The latest West End cast of this play have come in from Scarborough - where it all started.

Carole Woddis selects a number of plays and gives a special mention to some venues.

2014 BUMPER YEAR?
On a programme over Christmas, in BBC2 documentary about an amateur company preparing their panto, an actor commented that he felt `theatre was a dying dinosaur’. Soon it would be no more.

Looking back through 2014, though, I’m reminded just how lucky we are in London.

A confident-sounding annual report from Hampstead Theatre shows somewhere teetering on the brink of losing its artistic respectability (somewhat unfairly, but that’s another matter) and with finances accordingly in decline, renewed in confidence and prestige.

Tuesday, 14 July this year marks the 60th anniversary of a new theatre venture in Scarborough when the Yorkshire seaside resort’s town-centre Library became home, in 1955, to a professional company playing ‘in-the-round’ – that is with the audience seated on all sides of what was more a square.

William Russell looks over 2014, and finds the London small venues powerhouses of creativity.

Little theatres have their drawbacks – the seats can be hard, the stairs to the inevitable room above a pub can be precipitous, and the pub itself less than desirable. The drawbacks are, however, frequently offset by what is on offer. Nothing wrong, by the way, about the following venues.

The Witch of Edmonton - Does it have the right title?

Alexander Ray Edser explores how the play's structure reveals the true power of the work.

ReviewsGate's Midland's reviewer, Alan Geary picks out his most memorably moments from 2014.

The shows that have had the biggest personal impact in 2014? Difficult; it’s been a great year in Nottingham. And after years of play-going I still take a delight in the same things as ever – fine acting, inventive sets, compelling texts, laughs, elevating ideas; and all right, (non-gratuitous) sex and violence.

Aside from amateur productions reviewed elsewhere, three shows in particular linger on the mind, refusing to go away: Nottingham Playhouse’s Arcadia; and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Regeneration, both at the Theatre Royal.

William Russell, one of our London team, is cynical about our passion for Theatre Awards.

ReviewsGate co-editor, Tim Ramsden, finds that it's still possible to be surprised - and not all the surprises are in London.

Being surprised by joy is perpetually possible in theatre.

ReviewsGate's Carole Woddis ponders the offerings of the HIGH TIDE festival. Plenty of food for thought.

Writers of all levels of experience are invited to enter plays, which must be original, unperformed and unproduced for the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting. The winner will receive a prize of £16,000 and a full production of their play at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. The competition is a unique partnership between the Royal Exchange Theatre and property company Bruntwood.

Alexander Ray Edser, reviewing mostly Birmingham and Stratford, selects three productions and one book.

I’ve selected four items from my ReviewsGate reviews that have made a specially great impact on me this year – three productions and a book, and the order below is by no means an order of merit.

What’s in a play? : Alexander Ray Edser discusses this question while also examining how play structure gives clues to the play’s meaning. Thoughts triggered by a handful of current productions. On the way, the word ‘playwright’ is considered.

07 11 14

To boo or not to boo. William Russell explores the appropriateness of audience response.

Islington's Little Angel has provided many young people with early experience of theatre and puppetry. In the second of their spring FIRSTS Festival they are looking to bring new companies and shows for all ages to light and rt a reasonable price. All at:

Little Angel Theatre 14 Dagmar Passage N1 2DN 10-22 March 2014.

Suffolk: Hightide Festival: Sept 10-20, 2015
Posted by: Carole Woddis on Sept 14, 2015 – 16.56 pm

Hightide Festival
Aldeburgh,
Suffolk

Review of three plays by Carole Woddis seen Saturday, Sept 12, 2015:

Rich plays in a beautiful setting

Alexander Ray Edser looks at a new company in Birmingham, launching a new show about sexuality.

HETEROPHOBIA: An Urban Musical: Devised and directed: Hannah Phillips
Music and Lyrics: Nik Haley
Hippodrome Theatre (Patrick Studio) 3 and 4 April
Runs: 1h no interval

Feature: Alexander Ray Edser, performance seen 03 04 14

New company, new show, passionate new way of looking at the world.

Carole Woddis reports on these awards and comments on the state of writing by women for theatre

Chekhov and the Coming Storm.

Carole Woddis ponders the disappearance of politics in recent Chekhov productions.

Walking the Tightrope: the tension between art and politics.

Carole Woddis asks 'What's the right balance?' prompted by Theatre Uncut's debate.
Theatre Deli, Farringdon, London.