Small Island Nottingham Playhouse review: a bold, emotionally charged adaptation with standout performances and urgent political resonance.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert at Nottingham Theatre Royal dazzles with spectacle, standout performances, and camp energy in this 4-star review.

Explore a captivating review of Hansard at Lace Market Theatre. Discover how Hansard's political drama unfolds in this Nottingham performance.

★★★☆☆ Austentatious at Nottingham Playhouse delivers sharp improv, big laughs, and chaotic charm. A witty, four-star Austen parody review.

★★★★☆ An honest review of The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind from the Royal Shakespeare Company. But can a story driven by hope generate enough theatrical energy to sustain an almost 3-hour musical?

★★★★☆ At Derby Theatre, Conrad Murray’s Pied Piper arrives not with a flute and doublet, but with a mic and the fierce power of beatbox. Billed as a family musical, it reimagines the folk tale through rhythm, rap and raw vocal dexterity. The question is: is a stripped-back beatbox musical of a classic story the new blueprint for family theatre, or do children still need glitter cannons and fairy-lit spectacle to stay entertained?

★★★★☆ With Hadestown approaching its second anniversary at the Lyric Theatre in London’s West End, the question is this: has this contemporary musical cemented itself as a cult favourite that audiences return to time and time again, or is it still trying to court new fans beyond the devotees of its Grammy-winning score?

★★★★☆ The Hunger Games: On Stage is not just a theatrical adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s dystopian blockbuster, but also a bold experiment in bringing a sprawling, cinematic narrative into an immersive live arena.

★★★★☆ At The Swan Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company has taken on a daunting task: staging John Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga in two expansive parts.

★★★★☆ Nottingham Playhouse's new play for 3- to 8-year-olds takes us beneath the waves to the home of Marina, a young mermaid eager to explore the world above the sea.

★★★★☆ Derby Theatre’s Christmas play takes us back to Dickensian times for Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of “Oliver Twist”. Featuring a mix of nursery rhymes, Christmas carols, and original musical numbers, this heartwarming tale is brought to life by director Sarah Brigham and a talented cast of actor-musicians who take on multiple roles throughout the story.

There are few annual traditions as delightfully British as a Christmas pantomime, and Nottingham Theatre Royal’s Cinderella arrives with all the flourish, glitter, and nonsense an audience could hope for. But here’s the question: with such a media-saturated star at the helm, can this production deliver more than a celebrity cameo? Does this Cinderella truly sparkle, or does it rely too heavily on sequins and Strictly lingo?

★★★★☆ Every Christmas, Leicester’s Curve Theatre forgoes the glitter-drenched world of pantomime in favour of something a little warmer and more substantial: the annual Christmas musical.

★★★★☆ Lace Market Theatre brings Arthur Miller's The Crucible, an intricate tale of humanity and desperation, to life, as the accused discover the lengths they will go to survive.

★★★★☆ If you’ve ever found yourself doing the Tragedy dance in your kitchen, harmonising to One for Sorrow, or secretly believe that glitter counts as an accessory, then Here & Now: The Steps Musical is the night out you’ve been waiting for.

★★★★☆ Set in a liberal Californian private school that prides itself on tolerance, inclusivity, and community, Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day has lost none of its relevance since its 2018 debut. Vaccines are still a hot topic, and misinformation, virtue signalling, and the search for moral high ground are certainly as prevalent as ever.

★★★★☆ There’s something irresistibly charming about the idea of escaping modern life to live out the fantasy of the 1950s — A world of starched collars, freshly baked cakes, and the comforting sound of a cocktail shaker at five o’clock sharp.

★★★★☆ Mary Whitehouse spent her life battling what she saw as filth on stage and screen, so what happens when she becomes the star of a play herself? The Last Stand of Mrs Mary Whitehouse asks whether this self-styled crusader is remembered as a beacon for decency or as a meddling censor whose grip on the arts destroyed creativity.

★★★★☆ The Colin McIntyre Classic Thriller Season is back at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal, serving up a summer of suspense, intrigue and edge-of-your-seat drama. After opening with Death By Fatal Murder in week one, the company returned just days later with their second production, Ira Levin’s Deathtrap.

★★★★☆ After a critically acclaimed run at Regent’s Park, Fiddler on the Roof is now on a UK tour. But in 2025, as audiences gather to watch this story retold once again, a question lingers: should we continue to revive classics, or leave them in the past where they belong?