by Lizzie Jackson
A greater force does a good job of weaving together the lives of these lost Lǎowàis, causing many awkward, funny, and heartfelt moments to materialise. The term ‘Lǎowài’ means ‘foreigner’ or more literally ‘cold outsider’, which is telling of the reason that fate keeps bringing this bunch of misfits together.
by Isabel Becker
We get it. We do. Angst about our mothers – their infuriating quirks, the emotional and psychological damage passed down to us as though encased in our very DNA – it’s an oasis of material. The complexities of the mother-child relationship hold such potential for theatrical exploration, as we have seen from classical tragic melodramas like Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex to modern commercial musicals like Hairspray.
By Becky Lennon
content warning: discussions of domestic violence
Patricia has spent the past year constructing the perfect speech to deliver to the man who used to hit her. Patricia now has to decide if she is going to go have dinner with him, what she is going to say, how she is going to say this, as well as what she is going to wear.
by Verity Sharpe
This is a spectacularly brilliant show which fuses conventions of both horror and comedy, effortlessly guiding the audience on the protagonist’s journey of revenge. It follows a young woman who has been stepped on her whole life by those she should have been able to trust.
By Becky Lennon
‘’Everything is Big at the big top! Its Big, it’s whopping, the fun’s never stopping!’’
Nora, a clumsy girl with no gang of friends, discovers that she is the long lost great-great-great-granddaughter of Big Bones, the owner of the Big Bones Big Top Circus! We follow her journey to the big top where she meets various characters, such as Jim Membership the strong man. Nora is also met with the news that the Big Top has a curse, which prevents audiences seeing the show. Will Nora be able to reverse the curse and reconnect audiences with the circus?
by Euan Vincent
The Art of Cuddling and Other Things might more aptly be named the art of subversion, as Circ Motif delight in carefully building a set-up before delivering a delightfully twisted punch line. The die is cast with the opening sequence. Lights fade up on two men standing 10 feet away from each other, staring in blank silence. In the corner, a multi-instrumentalist solemnly creates an ambient soundscape (think Brian Eno when he still had long hair). The two men walk towards each other and – without uttering a word – they embrace. Ahh, the art of cuddling. How touching.
by Meredith Jones Russell
On the eve of her 22nd birthday, Kerry Frampton got pregnant, catapulting her into the life of a young mum. Fast forward 22 years later, and daughter Matilda is wondering how on earth how her mum did it.
by Emma Lamond
This play is a confronting and heartbreaking window into the human resilience, strength and determination of people caught up in conflict, and forced to migrate and seek refuge in another country.
by Laura Kressly
A master doll-maker has died, leaving behind a fractious and fragmented family. His widow is a nostalgic former actor, his eldest daughter Christine is a lesbian true-crime podcaster from his first marriage, middle daughter Zara is a petty criminal living in the US, and his youngest, Meg, is a children’s book author. As they gather for the funeral, Christine reminds them of their long-missing Aunt Lily, mum’s twin. Now that their tyrannical father is dead, it’s the perfect time to get to the bottom of her disappearance.
by Isabel Becker
EY UP!
Miss Donny of Doncaster is back after her 2007 debut, and this performance will absolutely blow your bloody socks off. [Note: if you didn’t read that sentence in a stinking Yorkshire accent then you need to go and spend some time in that smashing end of the country].
The Play's The Thing UK 