Theatre Reviews North

New TRN reviewer Chris Charles runs an eye over the 75th birthday production of Agatha Christie's murder mystery The Mousetrap - and has no trouble understanding why it has lasted so long. Read his review #TheMousetrap @palaceandopera.bsky.social www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/the-mou...

Oldham Coliseum receives another blow with the cancellation of new director Nick Bagnall's first production, of Macbeth @oldhamcoliseum.bsky.social #Macbeth www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/macbeth...

Craig Revel Horwood, Zoe Birkett and Paul Chuckle will lead the cast in next year's tour of comedy musical Sister Act #sisteractmusical #CraigRevelHorwood #zoebirkett #paulchuckle www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/craig-r...

Prescot's Shakespeare North Playhouse joins the Royal Shakespeare Company's schools programme, to enhance and extend its work with young people #ShakespeareNorthPlayhouse #TheRSC www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/shakesp...

Steve Griffiths is unimpressed by dance company BlacBrik's The Brown Suite - an attempt to honour the music of James Brown. Read his review #BlacBrick @palaceandopera.bsky.social #BradfordAlhambra #DarlingtonHippodrome #grandoperahouseyork www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/the-bro...

Bert and Nasi's absurdist comedy L'Addition, about a waiter and his customer, seems too simple to work for over an hour - but Joan Davies finds a lot to delight. Read her review #BertandNasi @thelowry.com www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/laddition

Bolton's The Big Tiny panto company returns to Manchester's Contact Theatre this Christmas with its family-friendly version of Sleeping Beauty #TheBigTinyUK @contactmcr.bsky.social #SleepingBeauty www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/the-big...

Wigan-based Thickskin Theatre's It Walks Around the House at Night brings a spooky, scary treat to Salford (and to Newcastle for Halloween) @thickskintheatre.bsky.social @thelowry.com #NorthernStage www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/see-it-...

Steve Griffiths enjoys the colour, spectacle and brilliant score of Nureyev's Romeo and Juliet as the production nears its 50th anniversary. Read his review #EnglishNationalBallet @palaceandopera.bsky.social www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/romeo-a...

A blockbuster 2027 for Manchester's Royal Exchange, with several premieres, a new Simon Stephens play, a Christmas musical and a reopened Studio, plus big changes to the Bruntwood Prize @rxtheatre.bsky.social #newseason www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/blockbu...

"Hamilton" showed us that any story can be enthralling if you do it right. And this story of the Pankhursts, particularly Sylvia, is very right indeed, says Joan Davies. Read her review @thelowry.com #sylviamusicaluk @beverleyknight.bsky.social www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/sylvia-...

John Godber's latest has stagehands forced to act centre-stage when their beloved theatre is faced with closure. "This is the Life" opens in York in January. And his play The Highwayman comes to Bolton #johngodbercompany #YorkTheatreRoyal #octagontheatre www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/this-is...

Chester Storyhouse's fifth WayWord Festival, at the end of this month, promises literary delight and adventure for young readers @storyhouselive.bsky.social #WayWordFestival www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/half-te...

HER Productions revives "The Loves of Others" - a sort of "Mr and Mrs" for the 21st Century - in Manchester and Liverpool #HERProductions #TheEdgeMcr #HopeStTheatre www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/the-lov...

Theatr Clwyd picks up two awards at this year's UK Theatre Awards, while Buxton Opera House and Liverpool Everyman collect one each @theatrclwyd.bsky.social #BuxtonOperaHouse @liveveryplay.bsky.social #UKTheatreAwards www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/theatr-...

English National Opera fleshes out more of its plans for Greater Manchester. But not much more... Robert Beale reports #EnglishNationalOpera @factoryintl.bsky.social #Einsteinonthebeach www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/english...

Richard Evans watches through his hands as Wiltshire Creative's tour of The Haunting of Hill House reaches Mold. Read his review @theatrclwyd.bsky.social #HauntingofHillHouse @palaceandopera.bsky.social @liveveryplay.bsky.social www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/the-hau...

Factory International has been putting Manchester on the international map for 20 years, and its 20th birthday season isn't letting up for a minute @factoryintl.bsky.social #20thbirthdayseason www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/factory...

First seen in 1985, writer Sue Frumin has revised play "Raising the Wreck" to take in a host of changes in society in the interim #SeaChangeTheatre #RaisingtheWreck www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/raising...

The Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme, which helps would-be directors from working class backgrounds, has teamed up with three theatres to expand its reach #YoungDirectors @thickskintheatre.bsky.social #WiganEngineRoom www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/young-d...

The Theatres Trust's first-ever awards event, to mark its 50th anniversary, will award Oldham Coliseum champion Julie Hesmondhalgh its inaugural lifetime achievement award @oldhamcoliseum.bsky.social @theatrestrust.bsky.social #JulieHesmondhalgh www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/julie-h...

It might not quite reach the level of perfection of a WI Victoria sponge, but as Jenny Daniel observes, Bolton's Calendar Girls musical comes pretty close. Read her review #BoltonOctagon #CalendarGirlsMusical www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/calenda...

Opera North's co-production of Tchaikovsky's great "Eugene Onegin" has some unusual style choices but is finely sung and played, says Robert Beale. Read his review #OperaNorth #EugeneOnegin #LeedsGrandTheatre @thelowry.com #NewcastleTheatreRoyal www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/eugene-...

It might be presented on too large a stage, but Ahmed Masoud's satire about life in Gaza, from English Touring Theatre, packs a punch, says Grace Robinson. Read her review of "Application 39" @factoryintl.bsky.social #EnglishTouringTheatre #application39 www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/applica...

