The Guildhall, HullPeake's rich new play, with music by the Unthanks, tells the story of the Hull women who fought the government on fishermen's safety and wonIn 1968, extraordinary storms l…
Watermill theatre, NewburySix actors play 37 roles in a beautifully balanced production of Dylan Thomas's classic play for voicesBy 1953, the poet Dylan Thomas was ready to turn to writing l…
Sherman theatre, CardiffDenise Black stars as a hard-drinking matriarch in this slimmed-down reimagining of the Russian's play, relocated to Pembrokeshire in 1982In his new play, Gary Owen "…
Spode Works, Stoke-on-TrentA young woman comes to fear that her dying father is harbouring a grim secret in this powerful domestic thrillerThe title of Deborah McAndrew's new play for Claybo…
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds Needlessly fleshed out and lacking focus, this Ibsen adaptation feels sadly jerry-builtZinnie Harris has previously adapted classic texts to great acclaim. He…
Victoria Dock, HullSlung Low's four-part floating spectacle is not as immersive as it thinks it isBack in the early 20th century, when a theatre wanted spectacle, it would flood an auditori…
Dean Clough Mill, HalifaxA fast-paced adaptation of the 18th-century French satire sees Northern Broadsides director/performer Barrie Rutter bow out in style"He's a guggling midden-daup"; "A…
Belgrade theatre, CoventryThis tale of a guard dog in Stalin's Russia captures the essence of the gulags only too wellAll is grey, wind howls, light is dim: design, sound and music suggest b…
Hull Truck theatre, HullJohannesburg company Market Theatre delivers a universal message about prejudice from the story of a couple fleeing their village for the cityIt's appropriate that Jo…
Theatre By the Lake, KeswickHigh-flying writer Laura Eason's latest drama doesn't quite hit the markBrooklyn-based Laura Eason is an acclaimed writer with notable hits to her credit, includi…
Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughThe audience is in on the joke in the playwright's own production of his comedyHow do you make a farce with no doors? This was the challenge Alan Ayckbourn…
Park theatre, LondonA classy cast ground Joe Orton's comedy, despite a distractingly fabulous setGabriella Slade's design looks fabulous but it very nearly mutes Loot's thunder. Half the fun…
Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal BathHenry Goodman's powerful performance fills out a sometimes superficial portrait of Lucian Freud as an older manWe are looking at the older Lucian Freud (192…
From Palestine to Aberfan, identity and belonging dominate " alongside Fritz Lang at the circus, existential football and a song for beached whales"That's not right…" The taxi driver and I…
Williamson Park, LancasterThe setting is inspired, but the adventure has been reduced to a domestic fableNight has fallen. We walk through a wooded glen. Music and birdsong fill the air. Lea…
Curve, LeicesterSue Townsend's sly writing is pummelled to fit narrative arcs of love triumphant and ambition realised in this musical adaptationWhat do you ask of a new musical? Attention-g…
Mick Lally theatre, GalwayA strong three-woman cast struggle to redeem this often bizarre evocation of impoverished Irish lives"Everyone rose to their feet... to applaud... But I could not h…
Upper Campfield Market Hall, ManchesterJane Horrocks stars in a collage of song, history and drama whose most powerful presences are its stage projections"Can you help me a bit?" A spotlit J…
Theatre by the Lake, KeswickStrindberg's passion play remains as resonant today in Howard Brenton's new translation as it was when first performed in the Paris of 189Times and theatrical fas…
New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeA cast of eight deftly play a globe's worth of characters in Laura Eason's rollicking Jules Verne adaptationLaura Eason's 2013 adaptation of Around the World in …
Theatre Royal, YorkBridget Foreman's moving, resonant play combines outdoor performance, newsreel footage and a huge local cast to memorable effectOutside York Minster, a pro-democracy demon…
West Yorkshire Playhouse, LeedsA compelling coming-of-age story about five hopefuls set to compete in a poetry 'slam' competitionSmoke hazes the stage. Close to the audience, five microphone…
Private homes in Toxteth, LiverpoolKeith Saha's drama for the Sgt Pepper anniversary expands on its domestic setting with puppetry and magical realismThe Beatles didn't just come from Liverp…
Manchester Royal ExchangeAn irreverent adaptation of Jane Austen's last novel puts a fun spin on the source material, but fails to honour her characters' complexitiesTo describe this as a fr…
Moesgaard Museum, Aarhus, Denmark With its rooftop setting, clashing of swords and larger-than-life characters, this Viking epic is a fitting centrepiece to Aarhus's European capital of cult…