Groan Ups, Vaudeville Theatre review - adding ambition and emotion to the mix

★★★ GROAN UPS, VAUDEVILLE THEATRE Mischief Theatre's latest stretches them in new ways

The ever-likable Mischief Theatre's latest stretches them in new if still-unfinished ways

If ambition were all, Groan Ups would get an A*. Marking the first of a very welcome three-show residency at the Vaudeville Theatre, this latest from the cheerfully unstoppable Mischief Theatre tethers the japery we have come to expect from the team behind The Play That Goes Wrong   mishaps aplenty, verbal hi-jinks   with a newfound interest in the human psyche.

Romesh Ranganathan, Brighton Dome review - transgressive, edgy and very likeable

★★★★ ROMESH RANGANATHAN, BRIGHTON DOME Transgressive, edgy and very likeable

The TV favourite hits the ground running at the start of his Cynic's Mixtape tour

One question springs immediately to mind on hearing that Romesh Ranganathan’s new stand-up show, The Cynic’s Mixtape, is touring: how does he find the time? Ranganathan has overtaken Jack Whitehall as Britain’s most media ubiquitous comic, with a deluge of TV shows and appearances, a column in the Guardian newspaper and even a recent autobiography. However, his TV CV is hit’n’miss, which leads to a second question: can he still cut it in the live arena?

It Chapter Two review – time to stop clowning around

★★ IT CHAPTER TWO Return of Stephen King's killer clown is gobbled up by its own plotting

The return of Stephen King's killer clown is gobbled up by its own plotting

Just two years after It Chapter One became the most successful horror film ever made, Pennywise the Dancing Clown is once again giving the American town of Derry absolutely nothing to laugh about. But this time around it’s audiences who may feel unable to enjoy the irony of a killer clown. For Chapter Two feels like a pointless, nay horrific case of déjà vu. 

Edinburgh Fringe 2019 review: Birth

Ravishing physical theatre on the beginnings of life from Theatre Re

Physical theatre company Theatre Re are virtually Fringe royalty these days, with a several-year history of fine shows under their belts, plus success internationally and at the London Mime Festival.

Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear the Musical, National Theatre review – gleefully subversive family musical

★★★★ MR GUM & THE DANCING BEAR, NATIONAL THEATRE Subversive family musical

Madcap and menace as Andy Stanton adapts his cult children's books for the stage

A great hunk of rotting meat hangs centre stage, suspended over a rusty wheelbarrow. A figure in a bloody butcher’s apron picks through the stalls, searching for cans of ‘xxxtra cheap lager’. From the direction of the band, sinister Wurlitzer sounds begin to stir the air.

The Turn of the Screw, Garsington Opera review - superb music drama on an open stage

★★★★★ THE TURN OF THE SCREW, GARSINGTON OPERA Triumphant production of Britten's problematic ghost opera

Britten's problematic ghost opera allowed to triumph by way of the music

The famous ambiguity of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw is whether the ghosts that take possession of the two children are real or merely figments of the young Governess’s imagination. Britten’s opera resolves this unequivocally in favour of their reality: they appear alone together, and generally materialise so solidly that it never occurs to you to doubt their real existence.