599 stories by "Clare Brennan"
York city centreA drama about the outbreak of the first world war staged in the streets of York offers an entrancing, immersive experienceIt's 1914. War is declared. The first volunteers mar…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterA small businessman is forced to engage with society in a passionate version of Arthur Miller's playIt hadn't occurred to me that there might be any issues attached…
Birmingham RepA troubled woman finds redemption in a lively play about female prisonersRapper, poet, writer Kate Tempest's new play for Paines Plough and Birmingham Rep follows a familiar pl…
Flag Fen, PeterboroughLocals and landowners are at war in Forbes Bramble's impressive play set in the Fens 300 years agoThe performance takes place in a marquee, but the surrounding site add…
Harrogate theatreA banned Russian play from the 1920s is given a northern spin in this powerful adaptationA hungry man goes into the kitchen to snaffle a midnight sausage. His family and nei…
The second Samuel Beckett festival was a memorable five-day celebration of the great man's visionIt's eight o'clock in the morning. We stand on the island of Devenish, in what remains of a 1…
Lyceum, EdinburghMeredith Monk's skilful work encourages us to reflect on our relationship with natureThe Edinburgh international festival sets off thought-provoking resonances. The Russian …
Playhouse, EdinburghThe Beijing People's Art Theatre get heavy with Shakespeare's tragedyThe Beijing People's Art Theatre, established in 1952, specialises mainly in new writing. Its hallmar…
Bush, London; Theatre in the Park, Chichester; The Shed, LondonActor Cush Jumbo's first play, Josephine and I, juxtaposes the lives of two performers. One is the phenomenal entertainer Josep…
Bush, London; Theatre in the Park, Chichester; The Shed, LondonActor Cush Jumbo's first play, Josephine and I, juxtaposes the lives of two performers. One is the phenomenal entertainer Josep…
Young Vic, London; Royal Exchange, ManchesterPatrice Lumumba was democratically elected prime minister of Congo on 23 June 1960. Seven days later, the country gained independence from Belgia…
Theatre Royal, BathGeorge Bernard Shaw's Candida, written and set in 1894, explores a love triangle in a north-east London parsonage. Incendiary emotions are played out beside the domestic h…
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…
Crucible theatre, SheffieldFunny, touching and magical, this brand new musical comedy, with book, lyrics and music all by Tim Firth, presents a view of one family's life at intersecting mome…
Tramway, GlasgowThe Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner is, as many may know, a reality- and identity-bending, satirical novel written in 1824 by James Hogg, the Scottish s…
Theatre Royal, BathNoël Coward's 1951 comedy gets off to a heart-sinkingly creaky start: in a splendid library (splendidly designed by Stephen Brimson Lewis) a butler (Rory Bremner) and a…
Secret venue, ManchesterIt's hard not to warm to a show that quotes Percy Bysshe Shelley ("Shake your chains to earth like dew… Ye are many " they are few") and Thomas Paine ("We have it i…
Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne; then touringThis portmanteau piece by a new company called Northern Spirit aims to challenge the cliche that it's grim up north. In four stories by four …
Hull Truck, Hull; and touringI almost never go to a performance only because I believe readers may find it interesting, yet that is what took me to this. The thought of participating in an e…
West Yorkshire Playhouse, LeedsThe celebrated illusionist David Devant (1868-1941) recommended stringing magical feats like beads along a thread of dramatic interest. Writer Mark Catley does…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterNew writing has a special kind of energy. It generates a particular charge, especially when it's performed, as here, by cracking actors in a solid production (joint…
Royal Exchange, Manchester"I've discovered this Christmas that the law is not what I thought… and I can't accept that the law is right. If a woman cannot spare her old dying father… or s…
Nottingham PlayhouseThis ponderous adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's 2003 novel is lightened by master musician Hanif Khan's on-stage tabla playing and by involving performances from its 10-st…
Belgrade theatre, CoventryYou know those football matches where, from that very first touch of the ball at kick-off, you can tell this is going to be a good one " and then it really is? That…
Hull Truck, HullTim Fountain's new piece operates on two levels: romantic and political. As a romance it plays out a standard story of lovelorn westerners finding fulfilment in the east. Deb…
