Hot, hot, hot is the only way to describe this show! Based on the 1994 cult classic film, this musical is a jukebox joyride and a surprisingly tender road story. We are introduced to two drag queens and a trans woman who, for reasons that later become apparent, trek across the Australian desert to perform at a small-town holiday resort.

The countdown is on for Ripon's fabulous Theatre Festival, which opens its milestone fifth season this coming weekend and runs until July 12 — and this year's programme promises something for everyone, from folklore on the riverbank to a thought-provoking journey into the past.

Harrogate residents stepped into the spotlight at the weekend as local people aged 60 and took over the stage in a new production built from their own memories, experiences and stories. As arts correspondent, Fiona Bennett found out at the weekend, Sinfonia: Stories from Harrogate, presented by The Performance Ensemble at Harrogate Theatre, was a big hit.

Next month, the transept of Ripon Cathedral will come to life with a 1723 plea for freedom, written by an anonymous enslaved Virginian and almost certainly addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury himself. The story behind its rediscovery is, in its own way, as remarkable as the play it inspired.

Do you want the good news, or the bad news? Let’s start with the positive. Theatre audiences in the UK are up on pre-Covid levels. The downside is the number of new plays has plummeted. A report published last autumn by the British Theatre Consortium found that attendances were up in 2023 compared to 2019, but there were 30 per cent fewer plays opening during the same period.

Following a pilot programme from 2024-25, Leeds Heritage Theatres has announced it is working with acclaimed writer, rapper and beatboxer Testament as Associate Artist – a programme designed to support and champion creative talent across Leeds and the wider region.

She's the cabaret siren, bringing a blaze of Broadway glamour, old Hollywood shimmer and flame-haired icons to Ripon – and she cannot, she insists, do a show without funny bones. There is a particular kind of performer who walks into a room and instantly rearranges its atmosphere. Amber Topaz is one of those.

Manky medicine, murky monarchs, toe curling tortures and 3d glasses that promise to make you scream in your seat, were at the heart of the Horrible Histories stage show this evening, and what a ghoulish triumph it turned out to be!

Kynren – The Storied Lands has joined forces with the world-renowned BBC Concert Orchestra to record original music for two major new shows opening this summer at the UK’s first live-action show park in County Durham.

Theatre by the Lake presents the world premiere of a brand-new play The Farmer’s Wife inspired by Helen Rebanks’ best-selling memoir and shaped by the voices of women within Cumbria’s farming community.

Awkward Prods, the company behind Gwyneth Goes Skiing and Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story, arrives at Hull's Truck Theatre, on Thursday 11 June with The Fit Prince — a romcom parody whose full title runs to a deliberately ridiculous twenty-three words and gently mocks every Hallmark holiday film ever made.

In the Studio Theatre at the York Theatre Royal, Badapple’s Crumbs proves that you do not need a sprawling cast or elaborate sets to create an entertaining evening. Written by Kate Bramley, her 27th original script for Badapple, this eccentric one-woman show is packed with energy, creativity and quick-fire jokes.

I must have had my own blonde moment when the highly acclaimed Legally Blonde film with Reese Witherspoon hit our screens in 2021, grossing 142 million dollars worldwide and shaping fashion trends. Determined not to let the 2026 stage production pass me by, I was at the front of the queue for the upbeat romantic comedy and its timeless appeal.

Based upon the life and ambitions of a real-life American showman, Phineas Taylor Barnum, Barnum has been entertaining audiences since the early 1980’s, when the role of Barnum was played by Michael Crawford, of the Some Mothers do have ‘em fame.

The week-long festival features student-led performances alongside professional shows, workshops and community activities. Student showcases include murder mystery, verbatim theatre on sex work, a period musical set in 1923 Soho, and a convict ship drama — with age guidance of 16+ on some productions.

What a fabulous show! An improbable subject for a musical but Operation Mincemeat is a true story about real people and actual events that shaped the outcome of the second World War. Penned by David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoe Roberts on behalf of Spitlip, the music and lyrics are refreshingly both catchy and intelligent.

I wouldn’t say that I have quite been made to eat humble pie but Waitress, the musical with all the winning ingredients of a Sara Lee cheesecake, is so much sweeter these days!