Preview: GREAT WORLD PLAYWRIGHTS CELEBRATED AT NEWCASTLE'S LIVE THEATRE THROUGHOUT NOVEMBER

GREAT WORLD PLAYWRIGHTS CELEBRATED AT NEWCASTLE'S LIVE THEATRE THROUGHOUT NOVEMBER 

The Vagina Monologues Thursday 5 & Friday 6 November 2026

Stones In His Pockets Saturday 7 November 2026

Topdog/Underdog Thursday 12 November 2026

An Unproduced Screenplay About The Death of Walt Disney Friday 13 November 2026

John Saturday 14 November 2026

Landmark works by groundbreaking playwrights are honoured this November at Live Theatre with readings of the award-winning The Vagina Monologues and a 30th anniversary reading of Stones In His Pockets. A programming highlight brings a mini-series featuring diverse American voices with a centre-piece sharing of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog, John by Annie Baker and a rare play titled A Public Reading of An Unproduced Screenplay About The Death of Walt Disney by Lucas Hnath.

Kicking off the readings in irreverent style on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 November is The Vagina Monologues by V (formerly Eve Ensler), read by a wonderful cast including Charlie Hardwick, Bridget Marumo, Ivanna Nitsak, Karen Traynor and Hannah Walker. Directed by Becky Dawson, this masterpiece breaks taboos, sparks crucial conversations and celebrates the full depth of the feminine experience. From hilarious to deeply poignant, these raw stories give voice to experiences that for too long remained in the dark.

Marking 30 years of the show that took the world by storm, Patrick Kelly and David Nellist take on the roles of two Irish men, hired as extras for a Hollywood blockbuster in Stones In His Pockets on Saturday 7 November. Directed by Bex Bowsher, and with live music from Patrick, the multi-award-winning tragicomedy written by Marie Jones is set in a small rural village in County Kerry.  The two-hander delights in exploring the limits of comedy and theatricality, and the collision of romanticised notions of 'Irishness' and the harsher reality and has delighted audiences around the world.

The first in a series of groundbreaking American play readings on Thursday 12 November is Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks, a darkly comic fable of brotherly love, family identity and the illusion of the American Dream. The two brothers locked in a psychological battle of sibling rivalry are played by David Alade and Valentine Olukoga.

Friday 13 November brings a special reading of a play title An unproduced screenplay about the death of Walt Disney with the renowned animator played by none other than Christopher Eccleston.

The season rounds up on Saturday 14 November with John by Annie Baker a play that tells the story of a struggling Brooklyn couple navigating the painful dissolution of their relationship. A ghost story, a love story, an exploration of contemporary America by a true master.

Tickets:

For further information on these must-see readings and to book tickets (special freelancer offer available) go to www.live.org.uk

News: JASON COOK RETURNS TO THE CUSTOMS HOUSE TO REVEAL THE STORY BEHIND BBC SITCOM HEBBURN

JASON COOK RETURNS TO THE CUSTOMS HOUSE TO REVEAL THE STORY BEHIND BBC SITCOM HEBBURN

Comedian, writer and producer Jason Cook lifts the lid on the making of his hit BBC sitcom in a special one-night-only event this Christmas.

How do you get a sitcom about South Tyneside on national television? Find out as Jason Cook returns to The Customs House to share the hilarious, and sometimes tumultuous, story behind Hebburn.

In How I Made a Telly Show: The History of Hebburn, Jason takes audiences behind the scenes with rare footage, personal stories about the cast and crew, and an open Q&A offering fans the chance to ask whatever they've always wanted to know.

Jason explains: “Making Hebburn was one of the most incredible and stressful experiences of my life, and I've been saving the best stories for a hometown crowd! If you want to know what actually happens when you try to convince television executives to make a sitcom about the North East, this is the show for you.”

First broadcast on BBC Two in 2012, Hebburn starred Vic Reeves (Jim Moir), Gina McKee, Chris Ramsey, Steffen Peddie, Kimberley Nixon and Lisa McGrillis, alongside Jason himself.

Jason has since established himself as a major name in UK comedy and television. As well as creating Hebburn, he wrote the Gold-rated comedy-drama Murder on the Blackpool Express and its subsequent sequels. He's also the founder and host of Laffs4Kids, the hugely successful Christmas charity event collecting thousands of gifts for local children living in poverty, and co-hosts the popular Things We Didn't Know podcast with fellow comedian Carl Hutchinson.

