Nick Ahad

An immersive, game‑based theatre performance by Silent Uproar blends bawdy humor, audience participation and high‑camp storytelling as Alex Mitchell guides players through a werewolf‑hunt narrative set in a fictional village. Strong narration, playful smuttiness and a satirical postscript on mob rule give the show weight while maintaining an energetic, entertaining experience.

A new Leeds Playhouse staging of Brassed Off delivers visually striking design, powerful brass performances and emotionally charged storytelling that connects the 1990s colliery crisis to ongoing political frustrations. Amy Leach’s production uses impactful imagery and live local brass bands to underscore the miners’ fight for dignity as the threatened Grimley Colliery forces hard choices about survival and identity, culminating in a moving finale that resonates strongly with the local audience.

A stage adaptation of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice at Buxton Opera House uses lighting, illusion, and inventive design to create an immersive and magical children’s theatre experience. Directed by Paul Bosco McEneaney and featuring strong visual storytelling, the production incorporates levitation, shape-shifting, and dynamic stage imagery supported by Simon Bond’s lighting and Diana Ennis’s design. The score by Fiona O’Kane and Neve Hutchinson enhances the mystical tone, while performances and technical elements combine to deliver an enchanting and engaging narrative.

A community‑inspired production at Leeds Playhouse uses the setting of a struggling pub to explore political tension, racial dynamics and civic disengagement in contemporary Britain. A storm traps a Labour candidate and adviser with locals, highlighting divisions and unmet social needs. While the play delivers strong performances and earnest community involvement, its mix of professional and local actors leads to uneven theatrical cohesion, offering heartfelt insight but diluted dramatic impact.

Marc Graham’s debut play Isabelle, expanded from a 30‑minute festival piece to a full‑length production, opens Middle Child’s new theatre in Hull with an ambitious but uneven exploration of inheritance, class and family tensions. Despite strong institutional support and bold ideas, the play’s reliance on didactic dialogue, heavy-handed revelations and characters who speak in quotations undermines emotional authenticity. While the production shows potential, the standout achievement is Middle Child’s commitment to nurturing new writing.

Lenny Henry’s new show blends fresh material with familiar routines, offering a nostalgic celebration of his long career. The first half revisits classic jokes and impressions, while the second half becomes more personal as he fields audience questions and shares career-spanning video clips. Performing in his home town adds emotional weight, with strong rapport between Henry and the crowd. He reflects on his comedic influences and defends his approach by embracing the longevity that allows him to revisit and reinterpret old material.

Matthew Xia’s Leeds Playhouse production of Andrea Levy’s Small Island revives the Windrush-era story with period fidelity and strong performances, highlighting how themes of racism, fear of outsiders and distrust of immigrants remain resonant. Daniel Ward, Anna Crichlow and Bronté Barbé deliver standout roles in a staging that underscores both the harsh realities faced by Caribbean arrivals to Britain and the enduring relevance of their experiences, balancing the play’s troubling echoes of the present with a final note of optimism.

Adapting Onjali Q Raúf’s novel The Boy at the Back of the Class for the stage generated an unexpectedly intense reaction from young audiences, who loudly responded to the characters and themes. The production explores the experiences of a young Syrian refugee amid rising tension in the UK around asylum seekers, presenting serious topics truthfully but sensitively for children. Its revival comes at a time of heightened anti‑refugee sentiment, underscoring the importance of honest storytelling for young audiences and demonstrating that they can handle complex social issues. The experience affirmed the playwright’s belief that theatre can blend humour with commentary on racism and displacement.

A lively staging of Young Frankenstein at the Liverpool Playhouse embraces the unpredictability of live theatre, with mid-show mishaps turning into standout moments, including an unexpected cast substitution that impressed the audience. While the production showcases slick choreography and strong performances, some comedic elements lack impact compared with the iconic film. As the narrative gives way to increasingly chaotic set pieces, the show ultimately finds its energy through spirited performances, culminating in an irresistibly entertaining finale.

A stage adaptation of the cult sitcom Ideal draws enthusiastic reactions from fans but offers little for newcomers. Johnny Vegas returns as Moz in a production that recreates familiar characters and settings, yet lacks narrative momentum. Graham Duff’s direction and writing provide only a few standout jokes, resulting in a nostalgic experience primarily aimed at long-time followers rather than a broader theatre audience.

