Amelia Bullmore | Highbury Theatre | Directed by Ian Appleby

Highbury Theatre’s studio reopens with a winning production of ‘Di and Viv and Rose’. Directed by Ian Appleby, it is a story of female friendship and solidarity brought vividly to life by a talented trio of actors.

Curated by Mark Gatiss | Crescent Theatre | Directed by Alex Arksen, Mark Shaun Walsh and Maura Judges

Written by Mark Gatiss and seven other authors, ‘Queers’ is a series of eight monologues exploring British gay history. Commissioned to mark the 50-year anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men over the age of twenty-one, they were first shown on the BBC and performed on stage at The Old Vic in 2017.

Harold Pinter / Chloe Moss | Sutton Arts Theatre | Directed by Faye Hatch

Sutton Arts Theatre’s latest offering, an evening of two one-act plays, provides more than a little food for thought if you have an appetite for dark comedy and challenging theatre.

Stephen Sondheim | Crescent Theatre | Directed by Keith Harris

Dreams and desires collide with dark comedy in a beautifully staged production of Sondheim’s fairy tale musical at the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham, directed by Keith Harris.

Willy Russell | Highbury Theatre | Directed by Amy Leach

Highbury Players stage a winning production of Willy Russell’s hit story about twin brothers separated at birth.

Nigel Williams, adapted from the novel by William Golding | Belgrade Theatre | Directed by Amy Leach

Modern staging of Golding’s tale of savagery and barbarism opens in Coventry.

Olga Tokarczuk | Belgrade Theatre | Directed by Simon McBurney

The animal kingdom stages a collective, murderous uprising in Complicité’s disarming and dream-like adaptation of Olga Tokarczuk’s genre-defying novel, directed by Simon McBurney.

Tennessee Williams | Phoenix Theatre | Directed by Rebecca Frecknall

Rebecca Frecknall breathes fresh life into Williams’ classic tragedy.

“It’s a play about the ravishment of the tender, the sensitive, the delicate, by the savage and brutal forces of modern society.” This was the response from Tennessee Williams when asked what his play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ was about. The Almeida production, currently running at the Phoenix Theatre in a West End transfer, honours the playwright’s vision in a stunning interpretation which puts mental illness centre stage.

Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx, Book by Jeff Whitty | Brewhouse Arts Centre | Directed by John Bowness

I first reviewed a professional tour of this outrageous musical back in early 2019 shortly after setting up TheatreWhippet. It has lost none of its charm and ability to shock and amuse since then. This amateur production, staged by the excellent Little Theatre Company and currently running at the Brewhouse Arts Centre in Burton upon Trent, is slick and crammed with professional standard talent. Directed by John Bowness, it promises hilarious gut-busting adult humour and certainly delivered on opening night.

A. R. Gurney | The Crescent Theatre | Directed by Jaz Davison

Billed as an “hilariously well-observed comedy about relationships, nature and growing older”, the latest offering from the excellent Crescent Theatre in Birmingham is one of the oddest and funniest plays I’ve seen in a long time. An impressive cast rise to the considerable challenge of staging this 1995 American play by A. R. Gurney.

Compere: J P Houghton | 1000 Trades

Local comedians inject some much-needed humour into recent news stories in a series of improvised sketches ranging from odd to utterly surreal.

‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’ was one of my favourite TV shows when I was a teenager in the 1990s. I think it was the danger I loved. What if they couldn’t come up with any ideas on the spot? What if they spoke over each other and it all went horribly wrong? What if they just weren’t funny?

Willy Russell | Belgrade Theatre | Directed by Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright

Willy Russell’s multi-award-winning musical about twins separated at birth is the stuff of theatre legend. Directed by Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright, the latest touring production, which opened in Coventry last night (and will also visit Cheltenham, Sheffield, Chelmsford, Bristol and Brighton) confirms why: it is a timeless and moving show which never fails to bring audiences to their feet. It lived up to its affectionate title of the ‘Standing Ovation Musical’ at the Belgrade’s opening night after stunning performances from the whole talented cast.

William Shakespeare | Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company | Directed by Leni Robson

The high quality of acting is consistent across the whole cast, Shakespeare’s words being delivered with exactly what you’d expect from a company specialising in the Bard: an understanding of the rhythms and poetry of the language.

Duncan Abel & Rachel Wagstaff | The Crescent Theatre | Directed by Rod Natkiel

The stage adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ bestselling 2015 novel is proving to be a popular choice for amateur theatre companies. I reviewed a production of ‘The Girl on the Train’ at Sutton Arts Theatre back in September 2022 so was looking forward to seeing how the Crescent Theatre’s latest main house production tackled this challenging story of mystery and suspense.

Shelagh Delaney | The Crescent Theatre | Directed by Colin Judges

Confession time: this was my first ‘A Taste of Honey’. Shelagh Delaney’s taboo-shattering play, first performed in 1958, has long been on my ‘must-see’ list but for some reason it’s escaped me. Until now.

David McGillivray & Walter Zerlin Jr | Highbury Theatre | Directed by Rob Phillips

How I have been an avid theatregoer for decades and never come across the fictional Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society is a mystery. I’d never even heard of it before being kindly invited along to see the latest production at Sutton Coldfield’s Highbury Theatre, directed by Rob Phillips. It’s a hoot. A farcical evening of high jinks delivered with a knowing nod to the sheer ridiculousness of staging a play.

Neil LaBute | The Crescent Theatre | Directed by Robyn Dickinson

Imagine: you work in New York’s World Trade Centre and wake up on the morning of September 12^th 2001 in your lover’s bed. You were not at work yesterday. Your wife and children think you might be dead. The opportunity to disappear is there for the taking. Do you answer the constant phone calls from home or ignore them and start a new life? What sort of person even contemplates such a question?

William Shakespeare | The National Theatre | Directed by Clint Dyer

Having reflected since seeing the play, I suppose my main gripe is that I simply didn’t believe in Othello and Desdemona’s connection. It lacked the passion and intensity which an audience must surely buy into to underline the tragic ending. I just didn’t care: that’s what it boils down to. A shame because the violence, when it comes, is both menacing and shocking.

Robert Louis Stevenson, adapted by Nick Lane | Highbury Theatre Centre | Directed by Paul Steventon-Marks

Directed by and starring Paul Steventon-Marks, this production of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde brilliantly brings to life a murky Victorian underworld of masks, mayhem and murder on the Highbury Theatre Centre stage. It looks and sounds fantastic and is not for the faint-hearted. As the mystery unfolds, prepare for more than a few gory surprises.

Mel Brooks | Brewhouse Arts Centre | Directed by John Bowness

Burton’s Little Theatre Company bring Transylvania mania to the Brewhouse in a slick production of Mel Brooks’ joyfully silly musical Young Frankenstein, directed by John Bowness.