Untitled

JERUSALEM Crescent Theatre, Birmingham, Sunday 14th June 2026 Jez Butterworth’s modern classic is brought to the Crescent’s Ron Barber Studio in this vibrant production, directed by Mark Payne.  It’s St George’s Day in Wiltshire and the annual country fair is taking place – These festivities, like Abigail’s Party, happen off stage.   At his caravan in the woods, local ne’er-do-well Johnny…

THE LADY IN THE VAN Bear Pit Theatre, Stratford upon Avon, Friday 5th June 2026 For a period of fifteen years, Alan Bennett (yes, that Alan Bennett) had a homeless woman and her van parked on his property.  This was not overtly a charitable act; Bennett claims to have just been ‘lazy’ when it came to sending her packing. Years later, he wrote about his experience and relationship with the…

BEETHOVEN: EDGE OF SILENCE MAC, Birmingham, Thursday 4th June 2026 Ludwig van Beethoven wrote a letter in 1812, making overtures to a mystery woman that only came to light after his death, addressed to his ‘immortal beloved’.  The identity of the would-be recipient has been debated for centuries.  Now, ‘Rafe Blackthorne’ is here to reveal the truth. Written and directed by Mike Venables, this…

8 Crescent Theatre, Birmingham, Thursday 28th May 2026 Ella Hickson’s first play, written and produced in 2008, is a collection of eight monologues.  The original production had audiences voting for which four of the eight they wanted to hear.  Here, instead, the Crescent is offering the complete set in two batches of four.  Tonight I’m here for Batch A.  The intimate ‘Underground’ space…

At the sound of the familiar chimes, Timmy sat bolt upright, galvanised.  His mother shook her head. “Not before your tea, Timmy,” she admonished.  But Timmy wasn’t listening.  Timmy was on a mission. He was out of the front door and along the garden path to the street like a greyhound at the races.  Timmy’s mother sighed. It’s never easy bringing up a child on your own. There was already a…

LITTLE WARS Crescent Theatre, Birmingham, Sunday 17th May 2026 The premise of Steven Carl McCasland’s play is a dinner (read: drinks) party in the French alps just before the surrender to the Nazis.  We are in the home Gertrude Stein shares with her lover, Alice B  Toklas.  On the guest list are Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker, and Agatha Christie.  So far, so Top Girls.  McCasland’s piece…

MALORY TOWERS Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Saturday 16th May 2026 Enid Blyton is being reclaimed for the 21st century.  The problematic aspects of her writing have been expunged so that what remains it what appealed to millions of children for decades: the fantasy elements, the adventures.  Here, Emma Rice adapts a directs, combining several stories of the famous boarding school, adding some…

Rosalie Minnett: CLEMENTINE The Door, Birmingham Rep, Friday 15th May 2026 Lady Clementine (26 years and 364 days old) must find a husband before her 27th birthday, or else!  Fearful of ending up in an asylum like her unwed aunt, she enlists us, her self-conscious and introverted audience, to assist her in the quest.  Our involvement involves a lot of wafting about of the little battery-powered…

DRIFTWOOD The Other Place, Stratford upon Avon, Thursday 14th May 2026 I know precious little about the history of Trinidad and Tobago.  That’s my bad.  Martina Laird’s debut as a playwright takes us there in 1956, ahead of independence.  The setting is the Alma, a gentleman’s club and rum shop, run by Pearl but, crucially, owned by departing colonial Mansion.  When Pearl’s long lost son…

MACBETH ALONE The Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton, Wednesday 13th May 2026 One-performer shows are quite the fad at the moment.  Unlike some of its West End counterparts, this touring production from Stroud Theatre Company, does not boost its cast with flashy video sequences.  All alone is Christ Garner on a simple set that suggests a war-torn location, if not a post-apocalyptic one.  Garner, who…

OPERATION MINCEMEAT The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, Monday 11th May 2026 The smash-hit musical is out on the road, having garnered a trophy cabinet of awards in the West End and on Broadway.  Based on a remarkable true story, it tells of a group of MI6 employees who hatch a plot to deceive Hitler into withdrawing German troops from Sicily so the allies can win the war… the plan involves…

THE TEMPEST The Bear Pit Theatre, Stratford upon Avon, Wednesday 6th May 2026 Shakespeare’s last great play is brought to life within the confines of the Bear Pit’s auditorium in this ambitious production by Caramba Theatre Company.  Director Mollie Taylor uses a range of performance styles to create the various aspects of the story: physical theatre for the ship that is wrecked at the…

SINGLE WHITE FEMALE The Alexandra, Birmingham, Tuesday 5th May, 2026 Apart from the title and the basic premise (renting a room to someone without conducting a proper background check) this new version adapted by Rebecca Reid has precious little in common with the hit film from the 1990s.  For a start, the action has been moved to ‘somewhere’ in England, rather than the New York setting.  The…

Yes, indeed. RETURN TO VULTURES’ MOON is now available for Kindle and in paperback. It’s the fourth visit to the frontier world of Vultures’ Moon, a chance to meet up with characters who feel like old friends and adversaries both strange and familiar. Jed and his remarkable Horse return to Tarnation, only to find the frontier town reborn as a glittering tourist attraction. But when a bank heist…

REDACTED – The cover-up of a cover-up of a cover-up The Door, The Rep, Birmingham, Thursday 30th April, 2026 The latest show from the Voloz Collective is a genre-blending story played out at a cracking pace.  Following the death of her sister, journalist Marnie Makowski goes to New Mexico to investigate.  In Roswell, conspiracy theories are thick on the ground: satanic cults mutilating cattle,…

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM The Rep, Birmingham, Wednesday 29th April 2026 A perennial favourite gets a makeover in this loud and proud new production co-directed by Joe Murphy and Madeleine Kludje.  Notable choices (aka changes) made include gender-swapping Lysander to Lysandra, bringing a lesbian aspect to the young lovers; swapping lines between Oberon and Titania so that it is she who orders…

BARNUM Birmingham Hippodrome, Tuesday 21st April 2026 This revival of the musical by Michael Stewart and Cy Coleman fills the stage with actor-musicians, playing the score from memory and doing a bang-up job of it.  Up to a point.  Add a handful of dancers, tumblers, and acrobats, and it makes for a very busy stage, pulling focus from the main players.  This approach also gives us curious…