Anne Cox
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Freelance journo; theatre influencer & creator/editor Stage Review (2014-22). Twice named @Vuelio Top 10 UK Theatre Blog
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Articles by Anne Cox
Jane Eyre at Mercury Theatre and on tour – review
Olivia Marcus in Jane Eyre, © Johan Persson A dark and brooding melodrama with visually sumptuous set pieces that send a shiver through your spine seems the perfect way to spend a dismal, autumnal night. Colchester’s Mercury Theatre has come up with a stunning revival of Sally Cookson and Mike Aker’s take on Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Award-winning director Lily Dyble delivers a feast for the senses with a physical and pared-back production that pulls no punches.
Calendar Girls the Musical at New Wolsey Theatre – review
Reviews Paul Robinson’s in-the-round revival will also be staged at Bolton’s Octagon Theatre Pippa Duffy in Calendar Girls the Musical, © Will Green Photography “Honestly, can anyone see my nipples?” Make a date. The glorious, life affirming musical is back for a new regional run and the show has lost none of its magic.It’s impossible not to be swept along by Tim Firth and Gary Barlow’s timeless story of how a Yorkshire WI turned charity fundraising on its head.
Mischief’s Thespians musical on tour – review
The cast of Thespians, © Mark Senior Those masters of Mischief and mayhem have launched their first-ever comedy musical… and it delivers Olympic-sized laughs to everyone from the stalls right up to the gods. Set in ancient Greece, Thespians is a love letter to the profession of acting, which has just premiered at the Mercury Theatre, in that other great colossus of history, Rome’s first UK city, Camulodunum – now known as Colchester. Thespians is a “first” in every sense.
Caroline: A New Musical at New Wolsey Theatre and on tour – review
Reviews Written by Vikki Stone, the show will also be staged at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, New Theatre Peterborough, Colchester’s Mercury Theatre and Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds The cast of Caroline, photo by Will Green Back in the mists of time the only way teens could hear new pop music was to illicitly tune their radios into Caroline, a new station, broadcasting from a rustbucket radio ship, anchored off the Essex coast where a band of young, maverick DJs, including Tony Blackburn and...
The Manningtree Witches at Colchester’s Mercury Theatre - review
Mia Jerome, Gina Isaac, Maria Louis and Fiona Branson in The Manningtree Witches, © Pamela Raith Matthew Hopkins, the self-styled “Witchfinder General”, wreaked havoc in 17th-century East Anglia, sending more than a 100 women to the gallows with hundreds more tortured and imprisoned.
Psychometric properties of the State Mindfulness Scale for Physical Activity 2 (SMS-PA2) in Brazilian adults
Ayuda Buscar en la ayuda Buscar en la ayuda Psychometric properties of the State Mindfulness Scale for Physical Activity 2 (SMS-PA2) in Brazilian adults Morais Peixoto, Evandro [1] ; Cox, Anne Elizabeth [2] ; Amanda Rizzieri Romano [1] ; Pereira Silva, Maynara Priscila [1] ; Pereira Palma, Bartira [3] ; Lima Costa, Ariela Raissa [1] ; Bonfá Araujo, Bruno [4] [1] Universidade São Franscisco, Campinas – São Paulo, Brazil [2] Washington State University, Washington, United States [3]...
The Witch Of Edmonton
You can’t avoid witchcraft in Jacobean drama and Gregory Doran has ended his Roaring Girls season at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Swan Theatre with a story that is devilishly interesting. The Witch Of Edmonton has the elements of two plays that share a common theme – evil. On the one hand you have the story of Frank Thorney who marries a serving girl he has made pregnant only to then find himself forced into a bigamous marriage in order to inherit his father’s estate. What is a man to do?
Woman In Mind | Review | Chichester Festival Theatre | Stage Review
Alan Ayckbourn’s bold and unexpectedly dark 1985 play, Woman In Mind, has returned to the stage in a haunting new production at Chichester Festival Theatre. It was originally billed as a comedy, and there’s plenty to laugh about in the first Act, but this harrowing tale about a woman’s descent into madness is absolutely tragic. As the curtain (metaphorically) fell last night on the festival stage I felt guilty about laughing at all. What were we doing revelling in this poor woman’s distress?
