News, reviews, features and podcast on theatre across the UK
The British Theatre Guide Newsletter
No 1238: 16 November 2025
Editorial
The youth theatre show I mentioned in last week’s newsletter with which I was involved (Grimmer from Mainstream Theatre Arts at Hyde Festival Theatre) ended yesterday, and was all derigged and mostly packed away and in a van by the end of the night. One of the cast told me she had had a little cry that it was all over, and I’m sure she wasn’t the only one.
I’ve been working with MTA for just over 34 years, which means I’d done ten years with them when British Theatre Guide made its online debut, as it is our 24th birthday tomorrow (Monday). I’ve mentioned our origin story a few times in this newsletter before, but you can still read our late founder Peter Lathan’s account of our creation as part of his Remembrance of Theatre Past series of features he wrote during the first year of lockdown (or is it Lockdown—should it now be considered a proper noun for a historical event and therefore capitalised?) which I recommend reading in its entirety if you haven’t already.
Although I wasn’t around much this last week, we did release a new podcast episode, which I recorded the week before, when I had a lovely chat with Steve Marmion, former Artistic Director of Soho Theatre, founder of PantoCo Ltd and now Chief Executive and Director of Programming for Watford Palace Theatre.
He spoke quite a lot about panto, from getting Stephen Fry to record the voice of the giant for Watford’s Jack and the Beanstalk this year to its importance to theatres and to audiences, referring to it as “the most accessible and the last bastion of working-class theatre”. In fact, diversity of programming to appeal to all classes and sections of society is something he argues is important, admitting that he doesn’t like everything that goes on at his theatre, but “theatre would be a very short-lived industry if we just programme to my taste.”
He also spoke about social media and how it is important for theatres to “crack TikTok”, and explains why he believes that “if I look at my TikTok feed or anyone's Instagram reels, it looks like Sunday Night at the London Palladium.”
Back on the subject of theatre and young people, the RSC has announced a new Shakespeare curriculum created with the Foyle Foundation, which will be free to all UK state and SEND secondary schools with the aim of getting it into 80% of these schools by the 2029/30 academic year.
The RSC says that it is “the most important development in the teaching of Shakespeare in a generation and will radically change how Shakespeare is studied and taught in secondary schools across the UK and around the world”. Steve Orme has a detailed news report on the curriculum, and Philip Fisher has examined it for his feature this week.
Finally, London Theatre Direct, with which we have an affiliate scheme, currently has what it is describing as “the biggest Black Friday theatre sale”, with offers on 67 London shows, including Hamilton, The Devil Wears Prada, Oliver!, Cirque du Soleil: OVO and Stranger Things. As always, we have to mention that tickets sold through links in this newsletter or on our web site may earn us a small fee at no extra cost to you, but it helps to pay the bills to keep us online.
Lucy Beaumont, Shobna Gulati, Johnny Vegas and Lesley Joseph will be on stage in the revival of Jim Cartwright's Road, with Tom Courtenay appearing on film.
The Royal Shakespeare Company has chosen six playwrights in residence, part of its new Cohort programme, who will come up with six new plays for the RSC’s stages.
The Royal Shakespeare Company has chosen six playwrights in residence, part of its new Cohort programme, who will come up with six new plays for the RSC’s stages.
Coven Kiln Theatre in association with Kindred Partners and Eilene Davidson Productions at Kiln Theatre
The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe Elliott & Harper Productions and Catherine Schreiber, based on the original Leeds Playhouse production at Sunderland Empire
The Hunger Games Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, Oliver Royds, for BOS Productions, Isobel David, Timothy Laczynsii and Umeda Arts Theatrer at Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre
Tina – The Tina Turner Musical (Stage Entertainment, Joop van den Ende and Tali Pelman, in association with Tina Turner) - Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh, –
