Five Star Theatre bring you Guys & Dolls. Photo credit Gaz Hood. Guys and Dolls, presented by Five Star Theatre at The Benn Hall, Rugby from Thursday 1 October to Saturday 3 October 2026. Review by Ann Cee My luck was in at The Benn Hall last night when the superb Five Star Theatre presented an exuberant Guys and Dolls. This Broadway legend of a show has music and lyrics (Frank Loesser) which salsa round your heartstrings until you are betting your last sot on the most un

African Soul Rebels. Photo courtesy of the artists. African Soul Rebels at Warwick Arts Centre on 6 October 2026. Preview by Barbara Goulden A unique experience is promised at Warwick Arts Centre when powerhouse West African supergroup Les Amazones d'Afrique explode onto the stage to stamp rhythm and dance into the very essence of what critics have described as a modern revolution in music. The three women singers were last seen on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury and at

Playbox Theatre Open Day. Photo credit Playbox. From a hotel room in Leek Wootton to the Dream Factory — four decades of theatre exclusively for young people In September 1986 Mary King created Playbox Theatre in a hotel room in Leek Wootton, Warwickshire. Always designed to be unique in being a young people’s theatre, exclusively for them from very young to early twenties. By 1988 performing in Warwick and Kenilworth, by 1989 Balsall Common, the same year Stewart McGill join

Richard Jones begins his show. Photo courtesy of the artist. Richard Jones – The Soldier of Illusion and winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2016 – the only magician in the history of the show incidentally to have taken the top spot, brought his incredible magic to The Albany Theatre last night. Richard who spent 12 years in the British Army currently tours with three different shows, Mission Magic, Masters of Deception and The Sound of Magic which was the show at the Albany Theat

Liberty Stotter, Geraldine Sacdalan, Lou Henry, Jessica Lbadin. Photo by Pamela Raith. Heathers: The Musical at The Belgrade Theatre from 15 – 19 September. Review by Alison Manning School can be a tough place, where popular kids are top of the pecking order and others are picked on, made fun of and victimised. What does it take to survive? Heathers: The Musical, presented by Bill Kenwright Ltd & Paul Taylor-Mills, currently at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, is a school d

David Lutken in Woody Sez. Photo credit Roger Mastroianni. Woody Sez: The Life & Music Of Woody Guthrie, devised by David M. Lutken, is performed at the Underbelly Boulevard Soho from 8 to 19 September 2026. Directed by Nick Corley. Review by Emilia Matyja Woody Guthrie’s musical biography returns to Soho with a historically soulful zing of joy you can find in a live-music bar. David M. Lutken resurrects Woody Guthrie – a singer-composer of American folk songs that captured

Our House - Madness Musical, presented by Albany Creates Together (ACT), The Albany Theatre's in-house community theatre company. Our House runs from Thursday 29 October to Sunday 1 November 2026. Preview Coventry's musical heritage will take centre stage this autumn as local performers bring Our House, the Olivier Award-winning musical featuring the iconic music of Madness, to The Albany Theatre – on the very same road that played a part in the city's legendary 2 Tone story

Jon House in Wilko. Photo by Nick Haeffner.. Wilko: Love and Death and Rock ’n’ Roll by Jonathan Maitland at the Belgrade Theatre until 9 September 2026 Review by Amanda Burden I know very little about Dr Feelgood. This is not something I am proud of. In fact, when I invited my brother to see Wilko: Love and Death and Rock ’n’ Roll, he reminded me of a conversation from last year in which we discovered our combined knowledge of this band amounted largely to knowing that they

Wilko: Love and Death and Rock ‘n’ Roll, by Jonathan Maitland at the Belgrade Theatre from Monday 7 to Wednesday 9 September. Preview In 2012, Wilko Johnson, the iconic rock star and founder of legendary Essex band Dr Feelgood, was told he had inoperable cancer and a year to live. Refusing all treatment, he decided to spend his last months living meaningfully: seeing the people, places and things which meant most to him during his remarkable life.  Then, a miracle happened

Cast of 9 to 5 The Musical. Photo by Louise Walsron. 9 to 5 The Musical at the Belgrade Theatre until Saturday 5 September. Review by Amanda Burden It was a bittersweet experience to sit down and watch 9 to 5 The Musical just weeks after losing Dolly Parton. Bitter for obvious reasons. We’ve lost the pint-sized queen of country, and the world is a much, much worse place for it. But sweet because this gloriously ridiculous, gloriously feminist, gloriously 1980s piece of musi

Tease - burlesque and cabaret at the Albany Theatre on Thursday 1 October 2026. Preview Step into the World of “Tease” – the ultimate burlesque and cabaret experience where sensuality and unadulterated fun collide to create an unforgettable evening. Led by London’s top comedy compere and award-winning West End burlesque sensations, “Turkish Delight” and “Violet Thistletease”, and our famous “Tease” group dancers. Combined with cabaret, circus and variety acts from across t

