Chris Eldon Lee reviews ‘Wind In The Willows’, which is at The New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme until January 26th. It is the most charming of children’s tales in English literature and this is the most successful stage adaptation of ‘The Wind In The Willows’ I have seen since Alan Bennett’s iconic 1990 National Theatre […]

Chris Eldon Lee reviews ‘Hot Lane’, which is at the Spode Works at Stoke-on-Trent until Saturday 24th November.  It was called Hot Lane, I suppose, because of the kilns. But the heat is ‘on’ in Deborah McAndrew’s latest period drama because of the scandal. Why has a long-gone war widow suddenly returned and who is […]

Chris Eldon Lee reviews ‘Henry V’ which is at Theatre Severn until Saturday 10th November. This is an imposing, percussive, production, reminiscent of the kind of Shakespeare seen at the Old Vic in the 50s. Fine, upstanding actors – clearly spoken and colourfully costumed – performing in a bare, black-curtained box and letting the words […]

Chris Eldon Lee reviews Northern Broadside’s production of ‘They Don’t Pay, We Won’t Pay’, which at the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyne until Saturday 10th November and touring. This the most screamingly funny and savagely biting adaptation of a Dario Fo farce I have seen in a very long time. Deborah McAndrew pours salt into […]

Chris Eldon Lee reviews ‘Beautiful Thing’, which is touring to the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme until Saturday 3rd November. Life has moved on a great deal since the play ‘Beautiful Thing’ was premiered in 1993. When Jonathan Harvey wrote it, our gay community was reeling in the wake of the emergence of Aids. People […]

Chris Eldon Lee reviews Hotbuckle Theatre’s ‘Jane Eyre’, which is touring to Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn on November 15th and 16th.  If you can believe a school girl with a beard, you can believe anything. That is what Hotbuckle Theatre are supremely good at. Using their audience’s imagination to the utmost, they have recreated an entire […]