Mel Brooks's classic musical about two swindling impresarios gets a risky reprise, while a brilliant cast carry off Cole Porter"It ain't no myst'ry. If it's politics or hist'ry. The thing yo…
Ustinov, BathDiana Quick and Ian Gelder star as Holocaust survivors moving from New York to Florida in this superb production of Donald Margulies's 80s black comedyFinely directed by Laurenc…
NST City, SouthamptonJon Brittain's musical adaptation of David Walliams's tale of Joe Spud, the richest boy in the country, has plenty to sing aboutDavid Walliams's book titles give more th…
Home, ManchesterThough prison metaphors threaten to oversimplify this nuanced tale of sinister role-play, great performances win outWhen Mistress is out, her two maids, sisters Claire and So…
York Theatre RoyalPantomime gags drive home the betrayal of the working class in this deft update of Fo's comic caperHunger is the starting point for Italian Nobel prize winner Dario Fo's 19…
Nottingham PlayhouseThrough Gatiss, the audience feels the agonies of Alan Bennett's tormented monarchKing George III is not mad, but he is ill. However, the porphyria from which he suffers …
Crucible, SheffieldA crack ensemble delivers Kate Bowen's timely new play exploring identity and gender through female officers on their first tour of dutyLast month, the defence secretary a…
Live theatre, NewcastleA fantastical reworking of The Fall of the House of Usher set in a Tyneside psychiatric ward hits all the right notesA large, bright clock face looms over double doors…
Leeds PlayhouseCharacters stranded in a transitional land exchange stories, fears and hopes in this timely productionPremiered during the Yugoslav wars, the action of David Greig's first ful…
Albion Electric Warehouse, LeedsThe audience becomes part of the action in this tremendous promenade production of Brecht's antiwar, anti-capitalist playRed Ladder is 50 this year. For a com…
Birmingham Rep, and touringThe now-retired inspector returns in a new story by Ian Rankin and playwright Rona MunroIn one of Ian Rankin's Rebus stories, the curmudgeonly Edinburgh detective …
Crucible Studio, SheffieldThin characterisation and half-formed scenes mar this play about women, race and Labour politics set in a northern cityChris Bush's new play, directed by Rebecca Fr…
Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughAlan Ayckbourn blurs the lines as an ageing crime writer's life invades his fictionFor three of its four acts, the tone of Alan Ayckbourn's new play, his 8…
York Theatre RoyalA stunning cast and unshowy direction do full justice to Bennett's far-reaching play imagining a meeting between Auden and BrittenIt's 1972. To the Oxford college rooms of …
CanadaHub at King's Hall, EdinburghCliff Cardinal's visceral tale of addiction, violence and abuse is a shape-shifting tour de force"It's a tough watch," said the man handing over my ti…
Assembly Rainy Hall, Edinburgh Mark O'Rowe's compelling new work draws breathtaking performances from Aisling O'Sullivan, Cathy Belton and Derbhle Crotty"People are sitting at a table having…
Grosvenor Park Open Air theatre, ChesterThe fun moments cannot lift Bryony Lavery's workaday productionSharks surge between the banked tiers of the temporary auditorium, dorsal fins glide be…
Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughThe playwright directs a terrific revival of his 1978 play centred around a happy couple who want for nothing…Written a decade after Iris Murdoch's novel…
Milton Keynes international festivalA thrilling collaboration between a circus and dance company full of daring leaps and bounds, and a giant Jenga setBlock is one of five circus-inspired ev…
Williamson Park, LancasterThemes of kindness and inclusivity are threaded cleverly through a lavish, thrilling adaptation"All for one and one for all!" rings out the cry of the three muskete…
New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeAn action-packed production tells the story of the local man who invented big-top entertainment 250 years agoCircus is hopefulness in action. Objects fly, people…
Chester CathedralIn a break from tradition this year, Chester's Mystery Plays are performed inside the city's cathedral. The setting suits them " and they it. Stage lanterns blaze on to a ma…
Children's Wood and North Kelvin Meadow, GlasgowNational Theatre of Scotland's pioneering play transports the audience into the individual worlds of autistic performers"Embrace nature," says…
Various venues, BoltonAn inventive adaptation of the Cliff Richard movie takes its audience all aboard for an unashamedly feelgood outingMany transport promises have been broken round these …
Paisley Arts CentreThe staple figure of Slavic folklore is wittily recreated as a noisy neighbour with magical powersAny Russians in the audience expecting to find the Baba Yaga of childhood…