Theatre

Bryony Kimmings, the groundbreaking solo artist who famously traced her own sexual history on stage in pursuit of an STI’s origin, is back with her first new show in nearly a decade, I’m A Phoenix, Bitch. The provocatively-titled piece of “theatre-cum-social...

Acclaimed writer and actress Ambreen Razia (Murdered by my Father, BBC Three) brings her hard-hitting drama POT to Brighton next week, showing at Dorothy Stringer school. A story of Britain’s forgotten children, care-leavers adrift and at the mercy of gang culture, the play...

The iconic 1980’s Dirty Dancing arrives on stage in Brighton this week. Much loved and – surprisingly – critically acclaimed (at least initially) in its film format this show will be highly anticipated by many. ‘It’s quite a daunting role to take on because...

Centred around a meeting between the poet WH Auden and composer Benjamin Brittan in the halls of Oxford University, ‘The Habit of Art’ weaves seamlessly between humour and lines that come straight from the souls of the muses. Auden argues that “Poetry gives voice to the...

Do you consider yourself a brave theatre-goer? Do you enjoy performance that makes you a participant rather than a mere spectator? Are you undaunted by a trigger warning list which includes: violence, heights, nudity, sharks, unknown fluid consumption, underwater submersion and...

The Treason Show is back on the Palace Pier in Brighton with some cut-price ticket offers for students and 999 personnel. And the cast, led by the show’s founder and director Mark Brailsford, have the usual suspects in their sights in a series of songs and skethches. Donald...

201 Dance Co. present a fusion of hip-hop, contemporary dance and hard-hitting theatre for one night only at The Old Market this friday (07/09/18). An award-winning show, fresh from an international sell-out tour, Skin tells the story of one boys journey to find an identity...

A new family festival, Into the Trees, from the team behind the hugely popular Elderflower Fields, is offering families a chance to explore, relax and get wild in beautiful Sussex woodland this September. From mountain-boarding to mud-pie making, tree-climbing to kayaking, the...

The Play That Goes Wrong. Theatre Royal Brighton, 28 August 2018 The touring Mischief Theatre production of the West End hit opened to riotous approval in Brighton last night. The frenetic production, directed by Mark Bell – whose background in Lecoq-trained bouffon-ery shone...

There was a moment in Tiddler and Other Stories where I looked over at my four year old who transfixed by the action on stage. He was mouthing along with the words “Once there was a fish and his name was Tiddler. He wasn’t much to look at with his plain grey scales.” And...

Review: Let’s Go Fly A Kite, JW Productions. The Old Market, Hove. 11 Aug 2018 On Saturday evening I went to see a play called ‘Let’s Go Fly a Kite’. The show was about two children who loses there [sic] kite and go on a adventure to get it back. The cast...

Let’s Go Fly a Kite, JW Productions. The Old Market, Hove The critically acclaimed family show Let’s Go Fy a Kite comes to the Old Market for one night only, on Saturday 11 August. Directed by Natalie Sexton, writer and director of This Boy Tom which was a hit of this...

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, JW Productions There’ll be cucumber sandwiches for tea at Brighton Open Air Theatre this week – and handbags at dawn too – as Oscar Wilde’s much-loved classic opens on Wednesday (1 August). The fearsome Lady...

Long Nose Puppets: Penguin, from the children’s book by Polly Dunbar. Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham. Polly Dunbar’s warm and funny modern classic is brought to life by a talented trio from Long Nose Puppets, of whom Dunbar is a founding member. The story is padded...

Shakespeare’s Globe on Tour: Twelfth Night Brighton Open Air Theatre, 12 July 2018 A rosy glow in the summer air; an expectant thrum from the excited and tightly packed audience perched on timber-and-astroturf tiered seating; and the smell of a hundred picnic dinners. We...

The chairman of Brighton’s oldest amateur theatre company has skydived 15,000ft to launch a half-a-million-pound fundraising campaign. The money is needed to modernise the building in Clarence Gardens near Churchill Square. Felicity Clements jumped out of a plane in the skies...

Brownton Abbey, Brighton Dome Concert Hall, 25 May 2018. Last week I went to Tarik Elmoutawakil and Rob Jones’ Brownton Abbey at Brighton Dome: a night that promised to be a “performance party [where] celestial beings from queer dimensions… transform Brighton Dome into a...

The String Quartet’s Guide to Sex and Anxiety is a strange and bewildering piece. Part concert, part dramatic reading, it blurs the lines of what you expect ‘theatre’ to deliver. Set amongst hundreds of music stands and a back wall made up to stacked chairs, it feels as though we...

The Tale Of The Cockatrice By Mumblecrust Theatre, The Blockhouse Theatre, The Warren, 2nd and 3rd June This show is great! An unexpected discovery towards the end of the festival, and what a treasure from Mumblecrust Theatre returning for the second time to Brighton Fringe with...

Hamlet? By Bloody Bawdy Villains; The Warren – Blockhouse “In this production of Hamlet I’m going to play Hamlet and I’m going to do all the soliloquies and it will be really good.” –Damien Warren Smith, Artistic Director of Artistry & Direction. I went to review this...

The Fabulous Bäckström Brothers, The Old Market, Hove. Thursday 31st May 2018. http://theoldmarket.com/shows/fabulous-backstrom-brothers/ I’ll begin at the beginning. Where it all began… At least I would if I could express on paper just how brilliantly funny this brand new...

Big Brighton Fringe Festival Ceilidh 2018 By Brighton Ceilidh Collective BHASVIC, 1st June 2018 I am a sucker for a ceilidh and this city-based group (with real Celts in their midst) always deliver. The irrepressible Brighton Ceilidh Collective gather during the fringe for an...

https://www.brightonfringe.org/whats-on/guru-dudus-silent-disco-walking-tours-125379/ “There’s a special device in your silent disco headsets that auto-tunes your voice so it sounds exactly like the original; so when you’re singing out loud just go for it, it’ll...

Peacock Poetry Prize winners announced The winners of the Peacock Poetry Prize 2018 – an annual creative writing competition produced by Brighton Festival and Brighton, Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College (BHASVIC) and supported by Lulu.com – have been announced. The...

The Gingerbread Man By Stuff and Nonsense Theatre Company The Hat, The Warren 27th May This new show from the theatre company Stuff and Nonsense was quite frankly the best thing I’ve seen in the Brighton Fringe this year. Although this show was aimed at ages 3 plus, it was quite...