Mary Beer

Whilst Dickens has pretty much cornered the spooky-meets-heart-warming Christmas theatre tradition, Oscar Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost (written only some 40 years after A Christmas Carol) makes an interesting festive family alternative without any explicit yuletide subject matter. The work is as droll and arch as you’d expect from the legendary 19th century wit plus offers … Read moreThe Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde at the Unicorn Theatre

Tom Glover’s one-act comedy has plenty of gags, some fine actors and an essentially interesting conceit but it doesn’t really gel as a full-length play. Feeling very much like it belongs in the first phases of ITV pilot writing from a few decades ago, this play is not especially funny nor particularly important although it … Read moreBeneath The Blue Rinse By Tom Glover at Park Theatre

Fun, funky and thoroughly magical, this cultural classic is brought to life with so much spectacle and joy, you’ll feel the thrills of a rollercoaster ride and the uplift of a Christmas special – but none of the saccharine elements that make grown-up’s teeth hurt. Kids empathise with kind and wise Matilda and relish the … Read moreMatilda the Musical is fun, funky and thoroughly magical…

The Show in Which Hopefully Nothing Happens is a child-centric theatrical masterpiece that feels like Pinter meeting pantomime for the Pixar audience. My two six-year-old co-critics were rapt from the moment they entered the Unicorn’s black box Clore Theatre and beamed and belly-laughed for the play’s duration. Veterans of quality children’s theatre, like The Gruffalo’s … Read moreThe Show in Which Hopefully Nothing Happens | Review