Clare Snape | Quarndon Village Hall | Directed by Clare Snape

‘Inside Out’, which premiered at Quarndon Village Hall from 28^th to 30^th November, is a series of three linked plays exploring personal stories related to imprisonment. Billed as ‘tales of life, death, love, redemption and forgiveness’, they present an emotionally charged and thoughtful insight into some of the complexities which lie behind every individual’s journey to prison.

John Kander and Fred Ebb | Ashby School Theatre | Directed by Ali Jackson

Students at Ashby School deliver a knockout performance of Chicago, rising impressively to the challenge of staging this much-loved musical about celebrity and women getting away with murder. A strong central cast, ably supported by a large and talented ensemble, bring great energy to the stage in this criminally good production of the high school edition of the show, directed by Ali Jackson.

Tennessee Williams | Crescent Theatre | Directed by James David Knapp

The Crescent Theatre’s latest studio production – ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ – powerfully explores the battle between fantasy and reality which sits at the heart of this landmark American play. Director James David Knapp notes that the play presents audiences with a melting pot of questions and an ‘exploration of life at its most painful and raw.’ He has assembled an impressive cast who successfully transport us to Elysian Fields, the run-down French Quarter district in New Orleans in which the play is set.

Anthony Shaffer | Sutton Arts Theatre | Directed by Claire Armstrong-Mills

The setting for Sutton Arts Theatre’s latest winning play – a ‘cosy English country house’ – is far from the snugly warm and comfortable place such a description suggests. Expect twists and turns,mystery, comedy and tension in this clever detective yarn which leaves the audience guessing right up to the final curtain.

John Godber and Jane Thornton | Duchess Theatre | Directed by Neil Scott

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company’s latest production, currently playing at the Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton, is some sort of crazy reimagining of a great bard tragedy. Othello on a cruise ship, perhaps, or Macbeth on a beach. Hamlet in a local pub. An inner-city classroom King Lear. Romeo and Juliet on an all-inclusive package holiday in Benidorm.

Shakers Re-Stirred is, in fact, just about as far from Shakespeare as you could get. The play, written by John Godber and Jane Thornton and set in the 1980s, is an hilarious insight into both the working and private lives of four waitresses in a cocktail bar called, you guessed it, ‘Shakers’. In this hugely successful production, director Neil Scott breathes new life into the trendy drinking hole in which the action mainly takes place. It’s a roller-coaster ride of a play, full of the highs and lows which characterise all of our lives.

Rodney Ackland|Sutton Arts Theatre | Directed by Emily Armstrong

Sutton Arts Theatre bring the chaos and frenzied escapism of post-war Soho to life in a fine production of Rodney Ackland’s controversial play ‘Absolute Hell’, directed by Emily Armstrong. Set entirely in La Vie en Rose, a dimly lit private members drinking club, it is one of those plays in which nothing much seems to happen, but everything does. The large cast successfully create a rich tapestry of humanity in all its varied pain, glory and disorder. Spending time in the company of these lost souls offers an engaging and satisfying insight into some of the complex realities of London life in 1945. Blitz nostalgia it most certainly is not.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge|NTLive Broadcast from Wyndham’s Theatre | Directed by Vicky Jones

Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s one woman play, which inspired the hit BBC TV series, is a perfectly formed theatrical pearl.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins| Donmar Warehouse, London | Directed by Ola Ince

The ghost of a dead father and the brutal history of slavery haunt the ramshackle former plantation house of a dysfunctional American family in the UK premiere of Branden Jacob-Jenkins’ Appropriate at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Ola Ince. It’s part gothic story, part family drama and part history play.

Thomas Otway| Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon | Directed by Prasanna Puwanarajah

Thomas Otway’s 1682 play is one of the very few Restoration tragedies still staged. In Prasanna Puwanarajah’s production, currently running at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, it receives a “noir twist”, presenting the audience with a ‘Blade Runner meets Mad Max’ cyberpunk vision of a corrupt Venice.

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’ by T S Eliot | Kilworth House Theatre, Leicestershire | Directed by Nick Winston

Nick Winston’s new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical at Kilworth House Theatre delivers on every level: this is ‘Cats’ as you’ve never seen it before. Fresh, playful and impeccably performed. fffffEncore Performing Arts, directed by Adam Guest, rise to the considerable challenge of staging this dark and raunchy tale of women getting away with murder in a production bursting with sexiness and sass.

John Kander and Fred Ebb | Lakeside Arts Theatre, Nottingham | Directed by Adam Guest

Encore Performing Arts, directed by Adam Guest, rise to the considerable challenge of staging this dark and raunchy tale of women getting away with murder in a production bursting with sexiness and sass.

Ivan Arsenjev and Petr Forman | Birmingham Repertory Theatre | Directed by Petr Forman

This is a unique piece of hypnotic theatre which shifts from vaudevillian circus to something far more fantastic as we are invited to journey into the depths of the Wild West with a host of comedians, illusionists, gunfighters and beautiful ladies.

Arthur Miller | Highbury Theatre, Sutton Coldfield | Directed by Ian Appleby

In this latest Highbury Players production, director Ian Appleby has assembled an impressive cast, each effective in conveying how the ghostly presence of two absent characters exercises a profound influence over their lives. It’s a bold, powerful realisation of Miller’s intense family drama.

David Lindsay-Abaire | Leicester Haymarket Theatre | Directed by Sally Bruton

Leicester Amateur Operatic Society bring the fairytale kingdom of Duloc magically to life on the Haymarket Theatre stage in this slick, vibrant and upbeat production. This is family entertainment of the highest order from a community theatre company packed full of talented singers, dancers and actors.

Frank Loesser | Sutton Arts Theatre | Directed by Emily Armstrong and Dexter Whitehead

Taking on any classic musical which audiences already know well is risky. There’s a weight of expectation. There aren’t many shows more well-known than ‘Guys and Dolls’, much-loved and hailed by critics as a “perfect musical comedy” when it opened on Broadway back in 1950. Throw in the 1955 film starring Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons, countless stage revivals and a host of familiar songs and there’s plenty of pressure for any company. It’s a gamble but thankfully, under the direction of Emily Armstrong and Dexter Whitehead, Sutton Arts’ roll of the dice pays off with a resounding win: this is a hugely impressive piece of amateur theatre.

Joseph Stein, Jerry Brock and Sheldon Harnick | Playhouse Theatre | Directed by Trevor Nunn

There’s nothing shaky about this Fiddler on the Roof: voices are incredible across the whole cast. A slick, sharp and spirited production of a much-loved musical.

Alan Ayckbourn | Quarndon Village Hall | Directed by Peter Konowalik

Sir Alan Ayckbourn celebrates both his 80^th birthday and the 60^th anniversary of his professional playwrighting debut this year. Incredibly, his 83^rd full length play will premiere in Scarborough this summer. Perfect timing this week then, for Quarndon Amateur Dramatic Society (QUADS) to treat audiences to a farcical journey back to the mid-1970s in their staging of one of the much-loved Norman Conquest plays – Living Together.

Khaled Hosseini | Birmingham Repertory Theatre | Directed by Roxana Silbert

Khalid Hosseini’s much-loved 2007 novel tells the deeply affecting story of an unlikely friendship between two Afghan women, both married to the same husband. The narrative spans several decades, starting in 1992 in an Afghanistan ravaged by civil war.