A familiar face at The Customs House, Jason's Comedy Club has been entertaining audiences at the South Shields venue for a decade, selling more than 100,000 tickets.

Tickets:

Tickets for the show go on sale to Friends of The Customs House on Wednesday, November 4 and general sale on Friday, November 6 at 10am and will be available from The Customs House Box Office on 0191 454 1234 or online at www.customshouse.co.uk.

Interview: "A Bucket-List Role" - Olivier Award Nominee Peter Polycarpou Brings Poirot to Newcastle Theatre Royal

"A Bucket-List Role" 

Olivier Award Nominee Peter Polycarpou Brings Poirot to Newcastle Theatre Royal

Agatha Christie's The Hollow

Newcastle Theatre Royal

Tuesday 10 - Saturday 14 November 2026

Taking on one of literature's most famous detectives in Agatha Christie's The Hollow, when the production visits Newcastle Theatre Royal, two-time Olivier Award nominee Peter Polycarpou admits the role has been years in the making. "Getting to play Hercule Poirot is a real bucket-list moment for me" he says "He's been on my wish list for a long time. Poirot is so iconic, this wonderfully logical man who has such a moral responsibility to him and who has a huge psychological insight into people."

Best known for acclaimed stage performances in Oslo, The Band's Visit, Les Misérables: The Arena Concert Spectacular and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, alongside screen credits including House of the Dragon and The Brutalist, Polycarpou now joins a celebrated list of actors who have portrayed Christie's legendary Belgian sleuth.

In The Hollow, Poirot arrives in the English countryside hoping for a quiet retreat, only to find himself drawn into a murder investigation when a gathering at an elegant country house ends in tragedy What appears to be a straightforward crime soon reveals itself to be far more complex.

Photo: Johan Persson

Polycarpou says stepping into Poirot's polished shoes comes with a unique challenge. "There is a weight of expectation in playing him. It's like playing Hamlet in a sense. To make it my own, I've researched as much as I can about him, delving into his traits, his idiosyncrasies and his backstory."

Directed by Lucy Bailey, whose previous Christie productions include Witness for the Prosecution, And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile, this new adaptation shines a spotlight on one of the Queen of Crime's most psychologically rich stories. "It's not a puzzle mystery where Poirot's task is to work out how the crime has happened" Bailey explains. "Here Christie is more interested in the psychological dynamics within a family. Its Christie meets Chekhov."

Originally published in 1946, The Hollow stands apart from many of Christie's better-known works, focusing as much on the motivations and emotions of its characters as it does on solving the crime itself. For Bailey, that depth is part of the reason the story continues to resonate with audiences. "Having studied her writing so intensively, I've really come to appreciate her humour, sharp observation and her understanding of human nature in all its craziness."

Blending suspense, wit and psychological intrigue, The Hollow offers theatre audiences a fresh encounter with Poirot and a chance to experience one of Agatha Christie's most fascinating mysteries brought vividly to life on stage.

Tickets

Agatha Christie's The Hollow plays Newcastle Theatre Royal next week from Tuesday 10 – Saturday 14 November 2026. 

Tickets can be purchased at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 0191 232 7010.

Preview: Dracula by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm at Pier Pavillion, South Shields

 Dracula adaptation with stories of the women at the heart comes to South Shields

Dracula by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm

Pier Pavillion, South Shields

Wednesday 4th - Saturday 7th November 2026

The Westovian Theatre Society are bringing the horror to South Shields this Halloween with their latest production of Dracula. 

Nicola Richardson as Lucy

Far from a simple retelling of the incredible Bram Stoker story, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s 2025 adaptation sets the women at the heart of the gothic tale, as Mina Harker tells her own version of Dracula’s infamous journey from Transylvania. Lloyd Malcolm has carefully crafted the story into an exciting new, powerful and terrifying psychological thriller, dripping with atmosphere and tension.

In a departure from the epistolary novel, this adaptation takes on the uniquely theatrical form of a play within a play, with Mina’s assembled band of players leading the audience through the story. The sense of dread builds throughout the piece, with the question of whether the retelling of Dracula’s story may in fact resurrect the Count himself hanging over the audience throughout. 

