Wuthering Heights: 2021-22 UK tour diary

As you’ll have probably guessed, this is pretty much the show I’ve been looking forward to for the past 18 months or so. I first read Wuthering Heights in 2018 and immediately thought it was ripe for adapting by a certain Emma Rice – and my wish must have reached her telepathically, as not too long […]

The Show Must Go Online: Henry VI, part two

Exit Joan of Arc and enter Jack Cade, as The Show Must Go Online barrels from Henry VI, part one straight into Henry VI, part two. Commonly viewed as the best instalment of this particular trilogy, and with the largest collection of characters in all of Shakespeare’s plays, the production was billed with this description: “Illicit affairs. […]

Favourite shows 2019

Whilst I didn’t see as many shows as last year, I don’t think I had quite such a good run of shows in 2018 as I have this year – so making this list was no mean feat. As usual, there were some which were ineligible for the list as I’d seen them last year; […]

Favourite female performances of 2019

As with last year, there were too many brilliant performances to restrict this to one combined list – so once again I’ve split them up into male and female performances. It was a particularly strong field this year, I thought, which makes for quite a cosy female performances subs bench: Kara Lily Hayworth (Maggie May […]

Wise Children (2019)

“Welcome to the wrong side of the tracks.” Emma Rice’s Wise Children began their journey back at the Old Vic in October last year, and since then they’ve been touring all across the country – from Bristol & Oxford to Chester & York. Their final week will be spent at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre (one of […]

Favourite female performances of 2018

There have been so many brilliant performances this year that I simply couldn’t narrow them down enough – and it also didn’t seem fair to restrict things even further, so I’ve split what would usually be one post into two (favourite male performances came earlier). Mind the Advent also promoted a few more performances, just […]

Emma Rice 2018: a summary

After previously taking on Shakespeare and puppetry, there could be no other choice this year than the brilliant Emma Rice – with her final winter season at the Globe coming to a close, and Wise Children taking its first steps, it’s been another eventful 12 months for her. There have also been tours of her […]

Wise Children: 2018-19 UK tour diary

Earlier this year I headed out on tour with The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk – well, I went to every venue on the UK leg of their tour… So with this being my year of Emma Rice, I simply had to do the same thing for Wise Children! It’s heading to a few places I […]

Day 6: “Welcome to the wrong side of the tracks”

The beauty of seeing a show several times is that you can take in so many different things across the hours you spend in a theatre with it. With it being Emma Rice (and, let’s face it, Katy Owen) I’d booked four tickets in advance of seeing Wise Children at all, and added a fifth […]

Wise Children (2018)

If you’ve read Angela Carter’s final novel, Wise Children, you’ll understand just how gargantuan an undertaking it would be to adapt for the stage – but when the person taking on that challenge is Emma Rice, you can be certain it’s a match made in heaven. Thematically and content-wise it is an ideal piece of work […]