Gavin Spokes | One Man Two Guvnors | Feature
At his Bedfordshire upper school master Gavin Spokes was the class clown, getting into trouble more than once for doing blisteringly accurate impersonations of his teachers and, in particular, his much loved head-teacher Graham Kellet. He was also pretty sporty, along with the rest of his family, and was known to have a killer stroke at the cricket stumps and a handy turn on the football field. Spokes was the sort of boy that teachers sardonically sneered: “You think you’re so funny don’t you?
Made In Northampton | Royal & Derngate | 2022-23 season | What's On
The Royal & Derngate Northampton, one of the country’s major producing houses, has announced its upcoming season of 18 productions covering the next 12 months. Its Made in Northampton season encompasses plays, musicals, a feature film, on-demand theatre, podcasts and a new interactive digital work. The season engages over 400 artists and visits 45 theatres across the UK, with 10 productions transferring to London.
Spike the play | Interview | Ian Hislop & Nick Newman | Stage Review
Ian Hislop and writing partner Nick Newman’s new comedy drama, Spike (now on tour), tells the story of the young Spike Milligan. Here they tell Stage Review how the show was created. Nick Newman [NN]: We wanted to write something about Spike to coincide with the centenary of his birth –we didn’t quite hit that deadline, but we made it for his 104th! From the outset, we wanted it to be a celebration. There are too many biopics of comedians that tell the ‘tears of a clown’ story.
Saturday Night Fever | Review | Milton Keynes Theatre | Stage Review
Local boy Jack Wilcox is disco dynamite, strutting his stuff as cock of the walk Tony Manero in the new UK tour of Saturday Night Fever that opened last night at Milton Keynes Theatre. He bumps and grinds, pops, thrusts and gyrates to The Bee Gees’ infectious soundtrack that had the audience jiggling in their seats. It’s hard to sit still when You Should Be Dancing.
Top Hat | The Mill at Sonning | What's On 2022/23 | Stage Review
The Mill at Sonning certainly knows how to pick crowd-pleasing musicals. It’s winter season is box office gold with Jonny Labey starring as Jerry Travers in the return of their critically acclaimed 2021 tap-tastic production of Top Hat. What’s more 2023 sees We’ll Always Have Paris, Hay Fever and Gypsy. TOP HAT Based on the 1935 film of the same name, Top Hat tells the story of Broadway sensation Jerry Travers who dances his way across Europe to win the heart of society girl Dale Tremont.
New York Voices | The Cockpit theatre | What's On | Stage Review
Marylebone’s The Cockpit will look across the Atlantic this autumn bringing a season of New York plays to the heart of London. Two major productions lead the season: one, a classic revival of Lanford Wilson’s Talley’s Folley; the other, an exciting new musical based on the life and legacy of Rita Hayworth. There will also be theatrical readings of a diverse range of plays by Pulitzer Prize-winning New York based playwrights such as Annie Baker, Jeremy O. Harris and Sarah Ruhl.
Saturday Night Fever | Milton Keynes Theatre | UK Tour | Dates
It’s time to break out those flares and platform shoes. Tony Manero returns in a new UK tour of Saturday Night Fever, opening at Milton Keynes Theatre on Monday with Jack Wilcox, a former employee, in the starring role. Direct from the West End Saturday Night Fever showcases the music of the Bee Gees and the story of Tony Manero, as he embarks on the road to dancing success.
42nd Street musical | Curve Leicester | What's On | News | Stage Review
The classic song-and-dance spectacular 42nd Street is making a comeback in a new production announced today. The Curve and Sadler’s Wells production of the musical will open at Curve theatre, Leicester in May followed by a season at Sadler’s Wells ahead of a UK tour with touring dates to be announced soon. This new production will be directed by Jonathan Church (Singin’ in the Rain, The Drifters Girl) with choreography and design by Olivier Award winners Bill Deamer and Rob Jones.
Crazy For You Review
Dazzling showgirls in glittering costumes and crazy cowpokes swinging their gals on pickaxes. Crazy For You, the fabulous five star musical which opened at Chichester Festival Theatre this week is a triumph with a joyous, uplifting, doozy of a show to celebrate its 60th birthday. This madcap romcom, set in the hicksville backwater of Deadrock Nevada (pop. 37), is a sheer delight from its dazzling Vegas-style opener to its spectacular finale.
