– APART FROM THE SWEARING, AND THE NUDITY, AND THE VULGUAR JOKES AND THE VERBAL DIARRHEA –
NO, I LIKE YOU, THE OTHER PALACE CHRISTMAS PARODY VERY MUCH, JUST THE WAY YOU ARE
RUNNING AT THE OTHER PALACE STUDIO
FROM 13 NOVEMBER 2026 – 3 JANUARY 2027
Nothing can distract Jodie Prenger and Neil Hurst from their dedication to the pursuit of the best Christmas production in London. They won’t even pop to the shop quickly for some ciggies.
Following the successful parody Homo Alone in 2024 and last year’s Lovers Actually, which is The Other Palace Studio’s best-selling show in the venue’s history, Jodie Prenger (Coronation Street, I’d Do Anything) is back for a fourth time alongside Neil Hurst (Fat Friends The Musical, Casualty) with a new festive fan favourite, Frigid Jones’s Diary: The Unauthorised Comedy Parody.
One diary. One frigid thirty-something. One outrageously unforgiving large pair of spanks.
The world’s most famous British love triangle is coming to The Other Palace this festive season, so join Frigid Jones and a tremendously talented bunch of performers as she blunders her way through this hysterical musical parody.
Packed with larger-than-life characters and enough awkward social encounters to power Dolly Parton’s hair curlers, this gloriously British Christmas comedy proves that the writers are people who should never be left unsupervised at Christmas. Whether you’re Team Mark Darkly or Daniel Sleever, prepare for a night of belly laughs, questionable life choices, and the tightest spanks in the West End.
Featuring live music, powerhouse vocals and the occasional triangle solo (yes, they really are that talented), Frigid Jones’s Diary: The Unauthorised Comedy Parody is a gloriously silly musical parody packed with larger-than-life characters and the sort of humour you’re unlikely to repeat to Grandma over Christmas dinner.
And just to be clear, we are absolutely not encouraging anyone to turn up dressed as a Playboy Bunny. We’ve all seen how that turns out.
Prenger has said, “Let’s be honest, it was about time Bridget Jones got The Other Palace Christmas parody treatment! This is based on one of the most iconic rom coms of all time and is packed with all of the best bits – Love triangles, reindeer jumpers, blue soup and plenty of vodka. Whether you’re a tragic spinster or a smug married, you don’t want to miss Frigid Jones’s Diary: The Unauthorised Comedy Parody this Christmas.”
Frigid Jones’s Diary: The Unauthorised Comedy Parody is written by Jodie Prenger and Neil Hurst. Cast and creatives to be announced.
Melting Pot is thrilled to announce the development of a new musical with music and lyrics by Bastille’s Dan Smith.Young Romantics is a coming-of-age musical about five complicated friends chasing creative and romantic freedom, but at what cost?
It’s a dark and stormy night at The Villa Diodati – a grand house on the shores of Lake Geneva – where five young and notorious friends – Mary Godwin, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, Claire Clairmont and Dr John Polidori – are caught in a complicated web of love triangles. Exiled from London’s polite society and sheltering from terrible storms, the Young Romantics spend one fateful week together that will have repercussions that reach us today.
When Byron suddenly challenges them all to write and share a brand-new horror story, no one realizes this little game will set in motion a dramatic night that changes all of their lives, inspiring the creation of two celebrated works of literature that will outlive them all: Frankenstein and The Vampyre.
Dan Smith, Music and Lyrics says: “The events of that summer are famously fascinating – this collision of huge, young personalities, stuck together inside a big house while storms rage outside – and the more you delve into the story, the wilder and more unbelievable it becomes. Beyond the sex, fame, heartbreak, and horror stories lies a deeper exploration of youth on the edge of adulthood – full of hope, creativity, chaos and the desire to escape. Our characters are trying to make sense of the world and themselves through art, all while confronting grief, trauma, inequality, and the pressure to conform.
These events unfolded over 200 years ago but feel strikingly modern; the more we explore this story, the more it becomes a mirror to the world we live in now. At the heart of “Young Romantics” are issues that feel increasingly pressing in 2026: freedom of speech, the right to love who you choose, gender equality, impossible beauty standards, self-representation and artistic integrity.
