Nipplegate sets stage for quirky and irreverent show
Paula Varjack. Photo by Christa Holka. Nine Sixteenths at Warwick Arts Centre, on Thursday 12 February. Review by Amanda Burden Pale, male stale meets loud, proud, unbowed: Nipplegate sets stage for quirky and irreverent show. Everyone loves an unexpected guest star. Who can forget Brad Pitt popping into Friends ? Or Sir Ian McKellen propping up the bar at the Rovers Return? Or - and here I’m showing my vintage - 90s beat combo The Farm on Brookside? (Incidentally, I miss th
Amanda Burden
4 hours ago3 min read
Placebo and the RSC join forces for The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui
Photographer Gillian Hyland. Art Director Louise Richardson. Premiering in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon from Saturday 11 April – Saturday 30 May 2026. Preview Placebo are to compose new music for landmark stage play satirising Hitler’s ascent to power in their first major theatre collaboration to date. Starring double Olivier award-winning actor Mark Gatiss in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui; based on the 1941 ‘gangster spectacle’ by Bertolt Brecht in a new version
ann-evans
18 hours ago3 min read
The Man Who Would Be King – Bold new take on Macbeth has lessons for Sky Blues
Kehinde bankole and Deyemi Okanwalo. Credit Diva Creative Crown of Blood, Belgrade Theatre, 11 Feb Review By Amanda Burden Hubristic horoscopes, ambition thwarted, good intentions gone astray… no! It’s not the story of Coventry City Football Club’s current promotion campaign, silly. This is Crown of Blood, Mojisola Kareem’s striking new take on Macbeth at the Belgrade Theatre. That said, there are parallels between the Sky Blues’ spiky trajectory of late and the fortunes of S
Amanda Burden
2 days ago3 min read
Warwick Folk Festival 2025 brought in £1million!
The beer tent, Warwick Festival 2025. Photo John Wright Photography. The 2025 Warwick Folk Festival brought in just under £1million to the town in terms of additional economic benefit which has been revealed in an ‘Economic Impact Analysis’ report. It has also been revealed that the festival days in 2023, 2024 and 2025 averaged a footfall uplift of +46% in the town centre, compared to the average footfall on the same non-festival days. Data also showed that 2025 had the large
Tanya Aspinwall
3 days ago3 min read
The Unfriend a sell out at The Talisman
Mark Plastow as Peter and Esther Riggs as Debbie. Photo by Robert Warner. The Unfriend by Steven Moffat, at the Talisman Theatre and Arts Centre, from Monday 9 February - Saturday 14 February 2026. Directed by Vanessa Comer, Assistant to Director Connor Bailey. Review by Ashley Hayward. This play has been accurately described as a cross between a farce and a sitcom and it was certainly given a massive thumbs up by the first night audience as they collectively rose to give
Ashley Hayward
4 days ago3 min read
Crown of Blood at The Belgrade
Kehinde bankole and Deyemi Okanwalo. Photo credit Diva Creative. Crown of Blood, a new Yoruba adaptation of Macbeth. At the Belgrade Theatre from Wednesday 11 to Saturday 14 February. Written by: Oladipo Agboluaje. Directed by: Mojisola Kareem. Crown of Blood was developed with the support of the National Theatre’s Generate programme. Preview ‘Of what use is a good man without ambition?’ Following on from the success of Death and The King’s Horseman (February 2025), Utopia
ann-evans
5 days ago1 min read
Nostalgic evening of a bygone era
Oliver on piano and Samuel standing. Photo courtesy of Oliver Hancock. An evening of Flanders and Swann performed at St Mary’s Church Warwick, on Saturday 7 February 2026. Review by Charles Essex Brothers Samuel and Oliver Hancock treated a very knowledgeable audience to a wonderfully nostalgic evening of the songs of Flanders and Swann at St Mary’s Church in Warwick. Although the demographic of the audience reflected that this appealed to a particular generation who recal
Charles Essex
6 days ago2 min read
York Ice Trail this weekend
Follow the York Ice Trail. Photo courtesy of Make It York. York Ice Trail returned this morning with the Enchanted City theme bringing 36 mystical and magical ice sculptures, interactive experiences and photo opportunities leading you across the city. The York Ice Trail is a free event open to all from 10.30am to 4pm over the weekend on 7 and 8 February. Pick up the official trail map from the Visit York Visitor Information Centre to tick off all the sculptures and, upon
ann-evans
7 days ago1 min read
Shakespeare on Love at The Bear Pit
Some rehearsal pictures courtesy of Second Thoughts Drama Group. Second Thoughts Drama Group present Shakespeare on Love, at the Bear Pit Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, from 11-14 February 2026. Preview From A Midsummer Night’s Dream to Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s plays are filled with love, lust and longing. The bickering Beatrice and Benedict, the star-crossed Romeo and Juliet, the controversial Kate and Petruchio: Shakespeare explores love in all its many forms, some ideal
ann-evans
7 days ago1 min read
Full casting announced for the RSC's Henry V
