 10 years after my first brush with the Woman in Black, it was with some trepidation I found myself spending the afternoon in her ghostly company again... Review: Mamma Mia! at the Liverpool Echo Arena I HAVE never counted myself as an Abba fan, but my husband definitely is, (he’s always had a bit of a thing for the blonde one!) so with this in mind I took him along to the opening night of Mamma ... Review: The Sound of Music at Venue Cymru, Llandudno It's almost four years since the smash hit production of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music hit the West End in London. Review: Pieces at Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold GETTING a call from a director asking you to take a major role in a new play being premiered in Wales' leading theatre must be a good thing for any actress Review: The History Boys at Clwyd Theatr Cymru WHAT do TV stars James Corden, Andrew Tovey and new Dr Who Matt Smith have in common with Stephen Webb, who as a child was knocked off a stage by Jarvis Cocker during his Michael Jackson protest at... Review: Ballet Nacional de Cuba at the Lowry, Salford It is now 10 years since the iconic Lowry opened its doors, a decade of theatrical premieres, innovation and classic events with some of the world’s finest actors, performers and dance companies - ... Review: The Comedy of Errors at Manchester's Royal Exchange TO paraphrase one literary critic: "The problem with Shakespeare’s comedies is they are not funny". Review: Andersen's English at Clwyd Theatr Cymru TRYING to express yourself coherently in another language is not easy, especially when in your native tongue you're a wordsmith of world-class renown – and you are a guest in the house of another c... Review: Andersen’s English at Clwyd Theatr Cymru TRYING to express yourself coherently in another language is not easy, especially when in your native tongue you're a wordsmith of world-class renown – and you are a guest in the house of another c... Review: The 39 Steps at Clwyd Theatr Cymru The 39 Steps is a jolly good evening out, and a wonderful recreation of Hitchcock's movie take on John Buchan's spy thriller novel. Review: Shakespeare's Will at Clwyd Theatr Cymru ANNE Hathaway has been dead five centuries but she's been given a breath of new life by Vivien Parry at Mold's Clwyd Theatr Cymru. Review: Defending the Caveman at Venue Cymru Defending the Caveman, the longest running solo show in Broadway history came to Venue Cymru, Llandudno on March 17 and 18. Review: Ballet Rambert at Clwyd Theatr Cymru JUST how unnatural our natural world can be comes under the spotlight with a new work given its Welsh première by Ballet Rambert at Mold Clwyd Theatr Cymru. Review: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at Rhyl Pavilion When I was asked, "How do you fancy going to see Craig Chalmers get his kit off?" I didn't take much persuading. So I went along to the opening night of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamco... Review: Little Big Club at Venue Cymru, Llandudno THE chirpy, four strong cast of children’s stage show Little Big Club present an energetic kaleidoscope of music and colour.