Matthew Dunster's adaptation of King Lear is a little quirky, says Robert Beale, but undeniably powerful. Read his review of the Royal Exchange Manchester's 50th anniversary production @rxtheatre.bsky.social #KingLear #DavidThrelfall #MatthewDunster www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/king-le...

Hope Mill's "Little Shop of Horrors" is a perfect musical for this time of year, says Steve Griffiths. Even for dentists. Read his five-star review #hopemilltheatre #LittleShopofHorrors www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/the-lit...

Former winner of a national directing award takes charge of a new, visceral touring production of Bronte's Jane Eyre. @storyhouselive.bsky.social #JaneEyre #northernstage www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/jane-ey...

Bolton Octagon's 60th anniversary season will offer a rich seam of theatre, with not only three world premieres but also the first northern professional production of Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard #Boltonoctagon #newseason #premieres www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/bolton-...

Bradford Culture Company - which ran 2025's Bradford City of Culture year, revives the Loading Bay space, one of the year's hit venues @bradfordculture.co.uk #LoadingBay www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/loaded-...

Sian Owen's charged nightclub jukebox musical How Soon is Now? is a show for our times, as well as for the 1990s, says Jenny Daniel. Read her review @thelowry.com #SianOwen #HowSoonIsNow www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/how-soo...

Writer and actress Martha Godber stars in her play Spiders, about a locally-famous Hull nightclub - and two friends who navigated their late teens within its walls. #HullTruckTheatre #marthagodber #Spiders www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/web-of-...

Northern Stage's production of Othello is moved to the Falklands war of the 1980s but, argues Robert Beale, elements of the production are a little forced. Read his review #HOMEManchester @theatrclwyd.bsky.social #Othello www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/othello-3

Richard Evans has a ball watching a sort-of version of Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Read his review @theatrclwyd.bsky.social #PrideandPrejudicesortof www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/pride-a...

York Theatre Royal and Bolton Octagon are two of three theatres collaborating on a new "intimate" version of Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard" for next year #octagontheatre #YorkTheatreRoyal #SunsetBoulevard www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/sunset-...

Sicilian-British choreographer Anthony Lo-Giudice turns his experience of being a migrant into a dance-drama, 'The Guest' #LogiudiceDance #TheGuest www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/the-gue...

TV and theatre star John Thomson will play Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at the Lowry in Salford this Christmas @thelowry.com #AChristmasCarol #JohnThomson www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/john-th...

Manchester's Etal Theatre presents a stage version of James Fritz's radio drama 'Comment is Free' #etaltheatremcr #DeansgateMews www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/comment...

Megan Drury is a magnetic solo performer in this transformed myth - but Wright&Grainger's 'Selene' seems insufficiently polished in its current state, says Grace Robinson. Read her review @thelowry.com #WrightandGrainger #Selene @theatrclwyd.bsky.social www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/selene

Oldham Coliseum is one of 49 beneficiaries of a three-year funding deal from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority @oldhamcoliseum.bsky.social #GMCACultureFund www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/oldham-...

The team that brought us the 'more or less' versions of Shakespeare's 'Love's Labours Lost' and 'Comedy of Errors' are at it again, this time with 'As You Like It' @thesjt.bsky.social #ShakespeareNorthPlayhouse #asyoulikeitmoreorless www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/as-you-...

Emma Rice offers a brilliant revival of Kneehigh Theatre's much-admired production of Tristan and Yseult, first seen in 2003. Read Richard Evans' five-star review #EmmaRiceCompany #TristanandYseult @theatrclwyd.bsky.social www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/tristan...

Cole Porter's High Society is as glossy and brilliant today as it was in the 1950s - and this augmented version of the musical is a delight, says Robert Beale. See his review @thelowry.com #highsocietymusical #HelenGeorge www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/high-so...

Writer Becky Prestwich wins one of this year's rare Peter Shaffer Foundation commissions for her play 'Our Windermere' for Theatre By The Lake #TBTLake #beckyprestwich #PeterShafferFoundation www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/award-f...

Popular Manchester comedian and panto star Ben Nickless has Trouble With Kids in his new play, premiered with himself in the leading role, at Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester next February #bennickless #Hopemilltheatre #troublewithkids www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/trouble...

A rare staging next week of Ewan MacColl's play Landscape with Chimneys will help to mark the 50th anniversary of Salford Arts Theatre and the 100th anniversary of Salford's city-status @salfordartstheatre.bsky.social #EwanMaccoll #LandscapewithChimneys www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/rare-pe...

Strictly Come Dancing star and judge Anton Du Beke will star in the National Theatre's production of Ballet Shoes at Salford's Lowry this Christmas, before dates in Sunderland and Liverpool @thelowry.com #AntonDuBeke @nationaltheatre.org.uk #BalletShoes www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/anton-d...

Blaze FM cuts through the noise like pirate radio with a power boost. Grace Robinson is stunned by this five-star example of gig theatre. Read her review #BigHouseTheatre #Jammz #BlazeFM @thelowry.com www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/blaze-fm

Rona Munro's 'Iron' - is a powerful work, fuelled at HOME Manchester by real-life mother and daughter actresses. Read Robert Beale's review #HOMEManchester #Iron #RonaMunro #HullTruckTheatre @thedukeslancaster.bsky.social www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/iron

Salford's Lowry is looking for four special youngsters to play the role of Tiny Tim Cratchit in its production of A Christmas Carol this December @thelowry.com #AChrisrmasCarol #GetTinyTim www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/calling...