Zog: UK tour announced

Following in the footsteps of productions such as Stick Man, The Gruffalo’s Child, Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales and The Scarecrows’ Wedding, Kneehigh’s Mike Shepherd has adapted Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler’s book Zog for the stage. It will feature an original folk score from actor & musician Johnny Flynn (singer-songwriter with The Sussex Wit), […]

The Wider Earth: cast announced

The cast has today been announced for the European première of Darwin drama The Wider Earth, which begins its run at the Natural History Museum in October. This will be the first time a theatre has been constructed within the museum and is going to be found in the Jerwood Gallery, near the Darwin Centre […]

The Wider Earth: London run announced

In what, for me, could be one of the theatrical coups of 2018, Dead Puppet Society (in conjunction with Trish Wadley Productions) bring their hit play The Wider Earth one to London, where it will be performed in a purpose-built theatre inside the Natural History Museum. The 357-seater auditorium will be set up in the Jerwood […]

Missed The Boat: Amélie

This is another missed opportunity from last year’s New York trip – particularly given that it was still in previews when I was over there, so potentially a slightly lower demand and price range… But it wasn’t to be (as you know, I didn’t end up seeing any show in a Broadway theater) and given […]

Emma Rice at the Globe: top 10

It’s officially into Emma Rice’s last week at Shakespeare’s Globe, and I’m fully expecting to have a meltdown come Saturday evening… So while I’m still functioning, I thought it would be great to celebrate some of my favourite things about her time as the artistic director of the Globe – both from her shows and […]

Avenue Q: 2019 UK tour announced

This morning Selladoor Worldwide has announced the return of anarchic puppet show Avenue Q, set to tour the UK again in 2019. The very politically incorrect comedy musical was last seen on tour in 2016 (following a five-year West End run and two other tours in 2014 & 2015), though it has been an Off […]

“Come in! and know me better, man!”

As today is what’s traditionally known as the end of the Christmas season, I thought this would be a rather apt time to let you know how #MTBChristmasCarol2017 has gone. I’m still holding out a hope of seeing the RSC’s production, but that could be some time away; you’ll hear about that if it does […]

Puppets 2017: a summary

After choosing in 2016 to focus on Shakespeare (in the 400th anniversary of his death), I went completely different this year and made it my mission to learn more about, and see more shows featuring, puppets. I have a longstanding love of puppets, grown mainly from Edd the Duck and the Muppets – and there […]

Mind the Blog ‘on tour’ 2017

I have to admit, my line about Mind the Blog going ‘on tour’ more this year was basically a reference to my secret New York trip that I’d been planning for a few months prior to writing the post about my plans for 2017. But, in the end, it has turned out to be a […]

Pinocchio

The National Theatre’s family show of choice this season is a brand new adaptation of the classic story Pinocchio, based on both the classic Disney film and the original writing. Award-winning John Tiffany directs, bringing to life a show that has been in his thoughts for several years now – he’s joined on the team […]