Our protagonists assert their agency and act on impulse, reminding us that people in the past were every bit as bold, conflicted and reckless as we are today.”
Melting Pot Producers Simon Friend and Hanna Osmolska continue: “We are so thrilled to be working with Dan Smith on his exciting take on the Young Romantics story. It has been an artistically invigorating experience. With his band Bastille, Dan is one of the most distinctive voices in British music, and pairing it with a story so thrilling, mysterious and sultry is the kind of artistic creation that drives us. Looking afresh at what might’ve happened on this fateful week in which two of the world’s most famous fantasy stories were brought to life, Dan promises to give British musical theatre a vital shot in the arm.”
Dan Smith is a Grammy-nominated and Brit Award-winning singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer.
Smith is the creative force and lead singer of BASTILLE, who have sold over 11 million records, had three number 1 albums on the UK charts and have been streamed over 7 billion times.
Smith’s screen compositions include collaborating with Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer on the theme and score of BBC’s “Planet Earth III”, alongside a symphonic rearrangement of the band’s hit “Pompeii”. He wrote original songs and scored this year’s IFTA-winning and BAFTA-nominated “Nostalgie” and wrote “Eurydice” for the original Netflix series KAOS, and “World Gone Mad” for the Netflix Feature film Bright. He composed for Leonardo DiCaprio executive-produced documentary short, “From Devil’s Breath”, and Pippa Bennett-Warner’s BAFTA longlisted “22+1”.
Dan is also developing “Annie Oakley Hanging”, a feature film with producer Shannon McIntosh, based on original story songs written with Ralph Pelleymounter inspired by Annie Oakley, and is working on several as-yet unannounced theatre projects.
Young Romantics is produced by Simon Friend & Hanna Osmolska for Melting Pot.
He’s Behind You! presents the biggest ball of the festive season in their new adult panto Cinderella: Buttons Undone! Saturday 21st November 2026 – Saturday 9th January 2027 Charing Cross Theatre, Villiers Street, London, WC2N 6NL
The award-winning pumpkins He’s Behind You! (Special Recognition Award, 2025’s UK Pantomime Awards) return to Charing Cross Theatre with another magnificently outrageous fairytale strictly for adults. Following last year’s smash-hit Beauty and the Beast: A Horny Love Story, the company brings its trademark blend of sharp humour, queer joy and original songs to Cinderella: Buttons Undone!, a wickedly funny deconstruction of the classic. This all-new adult pantomime swaps royal courts for tennis courts, fairy godmothers for fortune tellers, and proves that happily ever after can take more self-work than finding Prince Charming.
Set in the faded seaside resort of Lob-on-Sea, this madcap panto follows hotel maid Cindy, who puts the “slay” into modern day slavery and whose gangster stepmother Ida Bigschitt returns to make her and her stepsiblings Mercedes and Bentley’s lives miserable. Opportunity is served when the town’s inaugural tennis open is won by Smellarus’s Ivan Yassandvich, a bachelor playboy who is suddenly looking for a bride. Cindy longs for escape, Mercedes wants out of the family business, and hapless Bentley thinks he can get a break kickstarting his party planning career with an engagement ball.
But game, set and matchmaking go awry when Cindy’s gay and only friend Buttons slips into her shoes and into Ivan’s bed. Determinedly single until now, all he wants is to swap ends and play again.
Returning as the company’s incomparable dame is the sublime (The Guardian) Matthew Baldwin as Mercedes, and the excellent (Time Out) Chris Lane as her brother Bentley, a sibling pairing that promises big laughs and heated rivalry.
Co-written by Jon Bradfield (Animal, Park Theatre, Hope Mill Theatre; Queers, BBC) and Martin Hooper (Ghosted, The Other Palace, Norwich Playhouse), and featuring original songs by Bradfield, this obnoxiously gay extravaganza is directed by Andrew Beckett (Dr Seuss’ Cat in the Hat, UK and International tour; Come Dine with Me: the Musical, Underbelly, Norwich Playhouse) with musical direction and orchestrations by Aaron Clingham and choreography by Carole Todd, whose extensive panto career includes directing Lily Savage in Snow White.