London Zoo play | Bread & Roses Theatre | What's On | Stage Review
The cut and thrust of the newspaper industry makes damning headlines in the return of Farine Clarke’s award-winning satire, London Zoo, at the Bread & Roses Theatre, Clapham, next month. The pacy parody whose five-night sell-out inaugural run last year earned two major awards and wowed audiences, builds on its earlier success with a longer run, a new director – Catriona Clancy – a revised cast and fresh set.
King and I | 2023 UK Tour | Dates and Venues | News | Stage Review
The King and I is back! The multi Tony Award-winning production will embark on a new major UK tour from January 2023 following its critically acclaimed runs on Broadway, the West End and on tour. This unmissable, majestic production will open in Canterbury and then visit Wimbledon, Liverpool, Birmingham, Wycombe, Bristol, Dartford, Bradford, Southend, Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow.
Wish You Were Dead
DSI Roy Grace is back treading the boards for a UK tour of Wish You Were Dead, the sixth stage adaptation of Peter James’ best-selling crime novels, and following the success of the writer’s primetime ITV series. This new production will make it the most successful crime thriller stage franchise since Agatha Christie. The stage play of Wish You Were Dead follows DSI Roy Grace and Cleo Morey as they take a much needed holiday together.
The Importance of Being Earnest
OVO Theatre presents a bold, imaginative and unexpected jazz remix of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance Of Being Earnest within the historic grounds of The Roman Theatre in St Albans next month. This ‘Trivial Comedy for Serious People,’ directed by Adam Nichols and Matt Strachan, plays out in an elegant world of fashionable society that’s heady with a strong whiff of scandal, and set to a very cool jazz soundtrack.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory musical
Tour dates have been announced for the new production of the West End and Broadway smash hit Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – The Musical. The tour opens at Milton Keynes Theatre in February following a Christmas season at Leeds Playhouse. Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – The Musical tells the devilishly delicious tale of young golden ticket winner Charlie Bucket and the mysterious confectionary wizard Willy Wonka.
Fisherman's Friends The Musical
When a group of Cornish fisherman came together to sing the traditional working songs they’d sung for generations, they hoped to raise a few quid for charity. Nobody, least of all the fisherman, expected the story to end on the Pyramid stage of Glastonbury… Fisherman’s Friends : The Musical is a brand-new feel-good show based on the true story of the Cornish singing sensations, and the hit 2019 film, which will be touring the UK from September, starting at Theatre Royal Plymouth.
The Southbury Child | Review | Chichester Festival Theatre | Stage Review
It takes just a few Disney balloons to deflate the ecclesiastical career of flawed parish vicar David Highland in The Southbury Child at Chichester Festival Theatre but I can’t help thinking it was aided and abetted by some higher influence. This should have been an engrossing, occasionally witty, story of faith, death and human frailty but instead it fails to find its way in almost every scene of Stephen Beresford’s new play.
Assisted | Drayton Arms Theatre | What's On | Stage Review
Jordan and Connie want their next-generation AI voice assistant – Alivia – to make their perfect lives just that little bit better. But what happens when the technology starts to take control? Assisted comes to the stage of London’s Drayton Arms Theatre next month. It is a funny and searching exploration of love and domesticity in the near future. And it explores the trend for technology to play a role in the most intimate parts of our day-to-day domestic existence.
Bat Out of Hell | Review | Milton Keynes Theatre | Stage Review
Bat Out of Hell exploded onto the stage at Milton Keynes Theatre last night setting off the musical equivalent of a nuclear bomb. Hold onto your hats because this crowd-pleaser is firing on all cylinders. A huge gathering of Hells Angels had been invited to the opening night and they revved up their impressive bikes to a deafening crescendo to welcome the show into the theatre where it’s running for the next two weeks.
The Bodyguard | 2023 UK & Ireland Tour | Venues & Dates | Stage Review
The award-winning international smash hit musical The Bodyguard will tour the UK and Ireland opening in Glasgow next January. Former Secret Service agent turned bodyguard, Frank Farmer, is hired to protect superstar Rachel Marron from an unknown stalker. Each expects to be in charge; what they don’t expect is to fall in love.
Death Drop Back In The Habit
Following three sold-out West End runs and a smash hit UK tour, Death Drop is back! The drag murder mystery sensation is returning with a new show – Death Drop: Back In The Habit – which will be touring across the UK from this autumn. The new production – written by Rob Evans and directed by Jesse Jones – kicks off in October in Bromley. TuckShop creative director and producer Christopher D.