Full casting has been announced for the RSC’s forthcoming production of Henry V, Shakespeare’s great history play, directed by RSC Co-Artistic Director, Tamara Harvey. The production runs in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon between Saturday 14 March and Saturday 25 April 2026. Preview Henry V will be the first play Tamara has directed in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre since becoming Co-Artistic Director and follows her critically acclaimed productions of Pe
ann-evans
Feb 62 min read
Nine Sixteenths at Warwick Arts Centre
Nine Sixteenths cast. Photo by Christa Holka. Nine Sixteenths: Inspired by Janet Jackson, created by Paula Varjack, a fast, fun, multimedia examination of iconic black female role models featuring the rise, fall and rise again of Janet Jackson. Runs 60 mins. At Warwick Arts Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry on Thursday 12 February 2026 at 7.45pm. Preview At the 2004 Superbowl, Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson’s breast and nipple to a huge live TV audience for n
Dave Freak
Feb 53 min read
My Fair Lady
Leamington And Warwick Musical Society present My Fair Lady. Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Music by Frederick Loewe. Adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play and Gabriel Pascal’s motion picture “Pygmalion”. Original production directed and staged by Moss Hart. At the Royal Spa Centre from 24 – 28 March 2026. Evenings 7.30pm: Saturday Matinee 2.30pm. Preview Leamington and Warwick Musical Society (LWMS) has had a fabulous time recently bringing modern-era musicals to t
ann-evans
Feb 42 min read
Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up
Coming to a cinema near you. Vertigo Releasing announce that the wacky and beloved world of award-winning Looney Tunes will be returning to UK and Irish cinemas in a new Warner Brothers Animation movie - The Day The Earth Blew Up from 13 February 2026. Directed by Pete Browngardt. Cert PG. 90-minutes duration. Review by Ann Evans Go on, treat the kids! Actually, treat yourself as well! Channel that inner child and enjoy a night at the movies with Porky Pig and Daffy Duck
ann-evans
Feb 33 min read
Pinball Wizardry
Rosalie Armstrong and Samuel Koppel. Photo courtesy of the Criterion. The Who’s Tommy, written by Des McAnuff and Pete Townshend, at the Criterion Theatre Earlsdon from 31 January – 7 February. Director Debra Relton Elves, Musical Director Rob Parish, Production Assistant Timothy East. Review by Hilary Hopker There was an excited and busy hubbub in the newly renovated foyer of the Criterion Theatre as show goers explored the renovation changes. There’s now more space and ligh
Hilary Hopker
Feb 12 min read
Jane Eyre at The Priory
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, adapted by Catherine Prout, at The Priory Theatre, Rosemary Hill, Kenilworth CV8 1BN, from 14 – 21 February 2026. Directors Ashley Hirons and Emma Marshall. Preview A Gothic masterpiece of tempestuous passions and dark secrets by Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre follows the story of an orphan girl and her journey from a childhood of loneliness and cruelty to a life at Thornfield Hall and an unlikely relationship with the mysterious Mr Rochester. Fa
ann-evans
Feb 11 min read
The Improvesarios at The Loft
The Improvesarios. Photo by Claire Shovelton. Improvesarios in the Loft Theatre Studio on Saturday, 14 February at 7.30pm. Preview Join the Improvesarios, returning to The Loft Studio Theatre, Leamington Spa following their appearance in 2025, for an evening of fun and mayhem as they put down their scores and put their creative prowess to the test. Using your suggestions, this group of classically trained musicians improvise a brand new opera completely on the spot! Help th
ann-evans
Jan 311 min read
Talisman stages Steven Moffat’s raucous comedy ‘The Unfriend’
Peter (Mark Plastow) and Debbie (Esther Riggs) hide from Elsa (Julie-Ann Randell). Photographer: Robert Warner; post-production: Mark Plastow. The Unfriend by Steven Moffat at the Talisman Theatre and Arts Centre, Kenilworth from 9 – 14 February 2026 at 7.30pm. Preview For its first show of 2026, the Talisman Theatre is delighted to announce the staging of The Unfriend, the new play by award-winning writer Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Sherlock). After premiering in 2022 to
Sharon Sully
Jan 302 min read
Candide - Can this be the best of all possible worlds?
Candide at Warwick Arts Centre. Leonard Bernstein’s Candide based on Voltaire’s satirical novel performed by the Student Society Opera Warwick at Warwick Arts Centre from 12 to 13 February 2026. Directed by Millie Jeffries and conducted by Michał Matusz. Preview. Join Candide on a whirlwind, globe-trotting adventure packed with satire, romance and chaos. Guided by the ever-optimistic Pangloss, Candide and his beloved Cunegonde face disaster, danger and absurdity at every turn
ann-evans
Jan 291 min read
The Herbal Bed - a true life Shakespearean tale
L-R: Bishop Parry (Jonathan West), John Hall (Tony Homer), Susanna Hall (Hannah McBride), Rafe Smith (Dominic Rose). Photo by Chris Clarke. The Herbal Bed written by Peter Whelan, directed by Danny Masewicz, a Bear Pit Theatre Company Production running from 27 to 31 January 2026. Review by Ann Evans The Herbal Bed is based on the true story of Susanna Hall, the eldest daughter of William Shakespeare who in 1613 was the subject of a public slander case accused of adultery and
ann-evans
Jan 284 min read
