122 stories by "Matt Merritt"
The Alchemist, presented here with some script revision from Stephen Jeffreys is a riotous romp through Jacobean London!
It's a rare feeling to sit in the audience for a play and feel you truly don't know what to expect " in the age of social media, it's impossible not to have a good idea what to expect, but w…
Angus Jackson, who recently directed the sell-out RSC productions of Oppenheimer and Don Quixote, is director for the Rome season. He will direct the opening and closing plays of the 2017 sc…
We're confirmed fans of Chichester Festival Theatre here, and for us their announcement of a new season is a bit like Christmas! The Winter 2016 season has a great range of entertainment and…
The 70s were a hotbed for edgy takes on musical theatre so it's remarkable that some of the shows that have lingered with us the longest share a common source " the Bible. From the Lloyd Web…
The Union Theatre's founder Sasha Regan, who is a wonderful facilitator and supporter of young talent and vital to a growing industry, doesn't have to play by the normal rules
With constant depressing news in the wider world, theatre news offers a respite. Recent news to celebrate includes Mark Rylance's West End return, the London premiere of Owen McCafferty's Un…
Fracking is something of a contentious subject in West Sussex, so where better to stage Alistair Beaton's new comedy Fracked! (or: Please don't use the word). Littered with references to ver…
There are times when theatre can seem almost too prescient, where a show can offer a glimpse into a possible future that seems a little too real. There are moments in Michael Strassen's prod…
Shakespeare's early plays are often problematic, with the bawdier comedies such as The Comedy of Errors the faults are hidden within some gloriously silly slapstick, but in The Two Gentlemen…
Florian Zeller's name is fast becoming a byword for gripping, fascinating and often brilliantly funny theatre. Productions of The Mother and The Father have racked up critical raves and when…
Like most of Shakespeare's tragedies, Macbeth works best when viewed on the strength of the relationships between its characters. Sure the blood and guts murders are ways to get bum on seats…
Anarchy! It's not what you expect from a Shakespeare play… even one that has been performed in as many ways as A
Midsummer Night's Dream has been tackled. Emma Rice's debut piece in her f…
Can I start with a confession? I never really "got" Titanic… Sure, Maury Yeston's music and Peter Stone's book had the requisite bombast, but I'd never seen much evidence of the heart. Lea…
Press week was delayed when Kathy Rose O'Brien was injured and unable to perform but, as we should expect in a year where Ria Jones and Natasha Barnes have stepped up and stolen the show in …
The mix of Damon Runyon's characters with Frank Loesser's music has always been hugely popular and this vibrant production, directed by Gordon Greenberg brings it bang up to date with punchy…
Hugh Bonneville, making a long-awaited return to the stage, plays the role of Dr Stockmann to perfection with a mix of zealous need to do what is right and just a touch of egotistically need…
Before today I knew she was good but by the time I left the theatre I was sure of one thing… Ria Jones is a star!
Final casting is announced for the return of the multi award-winning production of the Broadway musical Titanic, first seen at Southwark Playhouse, which is coming back to London with direct…
I'm a bit of an Avenue Q fan, I think we can admit that. In fact, every time this production has appeared anywhere near home I've made a point to go see it, you can read my thoughts on this …
But how do the plays translate to the small screen? Surprisingly well actually. The RSC's theatre is tailormade for filming a production with the thrust stage allowing for a variety of angle…
It's been almost a quarter of a century (well, 23 and a half years) since Stephen Daldry's revival of An Inspector Calls first opened in London and it was 18 years ago that I first saw it. I…
This year may be the battle of the Cymbelines, with the Royal Shakespeare Company presenting their take while the Globe present two versions, one currently running in the Sam Wanamaker Playh…
Great rehearsal images from Hamlet, starring Paapa Essiedu in the title role. Hamlet opens 12 March 2016 in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. Photos by Manuel Harlan for th…
In the theatre news round-up this week: Dreamgirls, The Painkiller, In the Heights and more.