Bat Out Of Hell | Milton Keynes Theatre | What's On | Stage Review
That modern-day crowd-pleaser, Bat Out Of Hell roars into Milton Keynes Theatre this week, a perfect tribute to music legends Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman. Vicky Edwards catches up with its stars Martha Kirby and Glenn Adamson from Jim Steinman’s Bat Out of Hell – The Musical. If you didn’t already know that Bat Out of Hell started life as a musical, it’s a fact that probably comes as no surprise – the songs are so theatrical and anthemic.
Tom, Dick & Harry
Days after the New Vic premiered the wartime thriller Tom, Dick & Harry, ahead of its transfer to London’s Alexandra Palace, the Staffordshire theatre has announced its autumn season. It sees the return of the critically-acclaimed production of Marvellous alongside one of their best-loved Christmas shows, Alice In Wonderland.
Austentatious | UK Tour | What's On | Stage Review
Multi-award-winning improvised comedy troupe Austentatious are setting out from London’s Leicester Square Theatre for an autumn tour this October. The show will entertain and astonish audiences in equal measure across the country, beginning in Liverpool on October 2 and end in Oxford on October 29.
Little Women | Pitlochry Festival | Theatre | What's On | Stage Review
Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Watford Palace Theatre are set to join forces this summer to stage the première of Anne-Marie Casey’s adaptation of Louise May Alcott’s much loved tale Little Women. Directed by Watford Palace Theatre’s artistic director, Brigid Larmour, Little Women will open at Pitlochry Festival Theatre in July and then transfer to Watford from October 11. Published in 1868, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is one of the best loved novels of all time.
The Unfriend | Review | Chichester Festival Theatre | Stage Review
We’ve all done it. You get lumbered with a stranger while on holiday, spend the vacation indulging in a mock-friendship which, when the time comes to leave, ends with both sides promising to keep in touch. It’s a game and the rules are that you end on a friendly note but move on. Burn the phone number, delete the email address and erase their name from social media.
Spike Tour | What's On | Dates & Venues | Stage Review
Olivier Award-winning actor John Dagleish will reprise his critically-acclaimed role as Spike Milligan this autumn in a national tour of Ian Hislop & Nick Newman’s affectionate homage, Spike. The comedy, that had its world premiere at The Watermill Theatre in January, will be directed by Watermill artistic director PaulHart.
Ocean at the End of The Lane
The National Theatre’s critically acclaimed adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s fantasy epic The Ocean at the End of the Lanewill tour the UK and Ireland later this year, direct from the West End. Directed by Katy Rudd (Camp Siegfried) and adapted by Joel Horwood (Skins, I Want My Hat Back), this is the first major stage adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s work and is a thrilling adventure of fantasy, myth and friendship.
Cluedo | UK Tour | Michelle Collins interview | Stage Review
“We all need a bit of glamour in our lives, don’t we darling?” Michelle Collins tells Stage Review. The glamour in question comes in a role she has dreamed about since she was just a little girl, that of Miss Scarlett, the most glamorous and potentially most deadly member of the cast of Cluedo. Now she is one of the key players in the hilarious comedy whodunit, Cluedo, based on the film Clue, which was originally, of course, from the murderous board game that Michelle was obsessed with as a child.
We Will Rock You
Queen fans are used to the showmanship and outlandish storytelling of their favourite group so it’s no wonder that, an astonishing 20 years since it premiered, they’re still turning out in their thousands to watch the hit musical We Will Rock You. The show, which features 24 of the band’s most memorable hits, is currently on an anniversary tour and opened last night to wild applause and much (Radio Ga Ga) hand-clapping at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre.
The Taxidermist's Daughter | Review | Chichester Festival Theatre | Stage Review
The mist swirls around the stage at Chichester Festival Theatre, transporting the audience back 100 years to the murky gloom of the harbour salt marshes and threatening a deep foreboding of what was to come. Kate Mosse, local lady and renowned author of historical and eerie, supernatural romps, has turned one of her books, The Taxidermist’s Daughter, into a gothic horror story for the stage. At least that’s what it said on the cover.
