The Windrush Secret

The authenticity with which Rodreguez King-Dorset portrayed the three characters involved was so precise that I had to keep reminding myself they were being played by the same man - the only man on stage.

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

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

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

You will believe a car can fly.

Murder on the Orient Express

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

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

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

Silence! The Musical

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

Come Dine With Me - The Musical

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

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

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

Everybody's Talking About Jamie

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

The 39 Steps

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

Séance and Arcade from Darkfield

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

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

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

Drop the Dead Donkey

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

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

John Osborne - Norwich : A Love Story

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

São Paulo Dance Company

A dazzling display of elegance, strength and stamina

English Touring Opera - Manon Lescaut

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

English Touring Opera - The Rake's Progress

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

A Family Business

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

Completing their triage of Tchaikovsky's most loved ballets.

Swan Lake - Varna International Ballet

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

Sleeping Beauty

Toast - Dizraeli / Joelle Taylor

'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

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

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

The Woman in Black

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

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

Grayson Perry - A Show About You

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

The Good Enough Mums Club

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

Noises Off

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

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

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