Theatre Reviews

Our theatre reviews aim to bring you the latest and best performances of plays, dance and music. Ink Pellet celebrates the country’s vibrant regional theatres – from performances of the classics and set texts, to new plays that will inspire and support you.

Once again, we have a merry band of discerning teachers who visit plays in their town (sometimes earning themselves a free programme and interval drink)to review for the magazine.

We’ll also review something you might like – just for sheer pleasure! If you would like to join our panel of reviewers, please join in or email the editor john@inkpellet.co.uk.

  1. THEATRE REVIEW: Me and My Girl – Chichester Festival Theatre

    THEATRE REVIEW: Me and My Girl – Chichester Festival Theatre  

    Daniel Evans, artistic director of CFT and director of this show, knows how to stage a spectacle and he’s in fine form with this one which could, I suspect, be Chichester’s next West End transfer. Me and My Girl is a gloriously old fashioned, feel good musical dating from 1937. Like so many of the […]

  2. THEATRE REVIEW: The Great Gatsby – Halifax Square Chapel

     

    Ihave to admit I was slightly on edge when I arrived at the Halifax Square Chapel to see an immersive version of The Great Gatsby. “You can dress up and dance (if you want!) or simply sit at the bar and be absorbed into Gatsby’s 1920s world!” encouraged the glossy invite. Immersive theatre seems to […]

  3. THEATRE REVIEW: Our Country’s Good – Ramps on the Moon/Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company – Nottingham Playhouse

    THEATRE REVIEW: Our Country’s Good – Ramps on the Moon/Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company – Nottingham Playhouse  

    No wonder this is such a popular play to study with students. Timberlake Wertenbaker’s best known work celebrates  the transformational power of theatre as a group of 18th century convicts arrive in New South Wales, brutalised by both the voyage and the Marines in charge of them, and – eventually – stage a performance of […]

  4. THEATRE REVIEW:  My First Swan Lake – English National Ballet / English National Ballet School – Peacock Theatre and touring

    THEATRE REVIEW:  My First Swan Lake – English National Ballet / English National Ballet School – Peacock Theatre and touring  

    Choreographed by Antonio Castilla, this is the latest abridged ballet for young children danced by English National Ballet School students. The Spanish, Hungarian and Italian dances in Act 2  are high spots. The two girls who did the Italian dance at the performance I saw had a real lightness of touch which highlighted the humour. […]

  5. THEATRE REVIEW: Julius Caesar: The Ides of March – RSC Associate Schools Programme

    THEATRE REVIEW: Julius Caesar: The Ides of March – RSC Associate Schools Programme  

    Over 150 Kent primary and secondary school pupils came together to present this collaborative version of Julius Caesar under the auspices of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Associate Schools Programme for which the Marlowe Theatre is a partner. The play (abridged to under two hours including an interval) is divided into eleven sections with each school […]

  6. THEATRE REVIEW: Much Ado About Nothing – Shakespeare’s Globe

     

    This year’s Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank is an abridged and adapted version of Much Ado About Nothing, specially created for schools’ audiences, many of whom this will be their first experience of seeing Shakespeare live. This 90 minute adaptation by Michael Oakley is vibrant, loud and engaging. The opening scene, as Don Pedro (Tyler […]

  7. THEATRE REVIEW: Othello – Unicorn Theatre

    THEATRE REVIEW: Othello – Unicorn Theatre  

    The story telling is crystal clear in Ignace Cornelissen’s 75 minute reworking of Othello, translated by Purni Morrell. For example, we start with Othello (Okorie Chukwu) choosing Ronald Nsubuga’s Cassio as his lieutenant over Lawrence Walker’s Iago to make it clear from the outset why the scheming Iago is hell bent on bringing Othello down. […]

  8. THEATRE REVIEW: Of Mice and Men – Marlowe Theatre

    THEATRE REVIEW: Of Mice and Men – Marlowe Theatre  

    Having studied this classic Steinbeck book last year as part of my GCSE studies, I was keen to see this stage adaptation by Selladoor at the start of its UK tour. The staging was suitably stark and transformed easily from riverbank to bunkhouse and I particularly liked the scene in Crooks’ room as Lenny and […]

  9. THEATRE REVIEW: The Band – Marlowe Theatre

    THEATRE REVIEW: The Band – Marlowe Theatre  

    O..M..G.. after all the television coverage of the selection process with BBC One’s ‘Let It Shine’ to find the five members of a band to appear in a live show featuring the songs of Take That, I was not expecting to see what I saw at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. What we heard was what was expected; a veritable treat of melodies, harmonies and hit singles expertly performed by the new group […]

  10. Theatre Review: The Nutcracker – English National Ballet – The Coliseum

    Theatre Review: The Nutcracker – English National Ballet – The Coliseum  

    Like The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland, The Nutcracker tells the story of a child and her dreams. Wayne Eagling’s choreography and Peter Farmer’s designs provide a strong sense of the family home which frames the action – its exterior, inside for the Christmas party and the intimacy of Clara’s bedroom where the child falls asleep and begins to […]