Michael Caygill as Jonathan Harker

The show had its world premiere just last year, with a successful run at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London, with critics describing the ‘dark and menacing show’ (London Standard) as a ‘revolutionary take on Bram Stoker’s Dracula with a twist that redefines the original’ (Broadway World) and ‘delivering bucketloads of scalp-crawling shocks’ (London Standard). 

The show runs at the Pier Pavillion in South Shields from Wednesday 4th until Saturday 7th November, the second show of another exciting season for the Westovians. 

Fresh from directing his first show at the Westovians, the dark comedy Home I’m Darling, Mike Harrison discussed what it was like to take on a completely different challenge of a dark thriller. 

“In a complete departure from the idyllic 50s stylised lifestyle of Home I’m Darling, this play has been an exciting challenge to direct. The technical elements of the play have presented many challenges to a small amateur theatre such as ours, but it has been great to work out how to stage the show, with its many special effects and hundreds of lighting cues. It has been a joy to work out how to maintain the suspense and mystery throughout the piece, and how to surprise and unnerve the audience without necessarily needing to lean on gory horror. The fantastic cast and crew have worked incredibly hard to bring this tale to life in the manner Morgan Lloyd Malcolm intended, and I can’t wait for audiences to see what we have created.”

Rachel Craig as Mina Harker

The Westovians have built a reputation for producing a diverse programme of new writing and classic plays in South Tyneside. Last season, the society won 7 NODA North District awards, including Best Villain in a Pantomime for Rachel Craig, who leads the Dracula cast as Mina Harker.

Craig said: “I have absolutely loved being involved in this production. It has been quite a challenge, with lots of tech and sound building the tension, but it has been a brilliant experience, and lots of fun. This isn't a Dracula you have seen before, it's a re-telling of the old classic, but beware the teller as much as the tale!”

Show: Dracula by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm

Location: Pier Pavillion, South Shields

Dates: Wednesday 4th - Saturday 7th November. Evening shows 7.30pm, Saturday matinee 2pm

Tickets: £15. Available online: https://www.ticketsource.com/westovians/dracula/e-zpjgov

Tickets can be purchased in person at Sanddancer Clothing, The Word and at the Box Office (open one hour before show & subject to availability)

Suitable for: 14+
Content Warnings: Contains scenes of blood, gore, horror, themes of infant mortality, themes of psychological distress.

Running time: 2 hours 15 (including interval)

Access: Theatre is fully wheelchair accessible, with an accessible toilet and designated wheelchair spaces in the auditorium. 

REVIEW: Cinderella at Newcastle Theatre Royal

Cinderella

Newcastle Theatre Royal 

Until Saturday 31 October 2026

Northern Ballet’s first-rate company present Prokofiev’s classic music in a charming, romantic setting by Michael Pink that places the focus on the individual performances by this terrific company.

Northern Ballet are past masters at touring ballet in the modern era. Previous tours have used recorded music to keep down costs, but this production has reinstated their splendid orchestra, albeit in a reduced form, to deliver the extra punch that only live music can bring.

That said, this is a relatively small-scale staging, with a tight, beautifully co-ordinated corps de ballet. Minimal settings by Bruce Brockman and David Grill’s mostly subdued lighting underpin a cast of excellent dancers, giving close attention to characterisation as well as classical technique.

Traditionally, the stepsisters are danced by men, here Yu Waizuka and Andrew Tomlinson, the latter a wonderful grotesque, the former a softer portrayal. I thought it, perhaps, a little too soft, as his natural delicacy made the awkwardness of the character something of a reach. Though I should point out, my companion disagreed with me, thinking their contrast was very effective. Alessia Petrosino was a convincingly villainous stepmother and Harry Skoupas doddled about amiably as Cinderella’s father. I must say, however, that he looked improbably youthful and vigorous for the role.

The story runs true to Perrault’s original form, though Cinderella’s mother fulfils the function of the fairy godmother in an endearing performance by Heather Lehan. One of the highlights is a lovely scene in the garden when the spirits of the seasons, dance in couples to lead up to the presentation of Cinderella’s ballgown and sparkling slippers.

Jack, Cinderella’s below stairs friend, is danced by Harris Beattie, with great style, charm and athleticism. His leaps were a joy to behold, as he positively hung in the air.

Jonathan Hanks is masculine and virile as the prince. He overcame some initial balance issues to demonstrate strong and sympathetic partnering skills, and a solid technique. 

