Max Cooper. Photo by the artist. Max Cooper 3D/AV Live, Feeling is Structure Album Tour. At Butterworth Hall, Warwick Arts Centre on Friday 15 May 2026. New Album out 8 May 2026. Preview Acclaimed electronic artist and multidisciplinary composer Max Cooper will be bringing his 3DAV live album show to some of the most prestigious venues throughout the UK on the back of his London sold out Royal Albert Hall performance - including Coventry's Warwick Arts Centre (15 May 2026) Re

Claire and Tim Johnson. Photo courtesy of Consensus Opera. A Ring of Untruths, written and adapted by Tim Johnson, performed by Consensus Opera at The Bear Pit Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon from 25 - 27 March 2026. Review by Charles Essex   Following on from Consensus Opera’s 2026 production A Bitter and Twisted Cocktail,  Tim Johnson has written a wonderful thriller using his encyclopaedic knowledge of Gilbert and Sullivan music. The story starts with a lowly detective (Trac

The cast of My Fair Lady. Photo courtesy of Helen Ashbourne. My Fair Lady, Leamington and Warwick Musical Society, Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, from 24 - 28 March 2026. Director and Musical Director/Conductor James Suckling. Review by Ann Cee   Lerner and Loewe’s ‘My Fair Lady’ throbbed with warmth, humour and very classy costumes and hats last night as the Leamington and Warwick Musical Society put on their annual show (this week only). Great voices led us through the P

Harvey Brough and Choir. Photo credit Vanessa Swann. Vox Populi. The Bells of Paradise. Performed at Holy Trinity Church, Leamington Spa, Saturday 21 March 2026. Review by Charles Essex.   Vox Populi thrilled an almost full audience at Holy Trinity Church in Leamington with four varied pieces that continue to demonstrate Harvey Brough’s community choir’s versatility and talent.   The first half featured two of Fauré’s pieces.  Cantique de Jean Racine, written by Fauré when he

David Walters, (Col. Pickering), Ben Munday, (Prof. Henry Higgins), Ella Kenrick, (Eliza Doolittle). Photo courtesy of LWMS.   Leamington And Warwick Musical Society present My Fair Lady. Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Music by Frederick Loewe. Adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play and Gabriel Pascal’s motion picture “Pygmalion”. Original production directed and staged by Moss Hart. At the Royal Spa Centre, Leamington from 24 – 28 March 2026. Evenings 7.30pm: Saturday

Vitamin String Quartet at Warwick Arts Centre. Photo by Sundeep Watkins.. Vitamin String Quartet, Warwick Arts Centre, 16 March. Review by Hilary Hopker   You may have heard of this quartet or you might not, but one thing’s for sure, if you’re a Bridgerton fan you will have already heard their music. Most string quartets specialise in classical music, but the Vitamin String Quartet take top classical talent and apply it to popular music. Their string versions of modern pop so

The Choir of Man created by Nic Doodson & Andrew Kay. Directed by Nic Doodson, at the Belgrade Theatre from Tuesday 7 to Saturday 11 April 2026. Preview. Direct from the West End, the Olivier Award-nominated, worldwide smash hit - now on its first ever UK tour! Welcome to THE CHOIR OF MAN, the best pub in the world… Come ready to drink in the excitement!  Brimming with hits from artists such as Queen, Luther Vandross, Sia, Paul Simon, Adele, Guns & Roses, Avicii and Katy Perr

Warwickshire Singers to perform Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) conducted by Jim Bate in St Nicholas Church, Warwick on Saturday 18 April at 7pm. Preview Following their sold-out Christmas concert, join Warwickshire Singers as they sing Brahms’s beautiful and uplifting Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) conducted by Jim Bate, in the glorious surroundings of St Nicholas Church, Warwick. This popular and deeply emotional work captures the sadness of human

Vitamin String Quartet at Warwick Arts Centre. Image by Ollie Rosenblatt. Vitamin String Quartet: The Music of Billie Eilish, Bridgerton, and Beyond at Warwick Arts Centre on Monday 16 March 2026. Preview Vitamin String Quartet (VSQ), the celebrated classical crossover ensemble kick off their much anticipated UK tour at Coventry's Warwick Arts Centre on 16 March 2026. Their spellbinding show, titled Vitamin String Quartet: The Music of Billie Eilish, Bridgerton, and Beyond,

Cast members of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Photo by Tyler Fayose. A New Musical - The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind at The Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until 28 March 2026. Book and lyrics by Richy Hughes, Music and Lyrics by Tim Sutton. Adapted from and based on the book by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer and Potboiler Productions Film. Director Lynette Linton. Review by Ann Evans , WOW! What a show! What a story! And what brilliant performances by all the cast! T

