Royal Exchange, ManchesterInspired by Cornelia Parker famous artwork, and tracking three couples across three decades, Phoebe Eclair-Powell's play is a clever concept that never catches fire…
New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeA top cast directed by Caroline Wilkes revel in Ron Hutchinson's laugh-out-loud, if overlong story charting the corporation's first wireless play In the early 19…
Barn theatre, Cirencester; Watermill theatre, NewburyThe deductive powers of the famous sleuth are put to new uses in these inventive if patchy interpretations, one playful, the other musica…
Playhouse, SheffieldArchers actor Katie Redford captures the ever-shifting mix of love and pain between parent and child in her conversation-starting theatrical soap opera In a recent interv…
Royal & Derngate, NorthamptonThe physical comedy ensemble revives the ancient Greek play in an audacious staging with a tragicomic present-day backstory The keynotes of the time are chao…
The Mill at Sonning, ReadingThe stage adaptation of the Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra film is brought to life by a full-of-verve cast in Joseph Pitcher's fine revival In the gam…
Our roving critic's highlights include a bravura O'Casey trilogy, a Lionel Bart classic that delivered more, and a perfectly cast portrait of a marriage Read the Observer critics' review of …
Curve, Leicester; Sherman theatre, CardiffThe action feels distanced in Nikolai Foster's coolly striking new production of the Lloyd Webber-Rice musical, while turmoil stalks the Darling hou…
Leeds Playhouse; Stephen Joseph theatre, Scarborough; Royal Lyceum, EdinburghLionel Bart's classic musical is all light and shade in James Brining's in-the-round revival; actors and audience…
Hull Truck theatre, Hull; and touringThree struggling twentysomethings find solace in dance in the writer-director's well performed if not quite satisfying new work I caught the John Godber …
Swan, Stratford-upon-AvonGender identity comes to town in writer-co-director Charlie Josephine's atmospheric but slow-going tale of a disruptive stranger Last year, in I, Joan, at London's G…
Alphabetti theatre, NewcastleIn Racheal Ofori's bright new play, Leah St Luce and Jadesola Odunjo delight as wannabe influencers whose friendship is tested by the temptations of fame and for…
Home, ManchesterThe hit Edinburgh fringe musical about two friends on the trail of a killer has been awkwardly expanded but is still a delight The storyline of this 2022 musical centr…
Nottingham PlayhouseThis 'theatre poem' by the Australian dramatist Tom Wright lacks drama under Stephen Bailey's direction An electric-guitar wielding narrator, dressed in black leather, de…
Pitlochry Festival theatreAn impressive ensemble makes the most of Peter Arnott's new country house play, set during Scotland's 2014 independence vote Adaptations of the plays of the pre-rev…
Theatre by the Lake, KeswickThe audience takes on a supporting role to Andrew Turner's solo turn in this moving paean to what makes life worth living This is not a play, but it is playful; i…
His Majesty's theatre, AberdeenStrong performances are the lifeblood of Morna Pearson's new adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic tale for the National Theatre of Scotland and Aberdeen Perform…
Town Hall theatre, GalwayO'Casey's three plays of working-class Dublin life encompass conflict, grief and the human spirit in Garry Hynes's fine production A highlight of this year's Galway …
Leeds PlayhouseThe songs of the big O are used in crafty ways in David West Read's moving, celebratory story about getting a band back together David West Read (writer) and Luke Sheppard (di…
Minerva, ChichesterRakie Ayola excels as Adrienne Kennedy, whose John Lennon play was taken up by Laurence Olivier's National Theatre while she was sidelined, in this crystal-clear productio…
Octagon theatre, BoltonA group of hastily recruited 'sisters' achieve harmony in Alan Plater's charming play about music and laughter as a relief from war "It's a day-in-the-life piece about…
Northern Stage, Newcastle; and touringDave Johns, who played Daniel Blake in the Ken Loach film, brings this chilling drama of life on benefits to new audiences "It is a work of fiction… "…
New Vic theatre, Newcastle-under-LymeConrad Nelson's fast-flowing production, which races through time and space, exemplifies the ingenuity of regional theatre In a recent article for the Gu…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterDario Fo and Franca Rama's bitterly comic 1974 satire is a timely fit for today's cost of living crisis, here impeded by a cartoonishly bright set An everyday situa…
Old Laundry theatre, Bowness-on WindermereThe playwright's latest comedy boasts some fine acting, and touches on big themes, but fails to engage emotionally Alan Ayckbourn is a consummate co…