In the titular role, Saeka Shirai, is an absolute delight. Delicate and light as thistledown, she mixes immense charm with flawless classical technique, making a true fairytale princess. Her emergence from a particularly lovely pumpkin coach into the arms of her prince and the enchanting pas de deux that follows are surely the stuff of dreams.

This is not a dazzling spectacular but a charming and involving night of dance, where character, delicacy and romance are to the fore.

Review: Jonathan Cash

Tickets:

https://www.theatreroyal.co.uk/whats-on/northern-ballet-cinderella/

Preview: Close Enough to Touch at Arts Centre, Washington

 Powerful new drama explores secrets, sex… and toilets

Close Enough to Touch

Arts Centre, Washington

Thursday 29 October 2026

Leeds-based Red Ladder Theatre Company and Hull’s Silent Uproar have joined forces to produce a powerful new play from an exciting and original voice in northern theatre.

Close Enough to Touch, a one-person drama about secrets, sex…and toilets written by new playwright Henry Roberts, will go on tour to venues across the North of England and down to the Midlands this autumn, visiting Washington in October.

What happens when our deepest urges are shrouded in shame? What happens when we can’t articulate our desires, even to ourselves? Close Enough to Touch follows a man who has a girlfriend … and a secret.

In this gripping, intimate drama, audiences are taken into the mysterious and taboo world of cruising – anonymous sex in public places. As our nameless character’s secret builds, so does his shame. The play swings between passion, pathos and humour as we watch a young man struggle to find pleasure, acceptance and, crucially, the language to express himself.

Playwright Henry Roberts, whose script was longlisted in the RSC 37 Plays Project said: “I'm thrilled to be working with Red Ladder and Silent Uproar on Close Enough to Touch. I wrote the play because I wanted to explore the ambiguous sides of our desires – the kinds of desire that aren't easy to categorise or label, that may be contradictory to who we feel we are as people.

Playwright Henry Roberts

“From day one the entire team has championed the play and supported me to make it the best it can be. I can't wait for people to see it.”

Red Ladder Theatre Company’s artistic director, Cheryl Martin, who is directing the play, said: “New writing is at the heart of what Red Ladder has been doing for nearly 60 years. That’s why we’re so excited to be working with a writer as gifted as Henry and a play as good as this.

“Henry is a brilliant new northern voice in the world of theatre, and his powerful script tells the kind of story you don’t come across every day. As a director, I’m spoilt for choice with Close Enough to Touch because it offers so many possibilities – exploring them is going to be a real pleasure.”

Alex Mitchell, Silent Uproar’s artistic director, said: “Close Enough to Touch is messy, filthy, funny and heartfelt, a show about relationships, cruising and the shame we can feel when desire, particularly queer desire, doesn’t fit neatly into the life we’ve built for ourselves.  It asks what happens when that shame, or our own cowardice, grows because we don’t have the words to say what we really want. Henry’s play is humorous, challenging and painfully human. It’s exactly the kind of work Silent Uproar exists to champion.”

Yorkshire-born actor Stefan Race, who trained at ALRA (Academy of Live & Recorded Arts), will star in the show. Director, Cheryl Martin, said: “We were lucky enough to have several excellent actors to choose from, but Stefan was the standout, matching the character so closely – even at audition – it hardly seemed like acting. It was as if Stefan was the character and understood the script so well.”

Red Ladder, set up in 1968 against a backdrop of civil unrest and anti-war protests, has a rich history of creative collaborations, having previously worked on co-productions with the likes of Leeds Playhouse, Liverpool’s Royal Court and Theatre Direct, in Toronto.

Established in 2013, Silent Uproar has built up an impressive reputation for identifying and championing extraordinary talent.

Recommended age rating 16+

• Directed by Cheryl Martin
• Written by Henry Roberts
• Dramaturg – Alex Mitchell

Running time 70 minutes, no interval

Content warning: sexual description and strong language.

#closeenoughtotouch

Tickets: https://www.sunderlandculture.org.uk/whats-on/close-enough-to-touch/

News: NEWCASTLE THEATRE ROYAL LAUNCHES VISION 2037 CONSULTATION TO HELP SHAPE THE FUTURE OF CULTURE IN THE NORTH EAST

NEWCASTLE THEATRE ROYAL LAUNCHES VISION 2037 CONSULTATION TO HELP SHAPE THE FUTURE OF CULTURE IN THE NORTH EAST

Newcastle Theatre Royal is inviting people from across the North East to help shape its next chapter as it launches Vision 2037, a major public consultation ahead of the theatre's bicentenary in 2037.

