599 stories by "Clare Brennan"
Royal & Derngate, NorthamptonFive actors play more than 100 roles as Tati's 60s satire is transformed into a meet-cute comedy of quick-change physical comedy
The late, great Observer fil…
Dundee RepTony Roper's 1987 play conjures a vanished world whose hardship and longing for community feel nonetheless familiar
The world of The Steamie is long gone. Public laundries, where w…
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonJamie Wilkes's Parolles steals the show in Blanche McIntyre's unromantic, social media-inflected production
All's Well That Ends Well is one of …
Pitlochry Festival theatreThis playful adaptation of Charlotte Higgins's book is charming, if a little lacking in narrative drive
How to dramatise a text that is part travelogue, part explor…
Nottingham PlayhouseThe casting of twins as the separated sisters adds a frisson to Trevor Nunn's elegant production of the twice-filmed tale, with pitch-perfect music by George Stiles
Erich…
Curve, LeicesterFifty years on, these specially commissioned pieces movingly and unflinchingly reflect the experiences of Ugandan refugees in Britain
Eleanor Field's set suggests impermanenc…
Watermill, NewburyTom Jackson Greaves thrillingly fuses movement with music in his revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Louisiana-set take on the classic 60s film
Many will remember Whistle Down…
Johnstone town hallThe Paisley-born playwright and artist pays tribute to hometown hero Gerry Rafferty in a coming-of-age musical amplified by 60s pop hits
In interviews, playwright and arti…
Theatre by the Lake, KeswickThe opening is great, but with characters as thin as the air at high altitude, Carmen Nasr's new mountaineering drama is downhill from there
The location is perfe…
New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeClowning and humour are brilliantly woven into the darkness and danger of this prisoner-of-war story, best known from the 1963 film
Tom, Dick and Harry are the t…
Birmingham RepThis attempt to make Mustapha Matura's adaptation of the classic drama into a calypso-laced entertainment has lost something in translation
Something's not quite right. The sou…
Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath; and touringRebecca Lenkiewicz's version of this 1900 play loses the high stakes of the influential original
August Strindberg is probably best known in th…
Everyman theatre, LiverpoolChloë Moss's well-intentioned new play can't quite navigate the choppy waters of sex and race among the crew of a cargo ship
This ambitious new play by Chloë…
Storyhouse, ChesterTim Firth's touching show about a father and son converting a bank into a home is perfectly constructed and performed
This father-and-son love story is unabashedly sentime…
Nottingham PlayhouseA young footballer is groomed by his coach in a new play lacking the intensity and drama of the beautiful game at its best
"If your first touch is good, life is easy. If …
Northern Stage, NewcastleA strong cast makes Claudia Rankine's exploration of the 'invisibility of whiteness' compelling
Alex tells Charlotte he is angry that "your people" are being incarce…
Octagon, BoltonAn Egyptian-British father and daughter tussle over culture clashes in an underpowered Wigan-set drama saved by its smart design
Ashraf (Dana Haqjoo), born in Egypt, longtime …
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonThe consummate stagecraft of the RSC evokes the chaos of warfare, but the characterisation gets lost in the tumult
Opposing leaders, each assert…
Nottingham PlayhouseCaroline Bird's drama about the Labour MP Ellen Wilkinson gives us the bullet points of an extraordinary life but slips into melodrama
The Red Ellen of the title was Elle…
Comédie-Française, ParisIn an innovative and risk-taking 400th anniversary season, Ivo van Hove and others explore the comic master's endless variety
In the foyer of the Comédie-FranÅ
Perth theatreA talented cast and inventive creatives adapt a classic story of transformation into youth theatre at its best
Earlier this year, a number of theatre professionals shared, via …
Sherman Theatre, CardiffThe action may be absurd but the trauma and confusion of growing up are totally realistic
Pwdin is 12 years old. He thinks he's fat ("You're not fat!" exclaim the adu…
Bristol Old VicA schoolboy overcomes his stammer in an energising paean to the power of language marked by fine performances
Writer Ross Willis has a terrific feel for words, their sounds, t…
Leeds PlayhouseEfforts to make Shakespeare accessible to all rub against confused staging and wayward delivery in Amy Leach's ambitious production
Cacophonous crashes signal the opening. Sea…
York Theatre RoyalA Rohingya refugee boy in an Australian detention centre befriends a local girl in a moving adaptation of Zana Fraillon's novel
In staging Zana Fraillon's 2016 novel, York-…
