The Taming of the Shrew
William Shakespeare | RSC, Stratford | Directed by Justin Audibert
Matriarchy replaces patriarchy in this vision of an upturned world of gender power relations. More info
The Life I Lead
James Kettle | Birmingham Rep | Directed by Didi Hopkins and Selina Cadell.
Miles Jupp delivers a crisp and poised performance in this one man show about the life of Mary Poppins actor David Tomlinson. More info
When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other
Martin Crimp | National Theatre | Directed by Katie Mitchell.
Martin Crimp’s new play, which had it’s world premiere on the National Theatre’s Dorfman stage last month, is billed as a shocking and explosive exploration of sex, desire and violence. More info
Gently Down The Stream
Martin Sherman | Park Theatre, Finsbury Park | Directed by Sean Mathias.
This three-hander explores some of the huge social and political changes in gay lives through a tender inter-generational love story. It is a powerful and timely reminder that the freedoms of contemporary gay life were not “ever thus”. More info
As You Like It
William Shakespeare | RSC, Stratford | Directed by Kimberley Sykes.
Rosalind, the banished lovesick cross-dresser in ‘As You Like It’, is one of the great female roles in Shakespeare. Lucy Phelps rises to the challenge, delivering an enchanting and love-affirming central performance in the latest production of this wonderfully strange romantic comedy to hit Stratford. More info
Blue/Orange
Joe Penhall | Birmingham Repertory Theatre | Directed by Daniel Bailey.
If any art form can poke people into exploring sensitive and difficult topics, it’s theatre. ‘Blue/Orange’, the curiously titled revival currently playing at The Rep in Birmingham, does just that. More info
"To enter a theatre for a performance is to be inducted into a magical space, to be ushered into the sacred arena of the imagination"
Simon Callow
The Seagull
Anton Chekhov | The Crescent Theatre, Birmingham | Directed by Andrew Brooks.
A complex tale of unrequited love, jealousy, regret and missed opportunities: themes as relevant in 2019 as they were when the play was first performed in 1896. More info
Caroline, Or Change
Tony Kushner | Playhouse Theatre, London | Directed by Michael Longhurst.
This powerful, surprising and unusual piece of musical theatre has all the political and personal complexity fans of his epic play ‘Angels in America’ will recognise. More info
Cinderella
Park Hall Academy, Castle Bromwich | Directed & written by Emilie Cullum-Kenyon.
Just when panto season seemed over for another year, Park Hall Academy performed Cinderella with a modern twist, brightening the dull final days of January with a musical fairy tale panto fusion. More info
A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams | The Lace Market Theatre, Nottingham | Directed by Wayne Parkin.
This heavyweight play, regarded by many as one of the most influential of the twentieth century, rattles along powerfully and rises to the challenge with convincing central performances. More info
"I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being."
Oscar Wilde
Abigail’s Party
Mike Leigh | The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham | Directed by Sarah Esdaile.
As the gin and tonics disappear, everything starts to happen: barely suppressed marital tensions rise, tempers flare and the veneer of respectability is peeled back to reveal the contradictions and pains of the aspiring middle classes. More info
The Inheritance
Matthew Lopez | Noel Coward Theatre, London | Directed by Stephen Daldry.
Following proudly in the footsteps of Tony Kushner’s ‘Angels in America’, this epic two-part play explores the lives, loves, hopes, struggles and dreams of a gay couple and their friends living in New York in the lead up to the 2016 election. More info
"Great drama is great questions or it is nothing but technique. I could not imagine a theatre worth my time that did not want to change the world."
Arthur Miller
The Wizard of Oz
L Frank Baum | The Rep, Birmingham | Directed by Liam Steel.
The Rep’s annual family production soars magically over the rainbow in a joyfully modernised production of this much-loved classic. It’s a gem. A sparkling emerald. More info
Summer and Smoke
Tennessee Williams | The Duke of York’s Theatre, London | Directed by Rebecca Frecknall.
What do the words ‘summer’ and ‘smoke’ evoke? Oppressive heat? Fire? Smouldering passions? Exploring some of these connotations go some way to opening up this lesser-known Tennessee Williams play. More info
"Theatre is a mirror, a sharp reflection of society."Yasmina Reza