599 stories by "Clare Brennan"
Hull Truck theatreThis engaging production makes the most of a small cast and minimal staging, but needs more urgency early on
The plot of Jules Verne's 1872 novel is well known. Phileas Fo…
Royal & Derngate, Northampton, and touringThe classic novel reimagined as a sort of police procedural becomes a storm of ideas struggling to find definition
A barrage of sound mixes rain…
New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeFrank Marcus's 60s black comedy, about a radio soap star whose character has been axed, suffers from a rather two-dimensional makeover
"It's BBC policy to face u…
Royal Lyceum theatre, Edinburgh, and touringOlder, American and previously divorced, Frances Stevenson frames the National Theatre of Scotland's pantomime-inspired recasting of the novelist'…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterA mainly black cast and modern setting inject this new production with a dose of symbolic power
Two sides of a family battle over land in Tennessee Williams's 1955 …
Guildhall, DerryThis musical drama about the lives of Northern Ireland peacemakers gives a familiar story a new dimension
Beyond Belief, written by Damian Gorman and composed by Brian O'Dohe…
York Theatre Royal, and touringJessica Kaur captivates as a talented teenage runner trying to escape her father's expectations and violence in a vivid, if overlong production
Run, Rebel is t…
Shakespeare North Playhouse, PrescotPrescot is pitted against Scarborough " and women get their fair share of the limelight " in this engaging rewrite of Shakespeare's comedy
When this impre…
Harrogate theatre, and touringImitating the Dog's exciting live action-video fusion, which sets the Scottish play in a modern-day crime syndicate, leaves Lady Macbeth out in the cold
In turn…
Royal Lyceum, EdinburghThe concept is promising, and it's acted with panache, yet Zinnie Harris's Shakespeare adaptation falls flat
An essay accompanying the programme of Zinnie Harris's lat…
Nottingham Playhouse, and touringAn at times arresting production of Christy Lefteri's bestseller is let down by its didactic structure
Nuri is the beekeeper of Aleppo, or he was, until his …
Hope Mill theatre, ManchesterThis improbable mashup of Philip Sidney's Arcadia and the pioneering LA rock band has plenty of rhythm but little dramatic jeopardy
Sir Philip Sidney's 1590 work…
Jacksons Lane, London Glass's latest collaboration cites female power but suggests the opposite, and comes as London's influential mime festival prepares to disperse
After 47 appearances, th…
Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal BathThe Hollywood star is on top form opposite Dougray Scott in Edward Albee's classic tale of a marriage gone sour
Edward Albee's first short play, The Zoo Sto…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterCo-writer Maxine Peake stars as an am-dram actor playing the former Commons speaker in Sarah Frankcom's end-of-the-pier-style production
"But this isn't historicall…
New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeAn underprivileged Alice fights for the wonder of book-learning in Theresa Heskin's transformative take on Carroll's classic tale
A stubby barge manoeuvres throu…
Bristol Old VicThe final production from outgoing artistic director Tom Morris draws fresh weirdness from ETA Hoffmann's source story
Tom Morris takes his last bow as the Bristol Old Vic's a…
Taunton Brewhouse, and touringTangle Theatre's dynamic five-actor staging features a dazzling debut from Daniel Rock
Founded in 2009, Tangle Theatre Company's aim is to champion African and …
York Theatre RoyalDespite some witty twists, the stage version of David Reed's tragi-comic radio play is, well, a bit of a damp squib
By the end of the performance, a tang of pyrotechnics ha…
Crucible, SheffieldSteve Waters's newly revived and updated companion pieces about global heating have lost none of their urgency
Steve Waters's double bill about global heating, The Conting…
Birmingham RepAnil Gupta and Richard Pinto's updating of Molière favours caricature over character, offset by some dynamic performances
Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto's updated version (creat…
Theatre Royal, Glasgow; and touringA racist ode by the court poet William Dunbar is the problematic inspiration for the fourth of Munro's James plays exploring Scotland past and present
Rona…
Theatr Clywd, MoldThis co-production with Chichester Festival theatre nails the atmosphere and the performances, if not Enid Blyton's knack for a good plot
Here be: a dastardly villain disgu…
Abbey theatre, DublinO'Brien's new play, imagining James Joyce through the eyes of the women in his life, is the hot ticket at the Dublin theatre festival
Joyce's Women, the opening producti…
Stephen Joseph theatre, ScarboroughDirecting a masterly production, the playwright follows three generations of women in one home, from 1952 to 2022
Alan Ayckbourn's 87th play makes masterly…
