599 stories by "Clare Brennan"
West Yorkshire Playhouse, LeedsPanned on its release in 1980, this comedy of working-class northern life remains unconvincingAlan Bennett's play about a family in an about to be demolished b…
Royal Lyceum, EdinburghDavid Haig's play about wartime meteorologists studying the weather for D-day is witty and affectingAn enormous chart dominates the makeshift weather centre (design by…
Tron, GlasgowTimberlake Wertenbaker's exploration of oppression is full of good intentions but short on craftThis year, Mayfesto examines colonialism through a mixture of performances readin…
Curve, LeicesterBuoyant performances if not Richard E Grant's hologram brighten a messy remake of a favourite Victorian classicYou wouldn't expect a 21st-century adaptation of a 19th-centu…
Tamsin Oglesby reworks a classic farce into a loosely connected sequence of gagsGeorges Feydeau (1862-1921) has been described as "perhaps the most brilliantly adroit of all devisers of…
Crucible, SheffieldBarry Hines's classic Barnsley story gets an impressive makeover as part of the Yorkshire festivalYorkshire festival 2014 celebrates the arrival of the Grand Départ…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterThe language is sizzling and the performances scorching, yet Vivienne Franzmann's tale of two trapped sisters has fatal flaws in the scriptJoanna Scotcher's forcefu…
This storming new production of John Waters' musical comedy has audiences at Leicester's Curve battling to stay stillIt's Baltimore, 1962. Penny Pingleton's mother (Sorelle Marsh " all angle…
Anya Reiss overlooks the wider context in her vivid reimagining of Chekhov at the LowryAnton Chekhov's plays are sometimes treated with an over-earnestness that turns them into museum pieces…
Innovative design and a ponderous script are at odds in The Believers at Plymouth's Theatre RoyalIf looks were everything, what a great production this would be. Jon Bauser is a super-whiz a…
New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme; Crucible, Sheffield; Lyttelton, LondonDramatic irony proves deeply affecting as the domestic and the epic meet in the lives of Lancashire folk in August 1914An…
York Theatre Royal This gutsy production reminds us why, 30 years after the miners' strike, being poor in Britain is still the pits"Over the last 10 years this bloody government has systemat…
Nottingham PlayhouseSally Ann-Triplett's heartstopping Judy overcomes any script shortcomings in this tale of fan and heroineWhen you read a book, you see through the eyes of the author. Whe…
Kilmardinny House Arts Centre, Bearsden, GlasgowThis bitty co-production exploring what it means to be Scottish is a missed opportunityRantin, we are told in the course of the performance, i…
Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh; until SatPowerful performances enrich this reading of Eugene O'Neill's classic family dramaAt first this could almost be a TV commercial for something solid, secure …
Lowry Studio, Salford; and touringOne woman's journey from Lancashire mill lass to brick-throwing suffragette makes for a sharp and intelligent musical"Suddenly, something distantly historic…
RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon; York Theatre Royal; Hull TruckPeter Pan has plenty of magic in spite of a dragging plot while Aladdin is better than ever at York Theatre RoyalJM Barrie's story of …
West Yorkshire Playhouse, LeedsNotions of identity and belonging make for a spellbinding adaptation of the Kipling classic, while Father Christmas keeps things endearingly simpleMowgli brand…
Curve, LeicesterPaul Kerryson's production of Chicago can be summed up in one word: brilliantFormer Chicago Tribune reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins wrote the play Chicago is based on in 1926…
Theatre Royal, YorkA bold staging, and an impressive lead, but sound and fury are no substitute for emotional intensityThe curtain call is interrupted by Ian Bartholomew, who has just played…
Paragon Interchange, Hull; and touringA railway station near you is the setting for this moving tribute to the children of the Kindertransport and those who helped themOperating on levels pe…
Birmingham RepThe transformation of Molière's play into a knockabout farce blunts the original's menaceChristmas has come early to Birmingham this year with the transformation of this great…
Traverse, EdinburghA teenage boy slays his dragons following the death of his mother in this unforgettable theatrical tour de forceThe opening 20 minutes of this touring show offer one of th…
Octagon, BoltonA sensitive ensemble and a sharp production do justice to Eugene O'Neill's astonishing family dramaEugene O'Neill (1888-1953) gave instructions that this 1941 work should not …
Crucible, SheffieldPaul Miller's effective, uncluttered production runs out of steam in the final actThe opening scenes of Paul Miller's production of this late Shakespeare play are as stark…