Launching on 14 October 2026, the consultation will engage audiences, communities, artists, partners, supporters and staff in a conversation about the role Newcastle Theatre Royal can play in the cultural life of the region over the next decade and beyond. The consultation will run until December 2026, with findings and next steps shared in Spring 2027 during the theatre's 190th anniversary year.

Under the banner "Our Time. Our Friends. Our Future.", Vision 2037 recognises a period of growing cultural confidence and ambition across the North East while acknowledging the need for greater investment and infrastructure to help the region fulfil its potential.

Rather than developing a long-term strategy behind closed doors, Newcastle Theatre Royal is inviting people to help shape its direction from the outset. As an independent charity that receives no regular public funding, Newcastle Theatre Royal relies on the support, participation and engagement of audiences, communities, donors, partners and supporters across the region. Vision 2037 reflects the theatre's commitment to ensuring those voices help shape its future direction.

Marianne Locatori, Chief Executive of Newcastle Theatre Royal, said: "As we look towards our 200th anniversary in 2037, we have a unique opportunity to think boldly about the future. Vision 2037 is an invitation to audiences, communities, artists, partners and supporters to help shape the next chapter of Newcastle Theatre Royal and its role in the cultural life of our city and region. We want to hear a wide range of perspectives as we begin this important conversation together."

The consultation will explore how Newcastle Theatre Royal can champion creativity and local talent, care for its historic home, widen access to theatre, and strengthen its contribution to the social, cultural and economic life of the North East. Nick Swales OBE DL, Chair of the Newcastle Theatre Royal Trust Board, said: "The North East is entering an exciting new chapter, and culture has an important role to play in shaping that future. Newcastle Theatre Royal has been at the heart of our region for generations, and this consultation is an opportunity for people to help shape its contribution to the cultural, social and economic life of the North East for years to come."

The insights gathered will help shape the organisation's long-term vision as it approaches its bicentenary in 2037. The consultation forms part of a wider ambition to ensure Newcastle Theatre Royal remains relevant, accessible and impactful for generations to come.

Helen Costello, Chief Operating Officer of Newcastle Theatre Royal, explained: "The decisions we make now won't just affect the people who come through our doors today. We continue to benefit from choices made nearly 200 years ago by people who believed Newcastle deserved a great theatre. We are the beneficiaries of their vision. Through Vision 2037, we have a similar opportunity to make choices today that will create opportunities for future generations long after we're gone."

People can take part in the consultation from 14 October 2026 via Vision 2037: Shape Our Next Chapter | Newcastle Theatre Royal, with opportunities to contribute online and through a programme of engagement activity taking place across the region throughout October, November and December.

REVIEW: Mrs Doubtfire at Newcastle Theatre Royal

Mrs Doubtfire

Newcastle Theatre Royal 

Until Sunday 11 October 2026 and touring

This slick musical adaptation of the iconic family movie cleverly captures the spirit of the original and delivers lots of laughs and a string of impressive musical numbers in a thoroughly enjoyable evening’s entertainment.

The 1993 film, Mrs Doubtfire, was based on the novel Madame Doubtfire by English author,  Anne Fine. It contained supporting turns from Sally Field, Harvey Fierstein and Pierce Brosnan. Nevertheless, it is most fondly remembered for the star performance of the much-missed Robin Williams as the frenetic voice actor who masquerades as an elderly Scottish nanny in order to stay close to his children after his divorce.

There are various challenges presented by bringing this story to the stage and I venture to suggest it probably wouldn’t have worked as a straight play. The logistics of managing the transformations from a lean thirty-something male to a well-upholstered elderly female are the first challenge. The second, and perhaps greater, challenge is to fill Robin Williams’ shoes as Daniel Hillard.

The first of these is met here by the judicious use of musical numbers providing the necessary hiatus to allow for the metamorphosis, though the transformations seen live on stage are also impressively speedy and slick. The second challenge is met by the casting of Gabriel Vick, a hugely talented and engaging impressionist, actor and singer. His performance is not an impression of Williams, though he must of course nod to the iconic voice of the Scottish nanny. He makes the role his own, showcasing a formidable range of voices and a lightning delivery.

