WORTH A LOOK?: ****
Madonna (Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona) chooses not to ape Hung Up, the all-conquering, chart-topping, ABBA-sampling banger that launched album Confessions On A Dancefloor 21 years ago.
Oscar winner Oldman (Apple’s Slow Horses) directs and stars in this monologue about a man on his 69th birthday who sits alone and listens to the echoes of his younger self. The play returns to the Royal Court where it ran in 1958 in this York Theatre Royal production. The run is sold out although tickets are available on Mondays. Runs 8 through 30 May 2026. Tickets
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: Tuesday 7 April, runs through 10 April 2026
Setlist: The Theatre; Will-o-the-Wisp; Two Divided By Zero; Jack The Lad; To Face The Truth; After The Event; Hit And Miss; Always; One In A Million/Mister Vain; Sexy Northerner; Young Offender; Through You; It Couldn’t Happen Here; Bet She’s Not Your Girlfriend; King Of Rome; King’s Cross; Love Is The Law; Why Don’t We Live Together?; The Performance Of My Life; Your Funny Uncle; The Way It Used To Be; Later Tonight; A Dream Of A Better Tomorrow
The international juggernaut that is the Dreamworld: The Greatest Hits Tour celebrates its 4th birthday next month while rolling on and Obscure is alternatively a run of 5 nights in this 1,500-capacity venue of B-sides, album tracks and fan favourites.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2
WHEN? Saturday 28 March, opens 31 March and runs through 25 April 2026 RUNTIME: 140 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
Author Tarell Alvin McCraney won the 2017 Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Moonlight and like that film Choir Boy is the story of a young black man struggling with his sexuality.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHEN? Saturday 21 March, opens 26 March and runs through 25 April 2026 RUNTIME: 105 minutes (no interval)
‘Well those rumours, they have big teeth, hope they bite you. Thought you said that you would always be in love but you’re not in love no more,’ sings Lorde on Green Light as modern day female high school students lip synch to it in an attempt to make sense of the situation they’re in.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: Saturday 14 March, opens 25 March and runs through 6 June 2026 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
Three-quarters of the way through this revival of a David Hare play with music which originally starred Helen Mirren its new star Rebecca Lucy Taylor, better known as Self Esteem, sits on the steps leading up to the stage and plays a new song she has written herself solo on the guitar as her character finds her voice.
By Neil Durham
WHEN? 16 May 2026 HOW TO WATCH? BBC1 in the UK at 8pm
WHERE? Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna
No Spain this year which is 1 of 5 countries to boycott 2026 because of Israel’s participation and it’s the UK’s Look Mum No Computer (pictured) which is giving us the most interesting entry of the pre-qualified finalists.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHEN?: Thursday 5 March 2026, tour runs through 22 August 2026
SETLIST: Achilles; The Last Time I Saw The Old Man; Rainy Sunday Afternoon; Norman and Norma; Your Daddy’s Car; Bang Goes The Knighthood; I Want You; A Lady Of A Certain Age; Songs Of Love; At The Indie Disco; Neapolitan Girl; Mar-a-Lago By The Sea; Bad Ambassador; I Like; The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter; Absent Friends; Becoming More Like Alfie; Generation Sex; National Express; Our Mutual Friend; Invisible Thread; Tonight We Fly
Rainy Sunday Afternoon is the title of the latest album by The Divine Comedy and it’s a thundery Thursday evening in Barcelona.
By Carron Stacey, A Humdrum Mum
WHEN? Friday 20 February through 3 May 2026
What better to blow away the wet cobwebs of this dingy start to the year than to experience Youth Sector?
WHEN?: Saturday 7 March 2025 7pm UK time WHERE TO WATCH? SVT
WHERE?: Strawberry Arena, Stockholm
Melodifestivalen cements its position as Eurovision’s greatest selection show with this 66th final that includes the return of 2 former winners, a boy/girl group reunited after more than 20 years apart, a novelty TV character and 1 song capable of winning in Vienna in May.
