Reviews

The inaugural Birmingham Drag & Burlesque Festival launched in 2026 with a wide range of events including: creative panels for performers, nightclub productions, and theatre shows. Produced by House of Allure’s powerhouse, Dominus Von Vexo, the festival showcased the diversity of Birmingham, UK and even global drag and burlesque, making it the first of its kind in the UK.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary tour, the Tony® award-winning musical, Jersey Boys returns to Birmingham for a three-week run. The hit musical, which has won 65 major awards and been enjoyed by audiences of over 27 million people worldwide, tells the real-life story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, featuring music from the much-loved band.

First published in the UK in 1962, and then re-published in 2023 by Fox, Finch & Tepper, Winter Love is a short novel by Han Suyín set during the Second World War.

The hit musical Mamma Mia! returns to Wolverhampton for a two-week run. Set on a Greek island, this much-loved tale of love, friendship and family is told through the music of ABBA. Sophie begins a quest to discover who her father is ahead of her upcoming wedding, and in doing so, brings her mother face-to-face with three men from her romantic past.

Direct from the West End, the Olivier Award-nominated, jukebox musical, The Choir of Man is out on its first UK tour, playing at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre this Autumn. Created by Nic Doodson and Andrew Kay, and directed by Nic Doodson, this musical is a tale of community and friendship, set in a traditional British pub; a space familiar to all.

Part of the multi-award-winning ‘Grandad’s Camper’ series, Harry Woodgate’s latest children’s picture book, Grandad’s Christmas is the third instalment in the collection.

The longest-running West End show and longest continuously-running play worldwide, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap embarks on its 75th anniversary tour across the UK and Ireland, with a stop at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre this Autumn.

Cole Porter’s High Society returns to stages in its first major UK revival in over a decade, playing at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre direct from a sell-out run in London’s West End.

Grindr the Opera: The Unauthorised Parody is a musical production for the modern world that puts the best-known gay hook-up app at the centre of an opera. Exploring gay dating and hook-up culture, this winner of Best New Musical in the Off-West End Awards takes audiences on a humorous and thought-provoking journey of music and satirical comedy.

The Karate Kid is a new musical based on the hit film of the same name. Bringing the 1984 movie to life on stage is a Tony Award-winning design team known for transforming cinematic moments.

Queens of the Crypt: Volume One is the début graphic novel from illustrator Dom&Ink.

Coming direct from the West End to Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre, Mean Girls the musical is the hit production that won Best New Musical at the WhatsOnStage Awards. Created by an award-winning team including: book by Tina Fey, lyrics by Nell Benjamin, and music by Jeff Richmond, Mean Girls the musical is based on the hit 2004 film of the same name

The Cursed Fate is the spellbinding sequel to Sam Prentice-Jones’ The Lost Heirs, in his début graphic novel series, Arcana. Picking up immediately from where The Lost Heirs left off, this second work delves quickly into magic and adventure

Set in the 1920s at Briarley School for Girls, Avery Curran’s Spoiled Milk begins suddenly and dramatically, with the violent demise of everyone’s favourite pupil, Violet, who falls to her death on the night of her eighteenth birthday.

Following a previous, hit UK tour, Frankie Goes to Bollywood, returns to stages promising to be ‘bigger, bolder, and bursting with Bollywood glamour.’ The production, which takes titular inspiration from the pop group, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, is a musical comedy drama that draws audiences into the glittering but high-pressure world of cinema and Bollywood movie-making.

The hit musical, Annie, returns to Birmingham in a new touring production. Set in 1930s New York, foundling Annie is living the ‘Hard Knock Life’ at Miss Hannigan’s orphanage but her luck could all change after she's chosen to spend a magical Christmas with famous billionaire, Oliver Warbucks. That is if Miss Hannigan’s wicked scheme to tamper with Annie’s search for her true family doesn’t succeed.

Waitress is a joyous musical of love and friendship, centring Jenna; a waitress and expert pie maker, who dreams of a happier more fulfilling life. Starring Carrie Hope Fletcher (Calamity Jane, Heathers, The Addams Family) as Jenna, whose life gets increasingly complicated when a hot new doctor arrives in town.

'Daphne du Maurier stole my life' proclaims the central character of Rose Tremain’s latest novel, The Housekeeper. Mrs Danowski, known affectionately as Danni, is the housekeeper of Manderville Hall on the coast of Cornwall. When Daphne du Maurier visits in search of inspiration for her latest novel – which fans of the novelist will know to be the bestseller, Rebecca – she draws Danni into a secret and intense affair.

Playing at the RSC’s The Other Place Driftwood is a vibrant work set in 1950s Caribbean. The first play from Martina Laird, the production is directed by Chichester Festival Theatre’s Artistic Director Justin Audibert, presenting a tale of family, belonging, and identity.

A play based on the 90s psychological thriller of the same name, Single White Female is a world premiere stage production offering a modern take on the bestselling book (SWF Seeks Same by John Lutz) and hit movie.