The jokes come thick and fast, achieving genuine hilarity at times. The script by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell seems designed to give him his head on the comedy front and he seizes the opportunity. Vick created the role in the West End and has toured it for some time, so he has total mastery of it. At times, he even breaks the fourth wall to make local gags and even to bring in the audience in a pantomime fashion. Purists might bridle at this, but it is so genuinely funny that the Newcastle audience adored it.

The beneficent impact of Mrs Doubtfire on the troubled family and Daniel’s realisation of his answerability for the marriage breakdown are effectively detailed, with Kara Lily Hayworth working hard to flesh out the somewhat thankless role of Daniel’s wife. The inevitable unravelling of the deception is nicely handled as Daniel tries to have two separate dinners in the same restaurant at the same time, one as himself and one as Doubtfire. That we see it coming does nothing to lessen its entertainment value, played out against Rhianne Alleyne’s hilarious pastiche of a flamenco singer, lamenting her lover’s deception.

Ryan Pigeon, as Daniel’s brother, Frank and Jairus McClanahanan as his outrageous husband Andre, comprising his hair and make-up team, transcend stereotypes and deliver some of the funniest moments. The children, led by Aaliya Mai’s intelligent performance as Lydia, also do a great job.

Set pieces like the transformation song, Make Me A Woman, are glitzy and effective, with Lorin Lataro’s snappy choreography delivered with great panache by this talented and hardworking ensemble.

Underpinned by a superb band, under the direction of Iestyn Griffiths, Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick’s songs are effective, if not particularly memorable. Overall, the show is consistently funny, slick, inventive and entertaining. It also packs a punch emotionally, leaving the audience with a warm glow of satisfaction, that made for a deserved standing ovation on press night. 

Review: Jonathan Cash

Photos:  Matt Crockett

Tickets:

https://www.theatreroyal.co.uk/whats-on/mrs-doubtfire/

REVIEW: Dirty Dancing at Sunderland Empire

Dirty Dancing

Sunderland Empire

Until Saturday 26 September 2026

Few films are as universally loved as Dirty Dancing, and it is therefore no surprise that the popular stage show has cha-cha’ed back into Sunderland this week. Featuring a soundtrack inspired by the 80s film and filled with more high kicks than a Strictly extravaganza, the show allows audiences an opportunity to relive the beloved film.

Led by Charlie Varlet (Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman) and Joel Benjamin (Johnny Castle), the show features all of the aspects and moments of the film that an audience expects. There’s dancing, she still carries a watermelon and we’re still not allowing anyone to put Baby in the corner. The show is light, comic and moves at pace, running at just over 2 hours including an interval. Varlet is charming as Baby, paying homage to Jennifer Grey’s original quirks without feeling like it’s pure mimicry.

Benjamin is, to the obvious delight of the audience, fairly ripped, and great attention has been paid to ensuring that the audience regularly see plenty of muscles. At times, it feels like it may be bordering on excessive – was a shirtless scene entirely necessary? – but where Benjamin comes into his own is his dancing ability, particularly in his routines with Ellie Fergusson (Penny Johnson). Their pairs routines are nothing short of breath-taking, filled with kicks, flicks and tricks. There are moments where Fergusson, and many of the ensemble dancers, seem to be pushing their bodies beyond what is humanly possible, creating dance scenes that are impossible to tear your eyes from.  It is absolutely the dancing which elevates this show to something which stands alone as its own piece of work, for which choreographer Austin Wilks should surely take a great deal of credit.

The show sits somewhere between a musical and a loving retelling of the classic story on stage. Whilst music is used and performed throughout the play, the principal cast largely focus on bringing the story to life through dance and drama, leaving the singing in the (admittedly very capable) hands of Mimi Rodrigues-Alves (Elizabeth) and Asher Forth (Billy Kostecki). The inclusion of a small band on stage throughout key musical numbers really lifts the musical elements of the show, and does create a much more intimate feeling despite the show’s significant scale. Admittedly, the instrumental version of She’s Like The Wind felt like a bit of a painful tease to the audience. Memorably recorded by Patrick Swayze for the original film, the swelling of the band did feel that we may be about to be treated to a rare moment of music from the principal cast. Alas, it was not to be, cue collective sigh from the audience.

