A wonderful thing happened on the way to Six at the Royal & Derngate. As all six particles in our nuclear family argued about where to grab a bite before the performance we found ourselves strolling along beside the...
Review: Hairspray. Royal and Derngate, Northampton (opening night January 31)
I had never seen Hairspray before. Yes, I know, I know. It’s one of the most popular musicals in the world, an award-winning tour de force combining fantastic music and...
As part of an arts scene audience starved of live interaction for just short of two years, it was almost pleasant to be in a chilly queue waiting for Covid protocols to be observed at Northampton's Derngate Theatre.
I'd...
THE issues of class, race and the NHS couldn’t be more relevant to audiences today, tentatively returning to the theatre at the height of a pandemic-heightened mental health crisis.
The original Blue/Orange stage play, by former journalist Joe Penhall, was...
Four hundred and ninety two days after it was last open the Roadmender welcomed back rock fans with Fontaines DC and support WJ Healey.
There were pandemic controls in place and a reduced cap on audience numbers but as a...
Following Laurence Olivier, Adrian Lester, and the first Black British actor to play Othello, David Harewood – Francesca Amewudah-Rivers joins the number of actors that have played the character since his conception in the early 17th century. Directed by Miranda...
The boar Old Major gathers Manor Farm’s animals for a meeting, speaking of a dream he had where animals live together in unison and harmony free from the oppression of humanity. Telling them of song named ‘Beasts of England’,...
"I've got some friends from London down tonight, let's show them how we party in Northampton..."
If there was a theme to Slowthai's homecoming gig at Northampton's Roadmender then that was it, expressed during one of the breathless breaks ...
There are some clear stand out moments in the big Derngate panto in Northampton this Christmas. You've got Anita Dobson leading the cast in a rendition of Queen's Don't Stop Me Now, even miming the guitar solo her real...
My first encounter with the author of Richard III and the Battle of Bosworth now seems like it took place in another era of history.
Many years ago I was news editor of the Northampton Chronicle & Echo and I...
