News, reviews, features and podcast on theatre across the UK
The British Theatre Guide Newsletter
No 1279: 30 August 2026
Editorial
The various festivals in Edinburgh are drawing to a close, and most of our reviews are now in, although there are still one or two to come. We had nine reviewers at the main three festivals across August, including me, a third of them Scotland residents and the rest travelling from the rest of the UK and, in one case, the US.
Now, the regional theatres who have mostly been dark over the summer are warming up for the start of their autumn seasons; I have had a lot of press releases, press night invitations and interview offers, too many to fit in, but some will be appearing on the podcast over the next few weeks, and of course our reviewers will be busy checking them out.
The first of the interviews has been released this weekend, from my conversation with award-winning theatre and opera director Anthony Almeida between rehearsals for his production of Othello, which opens at Northern Stage in Newcastle before a short tour, which will include HOME Manchester, where I hope to see it, followed by Northampton, Mold, Glasgow, Derby and Peterborough.
Anthony is the only person to have received both the Royal Theatrical Support Trust Sir Peter Hall Director Award and the European Opera Director Prize, but this is the first Shakespeare play he has directed. His production is set in the 1980s, which I’m guessing he never saw in person, and he has boldly stated, contrary to popular wisdom, that it is not a play about jealousy; that jealousy is merely a symptom. Have a listen to see whether you agree with his full argument.
You have probably heard about the two significant people from the entertainment world who died this week, both at the age of 80. Dolly Parton isn’t someone who features in my CD collection, but I certainly admired her as an artist, songwriter and philanthropist—and her understated version of her own song “I Will Always Love You” is clearly superior to the more famous cover. Also, Sh!t Theatre, whose latest production I saw in Edinburgh last week, did another show a few years ago about Dollywood, which I also saw at HOME Manchester and loved.
But the one that meant more to me was the death of Tim Curry, not least because I only finished reading his autobiography, Vagabond, a month ago. Of course, he is still probably best-known for creating the role of Frank N Furter in The Rocky Horror Show and its subsequent film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which I heard still referred to as a ‘cult’ musical in news reports—can something still be a ‘cult’ when it’s internationally famous and has been filling theatres and cinemas for more than half a century?
His other theatre performances range from the original production of Hair (where he first met Richard O’Brien, creator of Rocky Horror) to Mozart in Amadeus on Broadway to the original King Arthur in Spamalot, but sadly, I never saw him on stage. On film, he could be evil as Rooster in Annie or the Lord of Darkness in Legend or Pennywise in It, funny as the butler Wadsworth in Clue (which we watch quite often on DVD) and strangely sympathetic as Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island.
It’s interesting to note that the show that O’Brien referred to as his best pension plan began at a subsidised theatre, the Royal Court in London—in fact in the tiny Theatre Upstairs—in 1973. Not only that, but Frank’s basque, which features in every production, was brought by costume designer Sue Blane from Glasgow, where it was worn by Curry in Genet’s The Maids at another public-funded theatre, The Citizens.
53 years later, it is still giving a boost to the economy of every town and city it visits around the world, so not a bad return on investment.
Disney's High School Musical Hope Mill Theatre, Chris Harper Productions and The Lowry with Winkler and Smalberg, Catherine Schrieber, Drew and Dane Productions, Kevin and Kate McGrath, Merritt Baer, Marc Levine, Andrei Cotocu for Seabright Live and Michael Watt Productions at The Lowry, Salford
Gentleman Jack (Northern Ballet) - The Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, –
Heathers The Musical (Bill Kenwright and Paul Taylor-Mills) - Leeds Grand Theatre, Leeds, –
Six - The Crucible / Lyceum Theatre / Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, Sheffield, –
King Lear (Sheffield Theatres in association with MGC) - The Crucible / Lyceum Theatre / Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, Sheffield, –
Midlands
Be Like Blippi (Round Room Live and Moonbug Entertainment with MCG Family in association with Sam Bradshaw) - Birmingham Town Hall - B:Music, Birmingham,
The Silence of the Lambs (Indigo Productions and Crossroads Live in association with Curve) - His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen, –
1984 (Citizens Theatre, Dundee Rep Theatre and The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh) - Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, –
The Steamie (Rerr Terr Productions & Jason Haigh-Ellery, In association with Neil Laidlaw Productions and Dundee Rep Theatre) - Dundee Rep Theatre, Dundee, –