Admittedly, it isn’t a show that you will be humming for the next week, but that is not its purpose. The show is a heartfelt and loyal recreation of the film. There are no shocks, no surprises, and it serves up that warm feeling that you get from watching something that you know really well, and that’s something that we all need from time to time. It’s funny, entertaining and allows you to sit back and relax, and quite frankly that sounds like a perfect night out to me.

Review: Hannah Daglish

Tickets:

Tickets are on sale now via ATG Tickets' Sunderland box office site (a transaction fee may apply to online bookings). LINK

 

REVIEW: The Anastasia File at Newcastle Theatre Royal

The Anastasia File 

Newcastle Theatre Royal

Until Saturday 19 September 2026

For anyone with a passing interest in twentieth-century mystery, the story of Anna Anderson, or Mrs Anna Manahan, as she became, remains one of history's great "what ifs". Did she die with the rest of the Romanovs in that Ekaterinburg cellar in 1918, or did she somehow survive to be fished, half-drowned, from a Berlin canal two years later, carrying fragments of memory that only a Grand Duchess could possess? Royce Ryton's *The Anastasia File* sets out the case for both sides and, admirably, refuses to hand the audience a verdict, a decision that feels true to the real mystery, even if it makes for a slightly frustrating night in the stalls.

The programme notes date the play to 1953, though a little digging suggests it actually belongs closer to the late 1970s, an origin that, frankly, makes more sense of what unfolds on stage. This is a play built from an older dramatic toolkit: a two-hander conversation between the Inspector and Mrs Manahan, followed by a scene in which the Inspector reconvenes with a colleague to mull over what's just been said and, in the process, deliver another slab of exposition to the audience. Rinse and repeat. It's a structure that was probably already looking a touch old-fashioned decades ago, and in 2026 it does show its age. There's a ponderousness to some of the exposition-heavy stretches, particularly in the first half, where the piece seems more interested in laying out the historical record than in building dramatic momentum.

That said, there is a genuinely interesting device at its heart: Simon Shepherd plays both the original Inspector and, in a later section that pushes the action on into the 1980s, his son - a neat way of extending the timeline and letting the play gesture towards the ongoing, decades-spanning nature of the real case. It's a shame, then, that the production doesn't push this modernising instinct further. The DNA evidence that eventually resolved the Anderson/Manahan question in the real world, and which would have given the play's closing arguments a sharper, more contemporary edge, goes unmentioned, leaving the drama to close on ambiguity that the history books have since settled - though I'm not sure how advanced dna was back at the time the play was written. Whether that's a deliberate choice to preserve the mystery for dramatic purposes, or simply a text that hasn't quite caught up with the facts, is hard to say. It does the play no harm to be scrupulously fair to the story of Mrs Manahan's uncertain origins, but it will nag at anyone in the audience who knows how the tale ends.

None of this is a criticism of the performances, which are the real reason to see this production. Jenny Seagrove is superb as Mrs Manahan, navigating a role that demands she be by turns fragile, imperious, evasive and utterly convinced of her own identity, often within the same scene, without ever tipping into caricature. It's a performance built on stillness and control as much as outburst, and it's easy to see why she's returned to the part. Simon Shepherd is an equally assured scene partner, giving the Inspector (and later his son) a dogged, decent scepticism that never curdles into cruelty; the two of them carry enormous amounts of dialogue between them, and do so with a naturalism that papers over some of the script's creakier joins. Ashley D. Gayle and Rosie Thomson bring welcome variety in a string of smaller roles, providing the shifts in tone and pace that the two leads' extended exchanges occasionally need.

Roy Marsden's direction is unfussy, trusting the material and the cast rather than reaching for visual flourish, which suits a play that is, at heart, a battle of words and wills rather than of spectacle. The design, likewise, keeps things simple, letting the performances do the heavy lifting.

*The Anastasia File* is an intriguing evening, and one that respects its audience enough to let them draw their own conclusions about a mystery that captivated the world for the best part of a century. But it's also, at times, a wordy and demanding one - a play more comfortable telling than showing, that leans hard on its two leads to keep an old-fashioned structure feeling alive. Seagrove and Shepherd are more than equal to the task, and their performances alone make this worth seeking out. Just don't expect the play itself to have moved on quite as far as the story it's telling.

Review: Stephen Oliver

Tickets:

https://www.theatreroyal.co.uk/whats-on/the-anastasia-file/