THEATRE REVIEW: Cats starring Melanie La Barrie & Gary Wilmot at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Saturday 1 August (matinee), opens 6 August and runs through 12 September 2026 RUNTIME: 135 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

It’s the extraordinarily moving song Memory – sample lyric: ‘I remember the time I knew what happiness was, let the Memory live again’ – which elevates this Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on T.S. Eliot’s poems in Old Possum’s Book Of Practical Cats.

  • Read on for reasons including how to see this show on tour around the UK after this run
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Same Sun/Same Sky by The Darling Buds (August 2026)

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

Tracklist: Hey Saint Jude; Intruder; Oh No You Don’t; Lost Time; Jump In; Giddy In A Good Way; Cut Me Dead; Cast A Stone; Pretenders; Paper Planes; Leaving The Scene; Pollyanna Says

Same Sun/Same Sky is the 1st new album for 34 years by The Darling Buds and it draws on the best of the many styles of the band’s 1st trio of LPs to underline why they were so underrated.

  • Read on for reasons including if you’ve ever loved the band, Same Sun/Same Sky should definitely shine for you
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THEATRE REVIEW: How The Other Half Loves at the Old Vic starring Roger Allam

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Wednesday 29 July, opens 11 August and runs through 19 September 2026 RUNTIME: 180 minutes (with a 20-minute interval but aiming for 150 minutes)

Olivier Award-winner Roger Allam (A Number, Bridge Theatre) is the hilarious best reason to see this farce as bumbling businessman Frank Foster who fails to realise his wife is cheating on him.

  • Read on for reasons including how this timely production could ride the crest of the wave as a whole new audience discovers its writer’s genius
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THEATRE REVIEW: Cleansed starring Pearl Chanda, Jack Riddiford, Stuart Thompson & Leo Bill at the Almeida Theatre

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN? Friday 24 July, opens 29 July and runs through 29 August 2026 RUNTIME: 100 minutes (no interval)

Our performance is stopped almost midway through for what was described as ‘a 1st aid front of house incident’ and we imagine it was in response to the spurting blood as a character’s tongue is cut off.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is exactly the sort of play that can remind about the power of theatre to change its audience
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FILM OF THE MONTH: Heartstopper Forever starring Kit Connor & Joe Locke (July 2026)

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *** RUNTIME: 114 minutes

‘Everyone says teenage relationships don’t last’ characters say to each other repeatedly in the apparent conclusion to this groundbreaking series seemingly foreshadowing its imminent Netflix demise.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is a rushed goodbye rather than the 1 such a groundbreaking piece of TV and film deserves
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Oresteia starring Rosie Sheehy, Mary-Louise Parker, Tom Glynn-Carney & David Morrissey at the Bridge Theatre

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Monday 20 July and runs through 19 September 2026 RUNTIME: 215 minutes (including 2 15-minute intervals)

Can a play ever be too long?

  • Read on for reasons including how thanks to its fantastic cast this is 1 of the best revivals of the year so far
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THEATRE REVIEW: Jesus Christ Superstar starring Sam Ryder, Tyrone Huntley, Desmonda Cathabel & Richard Armitage at London Palladium

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Saturday 18 July, and runs through 5 September 2026. Transfers to Theatre Royal Drury Lane 16 October through 9 January 2027. Tickets Also UK tour 11 February 2027 through 23 October 2027 RUNTIME: 125 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

The summer success of last year’s Olivier Award-winning EVITA! perhaps made this resurrection of a recent Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production of an Andrew Lloyd Webber classic an obvious choice as follow up.

  • Read on for reasons including how Ryder gives so much vocally it may be unsustainable 8 shows a week
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THEATRE REVIEW: Hit Machine starring Noah Galvin, Josh Radnor & Khalil Madovi at Soho Theatre

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By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN? Thursday 16 July and runs through 15 August 2026 RUNTIME: 75 minutes (without interval)

Galvin (pictured above left) makes his London theatre debut while his husband Ben Platt is about to open across town in new musical Midnight At The Never Get at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

  • Read on for reasons including how Hit Machine is smart, funny and bursting with songs
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FIRST LOOK THEATRE: Midnight At The Never Get starring Ben Platt at the Menier Chocolate Factory

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: Awards potential

WHEN? Monday 13 July, opens 20 July and runs through 12 September 2026 RUNTIME: 100 minutes (no interval)

As this musical reaches its conclusion we can hear sniffing, stifled sobbing and crying around our front row seat showing the work’s immediate emotional impact.

  • Read on for reasons including Midnight At The Never Get will make you think, make you laugh and make you cry
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GIG REVIEW: David Byrne & Ezra Collective at Cruilla Festival, Barcelona

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN? Friday 10 July, festival runs through 11 July 2026

Former Talking Heads frontman Byrne is 1 of the headliners at Latitude Festival in a fortnight and this is simply 1 of the best gigs we’ve ever seen.

  • Read on for reasons including how Byrne revels in taking part in the complex choreographed dance routines that enhance each song
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