Sitting In The Cheap Seats

Swan Lake @ Mayflower Theatre, Southampton

Swan Lake is probably the first thing that will come to mind when you mention ballet to most people… rows of perfectly synchronised corps de ballet dancing to instantly recognisable Tchaikovsky orchestrations in graceful harmony. Anyone who has ever been face to face with an angry swan will recognise that they’re actually powerful, aggressive beasts and Matthew Bourne’s reimagining captures that perfectly. Continue reading

Chichester Festival Theatre Announce 2019 Season

14th February 2019 / Matt / 0 Comments

We’re always excited when Chichester Festival Theatre announce their new season and this year’s mix of classics, new plays and musicals is no exception. Don’t take our word for it though, read on to find out more… Continue reading

Mischief Theatre Announce Residency At The Vaudeville and new show Groan Ups

27th January 2019 / Matt / 0 Comments

From the parents of The Play That Goes Wrong comes a brand-new comedy all about growing up. Are we the same people at 30 as we were at 13? Does school life determine our future? Do we ever grow out of our school crush? Playing an unruly classroom of kids and anarchic high school teenagers, through to the aches and pains of adulthood, the original Mischief company are back in the West End with their first new play since 2016.

American Idiot @ Mayflower Theatre, Southampton

25th January 2019 / Matt / 1 Comment

When, way back in 2004, Green Day released American Idiot it was a clarion call for the disaffected youth of the US. It leapt up the charts on a wave of critical acclaim and commercial success and was much beloved of a certain callow young music blogger in provincial Portsmouth. Fast forward 15 years and I don’t perhaps listen to the album very often now but it still holds significance as it’s first theatrical incarnation was one of the first theatre pieces I reviewed and quite probably the point that convinced me to start this site. Now, a good few years later here I am again in Southampton for the launch of a new national tour.

Shakespeare’s Globe announces Summer Season 2019

9th January 2019 / Matt / 0 Comments

Shakespeare’s Globe is delighted to announce the Summer Season 2019. Celebrating and interrogating our ‘sceptred isle’ through Shakespeare’s history plays, a year-long journey begins with Richard II, opening 22 February in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, continuing into the Globe Theatre this summer with Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, and Henry V. The season also includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Ben Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair, and the return of 2018’s As You Like It. Robin Hood tales will form the core of the Read Not Dead series this year, and festivals throughout the summer include Women & Power and Poland is Hamlet. This year’s Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank production will be Romeo and Juliet, opening on 28 February, with 20,000 free tickets available to state secondary schools. The Shakespeare’s Globe Touring Ensemble will once again present a trio of plays for the audience to choose from: The Comedy of Errors, Pericles, and Twelfth Night.

Casting announced for the West End transfer of Laura Wade’s Home, I’m Darling

7th January 2019 / Matt / 0 Comments

As rehearsals begin, casting is announced for the West End transfer of the National Theatre and Theatr Clwyd’s critically acclaimed co-production of Home, I’m Darling, a new play by Laura Wade, directed by Theatre Clwyd Artistic Director Tamara Harvey, featuring Katherine Parkinson, which begins performances at the Duke of York’s Theatre on 26 January.

Sleeping Beauty @ Chichester Festival Theatre

19th December 2018 / Matt / 0 Comments

Emily McAlpine as Goody with the ensemble
Photo by Helen Murray

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… and here in the Cheap Seats nothing says Christmas quite like a trip to Chichester Festival Theatre to see their youth company put on a classic show. This year they are treating us to Sleeping Beauty and if our last five visits are anything to go by it will be one of the highlights of 2018! Continue reading

Dracula @ The Spring, Havant

20th October 2018 / Matt / 0 Comments

Jonathan Grant’s Dracula looms over Michael Gondelle as Jonathan Harker

We may be a little more than a week away from Halloween but Humdrum are offering up a classic slice of horror at The Spring to get people in the mood. As director James George points out, Dracula might no longer be a story that truly shocks, but there is still enough here to make the audience uneasy and at its heart this is a classic story regardless of whether it will make you jump out of your seat. Continue reading

The Play That Goes Wrong @ Brighton Theatre Royal

29th August 2018 / Matt / 0 Comments

In a wonderful case of life imitating art I have now, at the third time of trying, finally made it along to see The Play That Goes Wrong, a show that has done its best to elude me both in the West End and around the UK despite my best efforts to catch it. Now I’ve made it to the cosy Theatre Royal Brighton let’s find out if the show lives up to expectations! Continue reading

The Cast of Company Begin Rehearsals

6th August 2018 / Matt / 0 Comments

The cast of Company.
Photo by Darren Bell

Rehearsals for Marianne Elliott’s highly anticipated new production of George Furth and Stephen Sondheim’s COMPANY which opens at the Gielgud Theatre from 26 September 2018 began today (Monday 6 August 2018). Cast members including Rosalie Craig(Bobbie), Patti LuPone(Joanne), Mel Giedroyc(Sarah), Jonathan Bailey(Jamie) and Richard Fleeshman(Andy) listened to Marianne’s plans for the show and had a first look at Bunny Christie’s designs. Continue reading