Journeying from the musty sea-view rooms of the Royal Palace B&B to lavish ballroom splendour, Cinderella: Buttons Undone! is brought to life with set design by award-winning David Shields (Heathers The Musical; 2026 Offie Award and Fringe Theatre Award winner for Beauty and the Beast: A Horny Love Story); costumes by Robert Draper; lighting by Matt Hockley; sound by Andrew Johnson; and is produced by Oli Sones for He’s Behind You!
With a festive farce full of gangsters, disguises and romantic confusion, He’s Behind You! shakes the dust off another classic: smartly stupid, joyfully chaotic and full of traditional pantomime spirit.
Co-writer and composer Jon Bradfield comments, We’ll be celebrating all the famous Cinderella moments, but not quite as you’d expect! We’ve had huge fun creating our version so that our wonderful muse Matthew Baldwin can bring his legendary dame skills to Mercedes with our brilliant regular collaborator Chris Lane as her brother Bentley.
Making theatre that people look forward to with friends as their Christmas treat each year is a joy, especially when you can make it with a team that you respect, love and trust. Adult panto doesn’t just allow us to make the kind of toxically rude jokes that I feel embarrassed about if I have family watching. It gives us the freedom to tell gay-centred stories within a big, shiny, magical, epic, popular and uniquely theatrical form.
Further casting to be announced soon and previous praise for He’s Behind You! includes:
an absolute blast – ★★★★★ Gay Times Outrageous, affectionate and gloriously stupid – ★★★★★ West End Wilma The hit of the festive season – ★★★★★ The Stag
With almost 90,000 tickets sold Burlesque the Musical celebrates UK tour launch as London return moves to 2027
The producers of Burlesque the Musical are delighted to confirm that the show’s highly anticipated UK tour will officially launch this summer, with almoast 90,000 tickets already sold and almost £4 million in advance box office.
Following final technical preparations, the production will now officially open in Sunderland, before visiting 24 venues across the United Kingdom.
To give our creative team the time needed to deliver the spectacular production of Burlesque the Musical audiences adore, our planned opening performances in Woking will move to 3rd to 7th November 2026. Audiences holding tickets for the original performances will be contacted by their point of sale regarding exchanges or refunds.
The UK tour marks the beginning of an exciting new global chapter for Burlesque the Musical, with additional international productions already in the pipeline, including Australia, together with Germany, Austria and Switzerland in Europe, with further international announcements expected in the coming months.The future of Burlesque has never been brighter, and we look forward to sharing the next stage of that journey with audiences around the world.
The producers have confirmed that the tour is fully financed and on a secure footing, as verified by third parties, allowing the company to focus entirely on delivering the highest-quality production possible for audiences nationwide.
The producers have also confirmed that Burlesque the Musical’s planned London engagement will now take place in 2027. “This is absolutely a postponement, not a cancellation. We are already exploring opportunities for a major London return in 2027 and look forward to announcing our future West End home in due course. This is a strategic decision designed to ensure the production returns to London exactly as we want it to… with all the fabulosity, concert-like experiential quality and razzle-dazzle that our audiences deserve!”
The producers are proud supporters and investors in The Arts at Marble Arch: powered by TodayTix, having invested a substantial sum in its development. They continue to believe strongly in its future and are delighted to see it successfully welcoming audiences, with productions such as Heathers enjoying an excellent run.
The producers stated: “The relationship with the theatre is important to us. We backed the vision for The Arts Theatre at Marble Arch because we believed London deserved another exciting commercial theatre, and we remain incredibly proud to have played a part in helping bring it to life.”
The producers would like to thank the show’s audiences, cast, creative team, investors, partners and supporters for their continued belief in Burlesque.
They look forward to welcoming audiences across the UK throughout the tour before bringing the production back to London in 2027 as one of the world’s most celebrated musical brands.
ABOUT BURLESQUE THE MUSICAL
Based on Steven Antin’s iconic Golden Globe-winning and Best Picture-nominated film starring Christina Aguilera and Cher, Burlesque the Musical is a glittering, high-voltage theatrical event packed with powerhouse vocals, jaw-dropping choreography, and outrageous glamour.