The Battle: Oscar Lloyd, George Usher. Photo by Helen Murray. The Battle by John Niven, at Birmingham Rep until 7 March 2026. Directed by Matthew Dunster. Touring next in Manchester Opera House until 21 March. Review by Ellie Blackwell Recreating Britpop’s ferocious fight for the chart’s top spot, John Niven’s slick, new play perfectly encapsulates this iconic movement and a cut-throat pop culture where artists had nothing to lose and everything to gain. ‘I’m fine with a war

Tim Raistrick and Adam Schumacher. Photo courtesy of Second Thoughts.   Shakespeare on Love Performed by Second Thoughts Productions at The Bear Pit Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, Saturday 14 February 2026. Review by Charles Essex.   In a novel format, two narrators (Nic Walsh and Gill Hines) took us on a tour of a medley of Shakespeare’s love scenes featured in both his comedies and tragedies.  The scenes were acted out as short vignettes, either from the original script or m

Rebecca Chandler and Stephen Brown. Photo courtesy of the artists. The fabulous Improvesarios were back at the Loft Studio Theatre on Valentine's Night for another of their hilarious improvised operas.  With suggestions from the audience they come up with the setting for a new opera, then instantly, on the spot, make up the story, the music and the songs' lyrics. With Saturday being Valentine's Day, there couldn’t have been anything more appropriate than a wedding themed ope

Leonard Bernstein's Candide. Leonard Bernstein’s Candide based on Voltaire’s satirical novel performed by the Student Society Opera Warwick at Warwick Arts Centre from 12 to 13 February 2026. Directed by Millie Jeffries and conducted by Michał Matusz. Review by Ann Cee   Open Opera did a terrific job last night of bringing the chaos and confusion of Candide's crazy life to the Warwickshire stage.  With precious few props but plenty of creativity and panache, a huge cast took

Photographer Gillian Hyland. Art Director Louise Richardson. Premiering in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon from Saturday 11 April – Saturday 30 May 2026. Preview Placebo are to compose new music for landmark stage play satirising Hitler’s ascent to power in their first major theatre collaboration to date. Starring double Olivier award-winning actor Mark Gatiss in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui; based on the 1941 ‘gangster spectacle’ by Bertolt Brecht in a new version

The beer tent, Warwick Festival 2025. Photo John Wright Photography. The 2025 Warwick Folk Festival brought in just under £1million to the town in terms of additional economic benefit which has been revealed in an ‘Economic Impact Analysis’ report. It has also been revealed that the festival days in 2023, 2024 and 2025 averaged a footfall uplift of +46% in the town centre, compared to the average footfall on the same non-festival days. Data also showed that 2025 had the large

Oliver on piano and Samuel standing. Photo courtesy of Oliver Hancock. An evening of Flanders and Swann performed at St Mary’s Church Warwick, on Saturday 7 February 2026. Review by Charles Essex   Brothers Samuel and Oliver Hancock treated a very knowledgeable audience to a wonderfully nostalgic evening of the songs of Flanders and Swann at St Mary’s Church in Warwick.  Although the demographic of the audience reflected that this appealed to a particular generation who recal

Nine Sixteenths cast. Photo by Christa Holka. Nine Sixteenths: Inspired by Janet Jackson, created by Paula Varjack, a fast, fun, multimedia examination of iconic black female role models featuring the rise, fall and rise again of Janet Jackson. Runs 60 mins. At Warwick Arts Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry on Thursday 12 February 2026 at 7.45pm. Preview   At the 2004 Superbowl, Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson’s breast and nipple to a huge live TV audience for n

Leamington And Warwick Musical Society present My Fair Lady. Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Music by Frederick Loewe. Adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play and Gabriel Pascal’s motion picture “Pygmalion”. Original production directed and staged by Moss Hart. At the Royal Spa Centre from 24 – 28 March 2026. Evenings 7.30pm: Saturday Matinee 2.30pm. Preview    Leamington and Warwick Musical Society (LWMS) has had a fabulous time recently bringing modern-era musicals to t

Rosalie Armstrong and Samuel Koppel. Photo courtesy of the Criterion. The Who’s Tommy, written by Des McAnuff and Pete Townshend, at the Criterion Theatre Earlsdon from 31 January – 7 February. Director Debra Relton Elves, Musical Director Rob Parish, Production Assistant Timothy East. Review by Hilary Hopker There was an excited and busy hubbub in the newly renovated foyer of the Criterion Theatre as show goers explored the renovation changes. There’s now more space and ligh

The Improvesarios. Photo by Claire Shovelton. Improvesarios in the Loft Theatre Studio on Saturday, 14 February at 7.30pm. Preview   Join the Improvesarios, returning to The Loft Studio Theatre, Leamington Spa following their appearance in 2025, for an evening of fun and mayhem as they put down their scores and put their creative prowess to the test. Using your suggestions, this group of classically trained musicians improvise a brand new opera completely on the spot! Help th