A large community production at York Theatre Royal celebrates social reformer Seebohm Rowntree through a dynamic and inventive staging. Blending local history, meta-theatrical devices and contemporary social issues, the play reframes Rowntree’s poverty research with modern resonance. Energetic direction, a huge cast and layered storytelling create a powerful reflection on enduring inequality and the role of art in social change.

A comedy-drama set during Leeds United’s 2020 promotion season intertwines the club’s revival under Marcelo Bielsa with the story of a married couple navigating dementia. Strong performances and humorous supporting roles highlight the production, though the play divides its attention between football nostalgia and its family narrative without fully developing either thread, resulting in a work that resonates most with devoted Leeds fans.

A lively, heartfelt production at Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre portrays family tensions inside a beloved Caribbean café threatened by gentrification, blending humour with community themes. Strong performances, especially from Wayne Rollins, and energetic direction create an entertaining experience despite some structural looseness in the second act, establishing a confident and crowd‑pleasing debut for Nathan Powell.

A stark, minimalistic staging of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at the Crucible in Sheffield emphasizes the strength of the original text, with Chris Bush’s light-touch adaptation and Elin Schofield’s restrained direction. Siena Kelly delivers a compelling performance as Nora, supported by Chiara Stephenson’s striking design and Richard Howell’s lighting, which reveal the home’s hidden tensions. The production highlights Nora’s emotional journey toward self-liberation, offering a moving interpretation of the classic drama.

A revival of War Horse at The Lowry reaffirms the production’s enduring emotional power through its groundbreaking puppetry, strong performances and resonant anti-war themes. The staging, design and collective audience engagement keep the story compelling as it follows Albert’s journey from a Devon farm to the battlefields of the first world war. The production highlights the futility of war and the human cost borne by ordinary people while celebrating the creative achievements that have made the play a long-running theatrical success.

A revival of Shelagh Delaney’s 1958 play A Taste of Honey at Manchester’s Royal Exchange emphasizes the work’s rawness and its contentious themes involving race, sexuality, and strained family dynamics. Performances by Jill Halfpenny and Rowan Robinson anchor the production with intensity and nuance, supported by David Moorst’s standout portrayal of Geoffrey. Direction by Emma Baggott and design elements by Nishla Smith and Peter Butler enhance the atmosphere of instability and tension. Despite its strong staging, the production raises questions about the play’s contemporary relevance and the necessity of its revival today.

Anthony Lau’s production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible at the Crucible theatre is presented as an intense, intellectually rigorous interpretation that actively implicates the audience. The staging employs microphones, full auditorium lighting and symbolic design elements to heighten the sense of complicity. Performances by Simon Manyonda and Anoushka Lucas are highlighted, with Lucas noted for her magnetic presence and Manyonda for an unconventional but compelling portrayal of John Proctor. The result is described as a deeply affecting and thought‑provoking rendition that lingers beyond the performance.

Theatre funding cuts and limited opportunities have left playwrights dependent on subjective gatekeepers, with many projects rejected despite strong applications. Colchester’s Mercury Theatre is offering a lottery-based commissioning scheme, prompting debate over quality control, but highlighting how arbitrary the industry already feels. Even established figures such as Emma Rice face mounting difficulty staging new work, underscoring the sector’s instability and the persistent inequities shaping which voices reach the stage.

A visually striking but narratively uneven adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein blends a contemporary story of expectant parents with the classic tale, replacing the company’s usual live-camera techniques with choreography and digital elements. While the performers deliver strong physical work and the production offers inventive staging, the parallels between storylines feel heavy-handed and the narrative lacks the clarity achieved in the company’s earlier productions.

An adaptation of Onjali Q Raúf’s novel The Boy at the Back of the Class is described as both challenging and necessary, highlighting its aim to humanise refugees amid increasingly hostile public discourse. The stage version introduces a reference to To Kill a Mockingbird to reinforce themes of empathy. The playwright reflects on personal experiences of racism, the urgency of compassionate storytelling, and the difficulties of translating the book’s structure to the stage, expressing hope that the production will foster greater understanding of displaced children.