Step inside a club where sequins shimmer, seduction sparkles, and a single song can change your life forever. When Ali heads to New York searching for her mother, Tess Richarde, she is swept into a dazzling underground world of ambition, temptation, music, and desire – discovering not only her extraordinary voice, but the family she never knew she needed.
Featuring songs by Christina Aguilera, Sia, Diane Warren, Jess Folley, Todrick Hall, and Steven Antin, Burlesque the Musical is a scintillating celebration of self-discovery, empowerment, and unapologetic fabulousness.
With a creative team led by Producer, Writer & Creative Director Steven Antin, it is directed by Racky Plews (I‘m Every Woman The Chaka Khan Musical, Green Day’s American Idiot) with choreography by Robin Antin (creator of The Pussycat Dolls).
Producers: Christina Aguilera, Adam Paulden & Jason Haigh-Ellery, Steven Antin, Clint Culpepper and In Fine Company. Associate Producer: Toby Brewer.
Producers Barry & Fran Weissler and David Ian for Crossroads Live are delighted to announce that Bernadette Bangura will join the UK and Ireland tour of the smash hit romantic musical comedy WAITRESS, as Becky, from Monday 24 August 2026 at the Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre. Sandra Marvin’s final performance will be Saturday 22 August 2026.
Bernadette Bangura’s theatre credits include the UK tour of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Moulin Rouge! at the Piccadilly Theatre, Once On This Island at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, My Fair Lady at the London Coliseum and on its UK tour, Jesus Christ Superstar at the Barbican, and UK tours of Hairspray and Sunset Boulevard.
The production currently stars Carrie Hope Fletcher as Jenna, Sandra Marvin as Becky, Evelyn Hoskins as Dawn, Les Dennis as Joe, Dan Partridge as Dr Pomatter, Mark Anderson as Ogie, Mark Willshire as Earl and Dan O’Brien as Cal.
The company is completed by Will Arundell, Yochabel Asante, Alice Croft, Jamie Doncaster, Daniel George-Wright, Will Hardy, Bayley Hart, Olivia Lallo, Emma Lucia, David Mairs-McKenzie and Ellie Ruiz Rodriguez.
Carrie Hope Fletcher’s final performance will be Saturday 29 September 2026.
Emma Lucia is scheduled to play the role of Jenna for Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre (24-29 August) and Hull New Theatre (1-5 September). Lucie Jones is scheduled to play Jenna for King’s Theatre, Glasgow (6-10 October), Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield (13-17 October) and Lowry, Salford (27-31 October).
WAITRESS is based on the 2007 movie written by Adrienne Shelly. Music and lyrics are written by GRAMMY award-winning, singer-songwriter sensation Sara Bareilles. With a book by Jessie Nelson, direction by Tony-award winner Diane Paulus and choreography by Lorin Latarro, Waitress has garnered multiple awards and nominations in both America and the UK, receiving acclaim from both audiences and critics alike.
Celebrating 10 years of production, WAITRESS opened on Broadway on 24th April 2016 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, where it ran until 5th January 2020. Waitress celebrated its official opening night at the Adelphi Theatre in London’s West End on 7th March 2019. The show has gone on to global success with further productions in North America, Japan, Holland, a French language production in Canada, a Spanish language production in Mexico, and coming this spring of 2026 an Australian production in Melbourne and Sydney.
WAITRESS tells the story of Jenna, an expert pie maker in a small town, who dreams of a way out of her loveless marriage. A baking contest in a nearby county and the town’s new doctor may offer her a chance at a new life, while her fellow waitresses offer their own recipes to happiness. But Jenna must find the courage and strength within herself to rebuild her life. This beautiful musical celebrates friendship, motherhood, and the magic of a well-made pie.
Book by Jessie Nelson
Music and Lyrics by Grammy Award-winner Sara Bareilles
Based upon the motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly
Directed by Tony Award-winner Diane Paulus
WAITRESS was originally produced by Barry & Fran Weissler and Norton and Elayne Herrick. The tour is produced by Barry & Fran Weissler and David Ian for Crossroads Live.
Transit is an evocative show about migration. It is an award-winning, genre-bending investigation of identity, belonging and migration. Told through a series of vignettes utilising physical theatre, multilingual performance, poetry, dance, multimedia, practical lights and music, Transit delicately navigates the feeling of being ‘too foreign for here, too foreign for home.’
