Local Theatre

At Harpur Radio, we LOVE Local Theatre.  We have some incredible live theatre venues in town - The Corn Exchange, The Quarry and The Place.  Plus some excellent regional venues too.  Check out our latest news, interviews and theatre reviews here...

Grease - Milton Keynes Theatre
5th - 10th August 2024

This ICONIC musical is returning to Milton Keynes Theatre for one week only - it's a new production which promises to be gritter and more glamorous than ever before....

After a whirlwind summer romance, leather-clad greaser Danny and girl-next-door Sandy are unexpectedly reunited when she transfers to Rydell High for senior year. But can they survive the trials and tribulations of teenage life and find true love once more?

Review - Steven Gordon-Wilson

Grease is one of my absolute favourite go-to musicals.  From the opening bars I had a huge smile on my face and struggled to hold myself back from singing and dancing along to Grease Is The Word! In fact, that's true of pretty much every single number in the show... This production is different than anything you will have seen before, unless you happened to be in Chicago in 1971... The original production set in Chicago included songs such as "How Big I'm Gonna Be," "Tattoo Song" and "Grease" (Not to be confused with "Grease is the Word!") as well as Burger Palace Boys rather than T-Birds.  These songs and details, as well as the gritty Chicago (Almost West Side Story esque) feel have been resurrected for this performance - and the results are five star...

Taking the original show, mixing in some of the improvements and amendments that have come over the years, and producing it with modern technology and staging was a genius move. The staging, lighting and general production are superb.  

I was a little disappointed to see some brilliant music from the Original London Cast soundtrack missing from the show (or at least very much downplayed) and lamented the reduced role of Eugene as the nerdy comedy foil - but these really are small personal preferences that didn't detract from a fantastic show. I would have favoured a little more of Arlene Phillips' choreography too - especially in the first half - Greased Lightnin' was almost delivered standing still!  That having been said, there are a couple of stand-out dance performances, particularly We Go Together which got the whole cast synchronised at a breakneck, dazzling pace. 

For me, Rizzo and Kenickie are the stars of Grease whilst many productions and the movie put more emphasis on the Sandy and Danny story.  This production shines a light on Rizzo and Kenickie (played superbly by Rebecca Stenhouse and Adam Davidson) as well as giving all of the Pink Ladies and Burger Palace Boys a chance to shine.  A true ensemble piece which has breathed an exciting new life into Grease. If you're thinking you've seen it before, think again - this show is a must-see.

Grease plays Milton Keynes Theatre all this week, and tickets are available at www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes 

Mind Manger - Milton Keynes Theatre
3rd - 5th June 

SGW caught up with the Mind Mangler himself... Henry Lewis. Check out the interview here!

The Syndicate - Milton Keynes Theatre
28th May - 1st June
Reviewed by Steven Gordon-Wilson

Kay Mellor’s The Syndicate has landed at Milton Keynes Theatre this week, with a fantastic star cast and a great story that’ll make you laugh, make you cry and make you think. It’s a tale of love, loss, morality and the lines between what’s right and wrong…

The show opens in a small town supermarket, threatened with closure, and staffed by a group of people at the end of their tether.  All of their prayers are answered when their lottery syndicate numbers come up and they scoop 24 million pounds…but, of course, there are problems to overcome.

Gaynor Faye plays the lottery rep, Kay, who arrives to work with the winners. She gives an impressive performance both on stage and off, as she also directed the play.  Samantha Giles gives a convincing performance as the ditzy Denise, and Brooke Vincent does an excellent job as the “baddy” of the piece!  It’s certainly an ensemble production with a well-balanced cast each telling their own part of the story.  By the end of the show, I was invested in the characters lives and was certainly left wanting to find out more about the next chapter of their lives…perhaps Gaynor Faye might be convinced to pick up the mantle as playwright and bring the next story to the stage… I’ll certainly be buying a ticket if she does.

As for this production, which plays Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, it’s well worth a visit if you’re looking for a couple of hours of fun and the theatre. Fans of the TV show won’t be disappointed either. Tickets available now at atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes