REVIEW: Big Ange at Newcastle Live Theatre

Big Ange 

Newcastle Live Theatre

Until Saturday 22 November 2025

A play about politics, working class life and growing pains lands in one of the UK's leading theatres for new writing this week.

Big Ange (Joann Condon) is one of the dinner staff at a secondary school. Originally from London, she looks out for the lads and tries to help beyond her natural job remit. This can involve putting on trips to the local museum, running discos or helping out with the football team. She tries to support Steven (Curtis Appleby) who is a promising footballer who enjoys taking short videos but he is getting influenced by the videos he watches as much as the people he talks to. His older sister Caroline (Erin Mullen) is back in Blyth from down south herself, complete with her baby. She is a left wing activist who has done a fair bit of protesting herself.

The funky set (Richard, Rosie and Joe Power) with its wonky lockers that can double for screens for the the video projections and lighting effects (Drummond Orr) leave a lot of space for an ensemble of young performers who didn't put a foot wrong during their various routines. The young female cast members Lucy Eve Mann, as the right wing agitator and Erin Mullen as the left wing agitator were good at working with the material that they had but it felt like a male voice trying to advocate for women rather than a natural female voice - certainly it gave my female companion plenty to say on the way home.

Likewise, the idea that everyone at Steven's school are watching his videos at but at no point is safeguarding or Prevent kicking in to support him suggests a lack of insight into how schools currently operate.

So whilst the heart, the intention of the story is in the right place, the execution is uneven. This was not helped by some cast tripping over their lines a number of times. There are some light hearted moments- not always planned, I suspect, as the audience did laugh a few times, which given the heavy going nature of the story added some relief. 

We love going to Live Theatre. We love the daring aspect of productions, seeing new talent blossom, both on and off stage. We are often blown away by the creativity shown in the relatively small space. However, occasionally, a show reaches opening night that needed a little longer in the incubator, more time with workshopping, a chance for the script to reach maturity before it is hatched on the big stage. I remember another show emerging after a few years back in development that had completely changed and was much much better second time around. 

This story has potential. Perhaps on another night I may feel differently about it?

Review: Stephen Oliver

Tickets:

Big Ange runs from Thursday 6 to Saturday 22 November with tickets from £11 to £26. To book go to https://www.live.org.uk/whats-on/big-ange