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry announces what’s coming up this Autumn/Winter 2026/27 season. Preview Astronaut Tim Peake. Photo courtesy of Warwick Arts Centre. There’s monstrous tales, award-winning theatre, electrifying dance and some of the brightest visual art stars set for Warwick Arts Centre’s Autumn/Winter 2026-2027 Season. The UK’s most significant exhibition of contemporary art, British Art Show 10, opens in Coventry on 2 October 2026 (until 10 Jan 2027), with Warwi

Georgina Liley, James McLean, Catherine Warnock and Rob Took. Photo credit Robling Photography. Wensleydale Whey by Lucie Raine (at Calcutt Boats, Southam), 16 August 2026. Performed by The Mikron Theatre. Director: Elvi Piper. Review by Charles Essex . Writer Lucie Raine’s clever script takes us back 900 years to Jervaulx Abbey with Cistercian monks, who supported themselves with cheese making. The show starts with an appropriate Gregorian chant to set the scene. Fast-forw

Cast members in rehearsals. Lucy Carter, Rox Jefferson, Sophie Bull, Ella Ridgway-Powell and Zane Connellan. Photo courtesy of What's My Line?. What's My Line? present Order Up! at Allesley Village Hall, Coventry for one night only. Written and directed by Olly Brassington and Billy Arnold. Review by Ann Evans Newly created theatre group What's My Line? staged their new musical show Order Up! at the weekend completely blowing the audience away at Allesley Village Hall with th

9 to 5 The Musical at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry from Tuesday 1 to Saturday 5 Sep 2026. Preview by Amanda Burden Get the kettle on because it’s time to brew up a cup of ambition, as Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 The Musical comes to the Belgrade Theatre this September. If you, like me, associate the workplace with Zoom meetings, promises to ‘circle back’ and the dreaded team building day, it’s time to dust off the shoulder pads and pick up the enormous cellphone and zoom back to

Heathers the Musical coming to The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry from 15 – 19 September. Preview Following smash hit runs in London and New York, the WhatsOnStage ‘Best New Musical’ winner, Heathers the Musical is coming to Coventry. Welcome to Westerberg High, where popularity is a matter of life and death, and Veronica Sawyer is just another of the nobodies dreaming of a better day. But when she’s unexpectedly taken under the wings of the three beautiful and impossibly cruel

Crybabies haunt Greyfriars Kirkyard. Photo credit DuncanMcGlynn. Francesca Moody Productions in association with Plosive Live present Crybabies: The Scaring, directed by Jon Brittain. Premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe at Pleasance Two. Preview Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nominees Crybabies (Michael Clarke, James Gault, Ed Jones) join forces with Olivier Award-winning Fleabag and Baby Reindeer producers Francesca Moody Productions and director Jon Brittain

Photo credit Arts Insight. Arts Insight Theatre Group present Pipe Dream, a jukebox musical, written and directed by Laura Berridge at Rother Street Arts House, Stratford-upon-Avon. Review by Ann Cee Heart, humour and stonking pop tunes from the shoulder-padded '80s pack out this musical extravaganza performed by Arts Insight at Rother Street Arts House, Stratford Upon Avon. Were you busy being a Material Girl, or crooning with Wet Wet Wet, or bopping to the Eurythmics as

Sister Act. Photo by Martin Pulley. Sister Act: The Musical, at Rugby Theatre from 29 July - 2 August 2026. Director Janet Devenish, Murical Director Jonathan Rees. Review by Ann Evans Rugby Theatre’s Youth Project have done it again! These talented young singers. dancers and actors aged between 10 and 21 have produced another brilliant show after just 10 days of rehearsals. Sister Act: The Musical is packed with humour, high energy, fabulous characterisation and sensationa

CBSO in the Bull Ring Birmingham, photo credit Jonathan Ferro. Free performances for thousands of residents and Symphony Hall tickets for just £1. From Thursday 27 to Monday 31 August, CBSO in the City returns for its third year, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s (CBSO) musicians performing for free to tens of thousands of residents across Birmingham. The CBSO will fill the city with music, popping up in unexpected spaces and for anyone attending the performanc

The entire assembly. Photo by Martin Pulley. Sister Act: The Musical, at Rugby Theatre from 29 July - 2 August 2026. Performed by Rugby Theatre's Youth Project, Preview by Annette Kinsella. Holy habits! Packed with humour, heart and high energy, the musical comedy Sister Act is next up on Rugby Theatre’s historic stage. Performed as Rugby Theatre’s Youth Project, Sister Act: The Musical follows disco diva Deloris Van Cartier, whose life takes an unexpected turn when she i