From the endless cycle of unpacking and repacking to wondering when you can stop being considered ‘a foreigner’ to building community and hope admist uncertainty, this deeply human piece is a love letter to anyone who has ever moved away from home.
It is based on true stories gathered from migrants across the UK, Transit asks: what does it mean to settle in the space between languages, cultures and identities? The five performers Ting-Ning Wen, Bethany Monk-Lane, Aijamal Nasirdinova, Niamh Smith and Danlu Peng all have their own moments in the spotlight to shine and recount their own experiences of being a migrant.
So, how do you pack a life into your luggage allowance of 23 kilograms? One item at a time. The audience are asked to decide between various items that one of our travellers wishes to bring with them.
The language barrier and trying to get used to British food when you have lived all of your life eating exotically are two more dilemmas covered in this thought-provoking experience not to mention having to “hold on your call is important to us” when needing to speak to someone at the Home Office Immigration Department when you are number 495 in the queue and when you finally get through you discover you are talking to a chat bot which doesn’t understand that you need to speak to a “human agent”. What exactly do you do when you finally speak to someone who although they are speaking English seem to be speaking a totally different language to you because they talk in “official-speak” and you just want to explain your own dilemma and have them help sort it out for you.
This is a short but fun show (running at 75 minutes) that will have you laughing and crying and all stages of emotion in between. There is some audience participation for those that aren’t the faint-hearted type in the form of a Home Office television quiz show which is great fun – win the show and you’re allowed to stay in the UK, lose it and …. Well, I think you can guess what’s likely to happen to you.
This production will appeal to audiences of all ages and ethnic backgrounds. Certainly the audience that attended last night was one of the most diverse I have seen in a theatre in a very long time and I recommend it to anyone looking for a different sort of night out at the theatre that will make them stop and think about what it is really like to be a migrant in a foreign country.
Theatre Royal, Nottingham – until Saturday 1st August 2026
Reviewed by Chris Jarvis
5*****
Oh my goodness – what a show!
I can’t find enough words to describe the completely crazy collection of characters, costumes and music played by the actors appearing on stage tonight. Over 80 different characters and costumes were portrayed by these 5 amazing actors, many appearing more than once, meaning each actor was changing character and back again numerous times. The spontaneity and fluidity of these changes was mind blowing!
It was made even more crazy by the cross-gender casting – I’d just about got used to Hester Leggatt being played by Jordan Pearson when he’d appear as another character of a different sex!
The Nottingham Theatre Royal website describes Operation Mincemeat as the 2024 Olivier Award-winning Best New Musical. It was first performed in London in 2019 in an 80-seater studio. By 2023 even with the pandemic causing havoc to live theatre, it became London’s biggest hit with over one hundred 5* reviews, making it the best-reviewed show in West End history. Now also a Tony Award winning musical on Broadway!
The programme gives a brilliant timeline of the show’s incredible success as well as some very interesting information on the people who pulled off this true mission. I don’t usually feel a programme is worth having but I’d suggest buying this one.
Operation Mincemeat was the codename given to a WW2 espionage mission in 1943 coordinated within MI5 by ‘The Twenty Committee’ – named from the number twenty in Roman numerals – XX or “double cross”! Their role was to manage double-agents and plan deceptions. Operation Mincemeat was the brainchild of one of a group of 5 people who were portrayed on stage tonight – Ewen Montagu (Katy Ellis), Charles Cholmondeley (Sean Carey). John Bevan (Jamie-Rose Monk), Jean Leslie (Charlotte Hanna-Williams) and Hester Leggatt (Jordan Pearson).
Charles, a nerdy scientist, came up with the idea but had no confidence with which to share it. After confiding in the aristocratic, egotistical Ewen Montagu, this crazy plan was shared, agreed by Sir Winston Churchill and became their next mission. The plan being to dress up a corpse, give him an identity as a British pilot, drop him in the ocean off Spain with a briefcase full of fake invasion plans, in the hope that it would find its way to Hitler! What could go wrong??? Sounds like a brilliant subject for a farce or musical comedy but believe it or not – IT WORKED and probably helped us win the war!
