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Reviews
Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, Birmingham Hippodrome, 30 April 2024 until 04 May 2024. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: David Gray & Paul Gray
“A powerful and moving show that is still as relevant today as it was 40 years ago.”
Laughing Boy by Stephen Unwin. Jermyn Street Theatre, 16B Jermyn Street, London SW1 to 25 May 2024 and then at the Theatre Royal, Bath. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.
“Harrowing, beguiling, magnificent and finely performed.”
Photo Credit: Alex Brenner.
Carlos Acosta: On Before. Theatre Royal Plymouth, till 28 February 2024. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: Cormac Richards
“A true privilege to witness.”
Minority Report by David Haig. Based on the novella by Philip K Dick. The Lyric Theatre, King Street, Hammersmith, London W6 to 18 May 2024. 4✩✩✩✩. Review: William Russell.
“Splendidly staged version of a classic sci fi story.”
Photo Credit: Marc Brenner.
The Silence, Birmingham REP, 23 – 27 April, by Sonali Bhattacharyya, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Ishy Din and Alexandra Wood. On tour next at Home Manchester (30 April – 04 May). 4✩✩✩✩ Review: Dan Auluk.
“A powerful reminder of how silence can affect us all. Everybody should witness this!”
Photo Credit: Harry Ellleston
Centre stage: Mendelssohn String Octet: CBSO Centre, Birmingham, 26 April 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: David Gray & Paul Gray.
“An energetic and convincing reading of Mendelssohn’s youthful masterwork.”
Remembrance Monday by Michael Batten. Seven Dials Playhouse, 1A Tower Street, London WC2H to 01 June 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.
“…a moving and ultimately tragic tale well worth adding to your list of plays to see.”
Photo Credit: Danny Kaan.
Bruckner 7, CBSO, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 25 April 2024. 5✩✩✩✩✩ David Gray & Paul Gray.
“A mighty interpretation and performance of a mighty symphony by Anton Bruckner.”
Photo Credit: Jenny Bestwick
Calendar Girls by Tim Firth. The Mill at Sonning, Reading RG4 to 1 June 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.
“A well staged revival of a much loved play.”
Photo Credit: Andreas Lambis.
BBC Concert Orchestra and Alistair McGowan, Lakeside, Nottingham, 20 April 2024. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: William Ruff.
“Vivid, unsettling music-drama in which the Devil has all the best tunes.”
Banging Denmark by Van Badham. The Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW 10 to 11 May 2025. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.
“Terrific biting satire about on line predators and falling in love.”
Photo Credit: Ali Wright.
Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, 19 April 2024. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: William Ruff.
“An exhilarating ride through 60 turbulent years of Russian music.”
Britten & Tchaikovsky, CBSO, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 17 April 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: David Gray & Paul Gray.
“Overall: a dreamy concert about dreaming.”
The Drifters Girl – Birmingham Hippodrome, 16 April ‘till Saturday 20 April 2024, then on tour. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: Paul Gray & Louise Burke.
“Vocal harmonies that make time stand still. But just who is The Drifters Girl?”
Photo: Courtesy of Birmignham Hippodrome.
Boys on the Verge of Tears by Sam Grabiner. Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D to 18 May 2024. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.
“Challenging, unmissable, exciting, dazzlingly directed and performed.”
Photo Credit: Marc Brenner.
Dresden Philharmonic, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Tuesday 16 April 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: David Gray & Paul Gray.
“Lush Russian romanticism contrasted with Mid-20th Century Russian angst.”
Photo Credit: Bjoern Kadenbach
Bluebeard by Emma Rice, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2EP. 11 – 20 April 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: Joanna Jarvis
“We all make bad bargains.”
Photo Credit: Steve Tanner (Image of Tristan Sturrock as Bluebeard)
Angela Hewitt (piano), Lakeside, Nottingham, 11 April 2024. 5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: William Ruff. Review: William Ruff.
“Angela Hewitt: an artist of flawless technique and probing intelligence.”
Photo Credit: Keith Saunders.
The Promise by Paula Garfield and Melissa Mostyn. The Door, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2EP. 06 – 13 April 2024. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: Joanna Jarvis
“An important promise, reluctantly broken.”
Photo Credit: Becky Bailey (Image of Anna Seymour as Rita).
Carmen by Georges Bizet Royal Opera House, Covent Garden London WC2. 4✩✩✩✩ Review: Clare Colvin.
Photo Credit: Camilla Greenwell.
“Change of direction brings new look to Bizet’s ever popular Carmen.”