Singin' In The Rain
The last time Jonathan Church’s dazzling touring production of Singin’ In The Rain soaked the boards at Milton Keynes Theatre (2014) I boldly stated that the show had set the bar so high that it was ‘as good as it gets’. Now the showstopper is back and even better. Impossible but true. You would run out of superlatives trying to describe this faultless and stupendous musical that is jam packed with talent from the astonishing footwork of the ensemble to the charisma and artistry of its leads.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Musical
Anne Cox | April 13, 2022 | News | A new production of the West End and Broadway smash hit Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – The Musical will embark on a UK and Ireland tour opening at Milton Keynes Theatre in February. The tour will follow a Christmas season at Leeds Playhouse. Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – The Musical tells the devilishly delicious tale of young golden ticket winner Charlie Bucket and the mysterious confectionary wizard Willy Wonka.
Les Dawson Flying High
Actor, comedian and impersonator, Jon Culshaw will be Flying High at the Edinburgh Fringe this August when he stars in a play about Northern comic Les Dawson. Les Dawson: Flying High will debut at the Assembly at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe before touring the UK from September. The show is an homage and celebration of the beloved and much-missed comedy legend with Culshaw set to deliver a touching, funny and warm-hearted turn.
Catch Me If You Can
It’s a rare treat to get a big Hollywood name appearing in a regional theatre tour. Often the really big stars of stage and screen get a touch of the vapours if they have to depart the West End for the provinces. So producer Bill Kenwright should be applauded for enticing former Dallas star Patrick Duffy over the pond to front his latest show, Catch Me If You Can, which opened last night at Milton Keynes Theatre.
Catch Me If You Can
Patrick Duffy in Catch Me If You Can. Images Jack Merriman Dallas legend Patrick Duffy and his partner Linda Purl have flown in from Hollywood to star alongside Gray O’ Brien in the edge-of-your-seat thriller Catch Me If You Can which is now touring the UK. Catch Me If You Can, written by Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, and directed by Bob Tomson, is adapted from Robert Thomas’s French play Trap for a Lonely Man.
Fatal Attraction | Review | Royal & Derngate | Stage Review
Susie Amy & Oliver Farnworth in Fatal Attraction. Images Tristram Kenton Fatal Attraction – the 1987 hit thriller starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close – was memorable for many things but noteworthy was its introduction into the English language of the phrase ‘bunny boiler’. Watching the stage adaptation at Northampton’s Royal & Derngate it was easy to miss the origin of the word but not its reference.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks | Review | Royal & Derngate | Stage Review
Photos Johan Persson Three children cower in fear on the floor as enemy bombs drop all around them. Their parents are dead and they are sent to the bucolic countryside to live out the rest of the war in safety. That’s the concept of Bedknobs and Broomsticks, written by Leighton Buzzard novelist Mary Norton during World War II and set in the Blitz. With everything that’s now happening in the Ukraine there couldn’t be a more timely and relevant story.
Austentatious | Leicester Square Theatre | What's On | Stage Review
Anne Cox | March 3, 2022 | Leicester Square Theatre, What's On | PHOTO ROBERT VIGLASKY Multi-award-winning improvised comedy troupe Austentatious is back at Leicester Square Theatre until June 27. Austentatious is an improvised comedy play starring a cast of the country’s quickest comic performers. At every single show the cast conjures up a brand new ‘lost’ Jane Austen novel based on nothing more than a title suggested by the audience.
Festival 2022 | Chichester Festival Theatre | What's On | Stage Review
Chichester Festival Theatre’s sparkling Festival 2022, celebrating 60 years of landmark theatre, has been announced today. Six premieres, five new plays – including three delayed from 2020 – three top flight musicals and three major co-productions will be staged. The Taxidermist’s Daughter Artistic director, Daniel Evans and the theatre’s executive director, Kathy Bourne said: “‘Festival 2022 places compelling stories front and centre: joyful, gripping, uplifting and provocative.
Marvellous | What's On | New Vic Theatre | Stage Review
This might sound like a tall tale; one you won’t believe. It is a tale filled with football stars, comedians, and bishops; circus acts, budgies, and politicians; mayors and Her Majesty and a B.E.M. This is a story of a fantastical life. From the moment he was born, Neil knew he was destined to do wonderful things. And so that is what he did.
Doubt: A Parable Review
Anne Cox | January 30, 2022 | Chichester Festival Theatre, Reviews | Did he or didn’t he? In an age of ‘Cancel Culture’, when unfounded gossip and innuendo can destroy lives and reputations, how can we condemn without certainty? It’s 17 years since John Patrick Shanley’s award-winning play, Doubt: A Parable, premiered and this blistering revival from Chichester Festival Theatre shows that its controversial themes are just as relevant today.
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