FILLING YOU UP WITH EVERYTHING GOOD IN NORWICH EACH MONTH

Arts > Theatre

The Brief Life & Mysterious Death of Boris III, King of Bulgaria

Tuesday, October 22nd 2024

An ostensibly amusing, but also incredibly thought-provoking, production.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Wednesday, September 25th 2024

You will believe a car can fly.

Murder on the Orient Express

Wednesday, September 18th 2024

Given that the stage version of Murder on the Orient Express is an entirely new play, one might have expected great liberties to be taken but the reverse was the case - there was an evident reverence for the source text apparent throughout Ludwig's adaptation that tiptoed lightly over the darker themes of Christie's novel, preferring instead to focus on flashes of humour and the cosy familiarity of a tale retold.

Art

Friday, September 13th 2024

Given the acrimony of Brexit, covid vaccination and even the recent Lucy Letby controversy, far from feeling dated, the play feels surprisingly relevant – an exemplar of what happens when we lose the ability to disagree civilly, instead content to take lumps out of family and friends with little regard for the consequential fallout.

& JULIET

Wednesday, July 31st 2024

A fabulously pop-tastic party, featuring a canon of top tunes from start to finish.

Silence! The Musical

Friday, July 26th 2024

A gloriously dark, and very funny, musical stage parody.

Come Dine With Me - The Musical

Wednesday, July 24th 2024

An hilarious homage to Channel 4's much-loved television show

I Wish You Well - The Gwyneth Paltrow Ski-Trial Musical

Wednesday, July 24th 2024

Love this show. Catch it if you can before it hits Edinburgh

Everybody's Talking About Jamie

Tuesday, June 25th 2024

Life-affirming, inclusive and diverse, and celebrating every type of friendship.

The 39 Steps

Wednesday, June 19th 2024

An hilarious comedy, made to look so easy. Pleasure and laughter all of the way.

Séance and Arcade from Darkfield

Thursday, June 6th 2024

Séance, in common with all their productions, took place in complete darkness. The audience wear headphones and so experience the narrative almost entirely through sound. If that sounds too close to an audio book, then allow me to disabuse you of that notion.

Salt

Monday, May 20th 2024

There was so much to admire in this bold production and one, let’s not forget, which filled the Arts Centre to capacity in the middle of the Norfolk and Norwich festival. I find it hard to believe that such an assured production is their first, and while 'Salt' is already a worthwhile contribution to the region's theatre, I’m convinced we can look forward to even greater things to come.

Northern Ballet - Romeo & Juliet

Wednesday, May 15th 2024

For a Romeo & Juliet with that extra rollercoaster ride of emotion and spectacle, look no further.

Drop the Dead Donkey

Wednesday, May 8th 2024

I dare say that my memory of the TV show itself is rose tinted, but if wallowing in nostalgia is an inexcusable crime then I plead guilty, as critical facilities crumbled in the face of a production that was simply, and unapologetically, silly good fun.

Edward Scissorhands - Matthew Bourne's New Adventures

Wednesday, April 17th 2024

I find myself holding back the tears – that is how powerful the finale of this show is.

John Osborne - Norwich : A Love Story

Friday, April 12th 2024

A show packed with moving words and memories about the city we love.

São Paulo Dance Company

Saturday, March 23rd 2024

A dazzling display of elegance, strength and stamina

English Touring Opera - Manon Lescaut

Sunday, March 10th 2024

Brave and challenging, English Touring Opera really do deliver 'Opera That Moves'.

English Touring Opera - The Rake's Progress

Saturday, March 9th 2024

In this fresh English Touring Opera production, the morality of the tale shines through with a new-found relevance. Bravo ETO.

Ania Magliano: I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This

Friday, March 1st 2024

A Family Business

Tuesday, February 13th 2024

Often, theatre is a device for escaping our troubles, and I suppose there's nothing wrong with that, but for those of us that yearn for more nourishing fare, it's good to know something reliably substantial is still being served up on a China Plate.

The Nutcracker - Varna International Ballet

Sunday, February 11th 2024

Completing their triage of Tchaikovsky's most loved ballets.

Swan Lake - Varna International Ballet

Saturday, February 10th 2024

Swan Lake is a mouth-watering spectacle. This production becomes the complete dance experience.

Sleeping Beauty

Saturday, February 10th 2024

Toast - Dizraeli / Joelle Taylor

Monday, February 5th 2024

'Toast' had moved to Norwich Theatre Playhouse this month, and even in this much larger venue, nearly all the seats were taken

And Then There Were None

Wednesday, January 31st 2024

The costumes were impeccable, the cast formidable and the set often reminiscent of early 20th century paintings. All this, coupled with Dame Agatha Christie’s expertly-crafted dialogue, certainly did a great job of plunging us into this fascinating, long-gone past.

Betty Blue Eyes

Wednesday, January 24th 2024

An absolute delight from start to finish - a heart-warming blinder of a show.

The Woman in Black

Tuesday, January 16th 2024

Such was the atmosphere generated, it was easy to imagine, out the corner of your eye, that you caught a glimpse of the eponymous Woman, such was the descriptive power of the text. Who would have thought that possible with only two actors on a bare stage?

Sleeping Beauty - The Fairy's Tale

Thursday, December 14th 2023

A magnificent seasonal pantomime of which Norfolk should be really proud.

Grayson Perry - A Show About You

Monday, November 27th 2023

Despite ambitions to be the enfant terrible of British art when he won the Turner Prize in 2003, Grayson Perry is officially a National Treasure. His recent reinvention as an investigative explorer of countercultures and communities, albeit in his civvies, offered a clue as what to expect from his live show. What I didn't expect was for him to break into full throated song.

John Cooper Clarke and Luke Wright

Sunday, November 26th 2023

The Good Enough Mums Club

Friday, November 10th 2023

The theatrical experience is witty and well-paced, with a tone that lies somewhere between 'Six' and 'Fascinating Aida'.

Noises Off

Wednesday, November 8th 2023

First staged forty years ago, Michael Frayn's Noises Off continues to be performed all over the world, and continues to have audiences howling with laughter. With Norwich only its third outing, I got the sense the cast had not yet entirely settled into their roles, but for most part this was a thoroughly entertaining, and mercilessly funny, night at the theatre.

Quiz

Wednesday, November 1st 2023

Anyone under the age of thirty must find it bewildering that such a prosaic misdemeanour is even remembered, let along dramatized for the stage. And yet its grip obstinately refuses to let go. It’s a testament to the quality of Graham's writing that the show was not only entertaining, but gripping, with an ability to surprise in spite of its well-trodden path.

The Full Monty - Norwich Theatre Royal

Wednesday, October 25th 2023

There is so much more to this stage version of The Full Monty than a titillating knock-off Chippendales show

Ballet Black - 'Pioneers'

Saturday, October 21st 2023

Two very different pieces, but one absolutely fabulous evening

The Coronation of Poppea - English Touring Opera

Wednesday, October 18th 2023

Elements of this fact-based narrative still hold frighteningly true today

Cinderella - English Touring Opera

Tuesday, October 17th 2023

The experience is a delight from start to finish

PrimEvil

Sunday, October 15th 2023

Project Dictator

Thursday, October 12th 2023

Or, 'Why democracy is overrated and I don't miss it at all'