People's Theatre, Newcastle. After having watched the 1980 film of ‘The Mirror Crack’d’ just the other night, I was very much in the mood for more Agatha Christie and was looking forward to this People’s production when it opened this week. All in all, it’s fair to say that I wasn’t disappointed. The play is … Continue reading Go Back For Murder – 3 stars

People's Theatre, Newcastle. Stage adaptations of popular classic television comedies are ten a penny these days - understandably so in the current climate of aiming to get as many bums on seats as possible. This is the third such adaptation I’ve seen the People’s stage in recent years (the other two being Yes, Prime Minister … Continue reading Hi-de-Hi! – 3 stars

People's Theatre, Newcastle. Taking on a play such as this is always ambitious, but the People’s have the talent and the resources and here they pull it off pretty well. Staging is simple but effective, with some lovely little touches that help to maintain the theatrical entertainment of the piece and prevent it from becoming … Continue reading Richard III – 3 stars

Customs House, South Shields. After the huge success of last year’s award-winning Dance To Your Daddy, writer-composer team David Cooke and Grahame Wright had a lot to live up to when they were approached by the Customs House to produce a follow up for this year’s Community Play. The team magic and dynamic is clearly … Continue reading Dance Across The Tyne – 4 stars

People's Theatre, Newcastle. Published in 1952, The Fifteen Streets was Catherine Cookson’s second book. The story came to her very quickly and completely: “Within an hour I had the whole story, right from the opening to the very last words. Every character, every incident and definitely the background. It was all there. I knew here … Continue reading The Fifteen Streets – 3 stars