Richard III Rebecca Coates 14/01/2016 Richard III is a bloody play, and this is a production that emphasises the violence from the explosive first scene. In dimmed red light, on a red mat,...
Queen Anne Mel Cooper 05/01/2016 I was out of the country when Queen Anne opened and finally caught up with it only at the very end of December. It has had much praise – and for me th...
Les Liaisons Dangereuses Rebecca Coates 19/12/2015 The set of Les Liaisons Dangereuses is gorgeous, peeling paint walls and grandiose period furniture half-draped with dust sheets, a sense of opulent d...
Annie Mel Cooper 19/12/2015 The touring production of Chatrles Strouse, Martin Charnin, and Thomas Meehan’s Annie is the Christmas Show at the New Theatre in Oxford this year and...
Aladdin Mel Cooper 08/12/2015 The pantomime season is upon us and I have just attended the Oxford Playhouse contribution to the genre for 2015 – Aladdin. As always, there are outra...
Wendy and Peter Pan Harry Tennison 04/12/2015 Ella Hickson deliberately renames her adaptation of J.M.Barrie's classic novel, and with good reason. In this revival of their original production, th...
The Nutcracker Olivia Markham 30/11/2015 From the tips of fluttering snowflake fingers and gnarly rat’s claws, right down to the sturdy soldier boot, Peter Wright’s production of the Nutcrack...
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Harry Tennison 27/11/2015 The annual Christmas show is often a delight for families, providing spectacle and fun for the children, and some decent songs and acting for the adul...
Love for Love Mel Cooper 18/11/2015 Though one of the most revered texts of English literature, Congreve’s “other” Restoration Comedy is rarely played these days. For that reason alone, ...
WNO Tour: Bellini, I Puritani; Handel, Orlando; Sondheim, Sweeney Todd Mel Cooper 10/11/2015 I caught up with the current Welsh National Opera season on tour in Oxford and must begin by reporting that musically every single work – Bellini’s I ...
