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Reviews
Laughing Boy by Stephen Unwin. Jermyn Street Theatre, 16B Jermyn Street, London SW1 to 25 May 2024 and then at the Theatre Royal, Bath. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.
“Harrowing, beguiling, magnificent and finely performed.”
Photo Credit: Alex Brenner.
Carlos Acosta: On Before. Theatre Royal Plymouth, till 28 February 2024. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: Cormac Richards
“A true privilege to witness.”
Minority Report by David Haig. Based on the novella by Philip K Dick. The Lyric Theatre, King Street, Hammersmith, London W6 to 18 May 2024. 4✩✩✩✩. Review: William Russell.
“Splendidly staged version of a classic sci fi story.”
Photo Credit: Marc Brenner.
The Silence, Birmingham REP, 23 – 27 April, by Sonali Bhattacharyya, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Ishy Din and Alexandra Wood. On tour next at Home Manchester (30 April – 04 May). 4✩✩✩✩ Review: Dan Auluk.
“A powerful reminder of how silence can affect us all. Everybody should witness this!”
Photo Credit: Harry Ellleston
Centre stage: Mendelssohn String Octet: CBSO Centre, Birmingham, 26 April 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: David Gray & Paul Gray.
“An energetic and convincing reading of Mendelssohn’s youthful masterwork.”
Remembrance Monday by Michael Batten. Seven Dials Playhouse, 1A Tower Street, London WC2H to 01 June 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.
“…a moving and ultimately tragic tale well worth adding to your list of plays to see.”
Photo Credit: Danny Kaan.
Bruckner 7, CBSO, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 25 April 2024. 5✩✩✩✩✩ David Gray & Paul Gray.
“A mighty interpretation and performance of a mighty symphony by Anton Bruckner.”
Photo Credit: Jenny Bestwick
Calendar Girls by Tim Firth. The Mill at Sonning, Reading RG4 to 1 June 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.
“A well staged revival of a much loved play.”
Photo Credit: Andreas Lambis.
BBC Concert Orchestra and Alistair McGowan, Lakeside, Nottingham, 20 April 2024. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: William Ruff.
“Vivid, unsettling music-drama in which the Devil has all the best tunes.”
Banging Denmark by Van Badham. The Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW 10 to 11 May 2025. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.
“Terrific biting satire about on line predators and falling in love.”
Photo Credit: Ali Wright.
Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, 19 April 2024. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: William Ruff.
“An exhilarating ride through 60 turbulent years of Russian music.”
Britten & Tchaikovsky, CBSO, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 17 April 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: David Gray & Paul Gray.
“Overall: a dreamy concert about dreaming.”
The Drifters Girl – Birmingham Hippodrome, 16 April ‘till Saturday 20 April 2024, then on tour. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: Paul Gray & Louise Burke.
“Vocal harmonies that make time stand still. But just who is The Drifters Girl?”
Photo: Courtesy of Birmignham Hippodrome.
Boys on the Verge of Tears by Sam Grabiner. Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D to 18 May 2024. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.
“Challenging, unmissable, exciting, dazzlingly directed and performed.”
Photo Credit: Marc Brenner.
Dresden Philharmonic, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Tuesday 16 April 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: David Gray & Paul Gray.
“Lush Russian romanticism contrasted with Mid-20th Century Russian angst.”
Photo Credit: Bjoern Kadenbach
Bluebeard by Emma Rice, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2EP. 11 – 20 April 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: Joanna Jarvis
“We all make bad bargains.”
Photo Credit: Steve Tanner (Image of Tristan Sturrock as Bluebeard)
Angela Hewitt (piano), Lakeside, Nottingham, 11 April 2024. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: William Ruff. Review: William Ruff.
“Angela Hewitt: an artist of flawless technique and probing intelligence.”
Photo Credit: Keith Saunders.
The Promise by Paula Garfield and Melissa Mostyn. The Door, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2EP. 06 – 13 April 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: Joanna Jarvis
“An important promise, reluctantly broken.”
Photo Credit: Becky Bailey (Image of Anna Seymour as Rita).
Carmen by Georges Bizet Royal Opera House, Covent Garden London WC2. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: Clare Colvin.
Photo Credit: Camilla Greenwell.
“Change of direction brings new look to Bizet’s ever popular Carmen.”
Gunter by Lydia Higman, Julia Grogan & Rachel Lemon. Jerwood Upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London SW1 to 25 April, 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.
“A splendid Jacobean tale about murder, witchcraft, and a bad, bad man.”
Photo Credit: Alec Brenner.