The set changes were simple but totally on target, the 20 songs performed with great gusto by the 80 or so characters. I didn’t know the songs but they told the story and I felt as though I did. The lighting was exciting and the clever use of hats and torches to swap to ‘life on the ocean’ was brilliant. The costumes were both true to life and full of sparkle.
The acting was “something else”! I loved them all and could easily pick each of them as my favourite. I imagine they are mentally and physically exhausted after every performance as they gave their all! They must also be exhilarated at the standing ovation from the Nottingham audience that I imagine is repeated every night.
Don’t miss it! It’s a great night’s entertainment and my congratulations to the four University friends who formed SpitLip and portrayed this amazing mission as a musical comedy that is becoming a global phenomenon.
The Choir of Man is a show that is very much á la mode. On its first national tour, I keep hearing about it… And what I’m hearing is very positive, with everyone loving it. So my expectation level was very high.
“Welcome to the Jungle” was the opening song – and a fitting one given that the fictional pub was, naturally, called The Jungle. It’s worth pointing out that there is no actual storyline. The whole show is a series of monologues that highlight the joy of pubs, male bonding and choirs, interspersed with songs and dance routines and massive globules of comedy. Being, myself, a man in a choir I can appreciate the ethos.
The cast is varied and I think changeable – since the programme showed more people than we saw tonight. Tonight we had Sam Ebenezer (Swing), Rob Godfrey (Beast – my favourite as he was on guitar throughout), Joshua Lloyd (Barman), Ben Mabberley (Joker), Gustav Melbardis (Maestro), Aaron Pottenger (Bore), Jack Skelton (Handyman), Levi Tyrell Johnson (Hard Man) and Sam Walter (Romantic). All brilliant.
The opening monologue showed how inspired the Monolgues Writer Ben Norris is (like a cross between Benjamin Zephaniah and John Cooper Clarke). It was refreshing to actually hear some positive male bonding and to explore the complex world of masculinity. This theatre piece fulfills the same function as men’s sheds and the like. Worth having in this world if only for that alone!
Principally, though, it comes down to the music and performance of the same. Big anthems are sprinkled throughout, nestling in among the lesser known hits and some genuine curve-balls like “The Impossible Dream”, which was given a welcome outing as far as this reviewer was concerned. An early peak.
The quick changes kept coming – trainers to tap shoes (I didn’t think I would ever enjoy tap dancing so much!), pop into jazz (with a knowing “it’s a different version” refrain from one of the stars) and from rousing ensemble set-pieces to intimate (ahem) trios at the (ahem) urinal! This scene is hilarious btw, and my definite highlight of the entire show. In the second half “Dance with My Father” was another emotional peak.
If you’re so inclined to see a theatre from the stage, get to the show early to catch the chance to enjoy the functioning on-stage bar, grab a pint (sadly no Licor 43, but you can’t have everything) and shmooz with the cast. They seemed to be having a genuinely wonderful time with their public and who can blame them – it really does look like the perfect job to have.
This show truly does have something for everyone. It reminded me of watching Sammy Davis Jr on TV – inspirational hits, tap, dance, vaudeville… All in all a very enjoyable night of all-round entertainment. The crowd were up on their feet and in fine voice – and I know as I had some ladies behind me who were extremely loud (my ears are still ringing!). So, yes, ladies totally got into it too. We all did. Those saying it was amazing were right. I cannot recommend this show highly enough.
Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge – Tuesday 21st July 2026
Reviewed by Steph Lott
5*****
Some shows you appreciate. This one you feel somewhere deep inside.
Aakash Odedra’s Songs of the Bulbul, which made its Cambridge debut this week as the final stop of the company’s UK tour, is breathtaking, unusual, and genuinely extraordinary — the kind of performance that goes beyond dance into something closer to ritual. It lasts just 55 minutes, and not a second is wasted.
It begins with astonishing restraint: single rays of light falling onto an empty stage, light bleeding through gauze. Nothing more is needed. From this quiet opening, Odedra draws us into the ancient Sufi myth of the bulbul — a songbird caught and caged, who sings more sweetly as death nears, until one final, piercing song at the moment of release.
