• Whats Cooking? @ Nottingham New Theatre

    Set in a backstreet American diner, What’s Cooking? is certainly no second-rate performance. As part of the Fringe season at Nottingham New Theatre, the production is entirely student-run and relatively low budget; but this does not stop writer and director Gary Berezin and his team from delivering a stellar...
  • Opera North: La Traviata @ Theatre Royal

    La Traviata began with an ethereal full moon beamed on to the backdrop of Nottingham’s Theatre Royal and a polite notice that Hye-Youn Lee was unwell and Anna Jeruc-Kopec was to play the role of Violetta. As the silhouette of Violetta appeared and the murmuring of the audience ebbed away Jeruc-Kopec made sure no one would be disappointed by the...
  • Our Country’s Good @ Nottingham New Theatre

    I recently visited Nottingham’s Galleries of Justice and was struck by the exhibitions about men and women punished with transportation to Australia. It’s a strange and scary thought, to be sent halfway across the world for a crime that nowadays wouldn’t warrant a prison sentence- and so I was...
  • Opera North: The Bartered Bride @ Theatre Royal

    Money and marriage: a dangerous mix, and one that lies at the heart of Bedrich Smetana’s opera The Bartered Bride. Under the direction of Daniel Slater, Opera North first revived this comedy within a context of 1970s Soviet Czechoslovakia in 1998, creating interesting parallels with the era of its...
  • 40% @ Nottingham New Theatre

    In order to experience 40%, the audience is asked to draw themselves away from the safe haven of University Park and out into the sprawling streets of Nottingham. A frantic double-checking of google maps, a short bus ride and a hesitant walk in the freezing winter fog gives an...
  • Phoenix Dance Theatre @ Nottingham Playhouse

    In 1981, the city of Leeds witnessed the birth of yet another dance company – Phoenix Dance Theatre. About 33 years down the line, Phoenix has established itself as one of the leading contemporary dance companies in in the world.  Featuring two electrifying world premieres and a renowned company...
  • Bent @ Nottingham New Theatre

    Entering the theatre with the knowledge that I was about to watch a play involving the persecution of homosexuals, I expected to leave feeling sickened. And I can’t lie, I still felt a strong urge to hurl abuse at the play’s cruel ringleaders, the vicious Nazi SS officers played...