What makes Odedra such a rare artist is his economy of movement. He conjures the bird not through grand gesture but through the smallest details — a curl of the fingers, a flicker of the feet, a tilt of the head — each one utterly precise, utterly alive. When the bird is trapped, that precision turns to panic: the frantic beating of wings against an invisible cage, a creature yearning for freedom and light, which becomes almost unbearable to watch. It’s tragedy distilled into gesture.
Though it’s a solo piece, it never feels like the work of one person alone — it’s clearly a collaboration between many gifted artists working just out of sight. Rani Khanam’s choreography and Rushil Ranjan’s Kathak-and Sufi-rooted music feel inseparable from one another. And in the quieter sections, where the music falls away almost entirely, the silence is so complete you can feel the whole audience holding their breath. Fabiana Piccioli’s otherworldly lighting and Emanuele Salamanca’s spare, clever set design do the rest — together they build a dreamlike world around Odedra, one that feels both ancient and timeless.
The final sequence is the crescendo of the piece. As the bulbul is blinded, Odedra stumbles forward, cloth over his eyes, cradling small lamps of light. Light shimmers through gauze once more, echoing the opening — a sense of coming full circle, captivity and death folding back into the same luminous stillness the piece began with. It’s a devastating and beautiful way to close, and the audience clearly felt it: Odedra received a full, well-deserved standing ovation.
This is not a show only for those who already love dance. It speaks to something more universal — grief, longing, the cost of captivity, the strange sweetness of an ending. See it if you get the chance. You won’t just watch it. You’ll carry it with you.
Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man, presented by New Adventures at the Lyceum Theatre Sheffield, is nothing short of stunning. Brilliantly directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne, with a thrilling score by Terry Davies incorporating Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite (after Bizet’s Carmen), this electrifying production is filled to the brim with passion, desire and danger. While it doesn’t follow the original Carmen storyline, it captures the same intoxicating emotions of lust, fate, fatal attraction and burning obsession. Bourne’s ingenious reinvention even begins with the title itself – The Car Man – transporting the action to an Italian-American community in a small Midwestern American town during the 1960s. The production has a wonderfully raw, spit-and-sawdust atmosphere, enriched with stylish hints of classic European cinema that give it a gritty, sensual edge.
The arrival of the mysterious and irresistibly alluring Luca (Harrison Dowzell) immediately changes the lives of everyone in town. Employed as a mechanic at the local garage, Luca soon finds himself irresistibly drawn to Lana (Cordelia Braithwaite), who works in the neighbouring diner. Unfortunately, Lana is already involved with Dino (Danny Reubens), the owner of both the garage and diner, but their fatal attraction proves impossible to resist. Their chemistry burns with intensity from the moment they meet. Without revealing too much of this fascinating and cleverly unfolding storyline, Luca also becomes entangled in another relationship, creating a toxic love triangle that ultimately leads to devastating consequences. Every twist grips the audience tighter, making this an edge-of-your-seat theatrical experience from beginning to end.
The storytelling through dance is simply spectacular. Not for a single moment can the audience take their eyes off the stage as the production surges forward with high-energy choreography, non-stop drama and breathtaking performances. Every sequence is technically flawless, with each lift, step and movement executed with astonishing precision. Standout moments include the sensual, intimate duets between Luca and Lana as their passion begins to consume them, alongside the beautifully romantic and deeply moving dances shared by Angelo (Leonardo McCorkindale) and Rita (Kurumi Kamayachi), whose heartfelt performances bring genuine emotion and poignancy to the production. Every member of the company is first-class, delivering outstanding performances that perfectly balance athleticism with emotional storytelling.
Visually, the production is every bit as impressive as the performances. Lez Brotherston’s superb set and costume designs perfectly evoke the smoky garages, bustling diner and small-town America of the 1960s, while Chris Davey’s atmospheric lighting creates the ideal mood throughout, shifting effortlessly from moments of romance to scenes of mounting tension and tragedy. This New Adventures production is a masterclass in dance theatre—thrilling, seductive, emotionally charged and utterly unforgettable. The Car Man is a wonderful, highly entertaining production that deserves every accolade. You won’t be disappointed.
