Theatre in Wales in 2022 was a mixed bag of returning stage favourites (Rocky Horror, Les Miserables), popular jukebox musicals (Bat Out Of Hell, The Cher Show) and fresh homegrown productions (The Making Of A Monster, Circle Of Fifths). These, however, are the very best of the best this year, as decided by our reviewers.
THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW
New Theatre, Cardiff, Mon 7 Feb
A rainy Monday in February didn’t deter Cardiff’s Transylvanians from dressing up in their best fishnets and corsets. Yes, The Rocky Horror Show is back in town at the New Theatre for the Welsh leg of its UK live tour.
You might wonder what more can be said about this institution – surely everyone old and interested enough has seen it by now. For my part, it still feels surprising when queer adults are seeing it for the first time (full disclosure: this was my seventh).
words CHRIS WILLIAMS – read the full review here
IN PURSUIT OF MAUD
Insole Court, Cardiff, Tue 15 Feb
In Caroline Sabin’s intimate production In Pursuit Of Maud, both the audience and I were delighted at Insole Court in Cardiff by Rowan Talbot’s brilliant performance as the strange but very talented Igor. Igor is an assistant to one of the greatest mad scientists in the world, Maud. But now he’s racing across the country, desperate to find his mistress, whose body ran off without its brain after an experiment went horribly, horribly wrong.
words JAMES REYNOLDS – read the full review here
THE GIRL WHO COULDN’T PRETEND
Pontardawe Arts Centre, Wed 23 Feb
Theatre favourites Flossy & Boo are in the middle of their first tour back on stage after all the “kerfuffle” of the last two years, and how welcome their vibrant performances and charming personalities are. Written for 2-8-year-olds, The Girl Who Couldn’t Pretend is the ideal return to the land of pure imagination that these fantastic performers are able to conjure up with such ease.
words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES – read the full review here
MATTHEW BOURNE’S NUTCRACKER!
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Tue 22 Mar
You don’t go to a Matthew Bourne show to see a traditional interpretation of a classical ballet and his Nutcracker! is no different. After seeing six of his shows now, I truly believe Bourne is a master of his craft. Just like his modernised versions of Swan Lake and Romeo & Juliet, although this version hasn’t been onstage for a decade – and celebrates its 30th birthday this year – Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! is a breath of fresh, sugary sweet air.
words CHRIS WILLIAMS – read the full review here
DREAMGIRLS
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Tue 19 Apr
Dreamgirls is one of those rare musicals with which I’m not massively familiar: I’ve watched the film version but that’s about it. Better known in the US – opening on Broadway in 1981, it played for nearly four years and won several Tonys – the musical didn’t come to Britain until its 2016 run in the West End. Now that Olivier-winning production is touring, currently playing in the Wales Millennium Centre.
words CHRIS WILLIAMS – read the full review here
SIX
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Tue 3 May
Before Six became the huge musical hit that it is, you’d imagine a musical about Henry VIII’s wives would be quite a staid affair. Currently in Cardiff Bay, this musical by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss is as modern a piece as you can get: this is not Hilary Mantel’s Tudor Queens.
words CHRIS WILLIAMS – read the full review here
WAITRESS
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Tue 31 May
From successful indie movie to smash Broadway and West End musical, with music and lyrics by singer-songwriter Sars Bareilles, and now on its first UK tour, Waitress is serving up a slice of musical-theatre pie in Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre.
words CHRIS WILLIAMS – read the full review here
THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Mon 13 June
Have you ever been to a theatre production that made you laugh so hard you started crying? If not, then go see Mischief Theatre’s much-loved meta-comedy The Play That Goes Wrong at the Wales Millennium Centre.
words CHLOE SUMMERS – read the full review here
CIRCLE OF FIFTHS
Dance House, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Wed 22 June
Grief is almost always complex in our culture. The English language doesn’t have the words we need to express how painful loss is, how much we feel for the family members left behind or what it’s like to have love to give to someone who isn’t there to receive it. Taking you through the traditions of a Butetown funeral, National Theatre Wales’ latest production Circle Of Fifths explores art’s role in making up for this lack in our language. It is a celebration of the healing power of music, storytelling, and community.
words HARI BERROW – read the full review here
THE LION KING
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Tue 12 July
I’ve seen a lot of musicals in my time, brilliant and mundane. Few, however, rival the majesty of Disney’s late-90s live take on The Lion King, the UK and Ireland tour of which has just opened in Cardiff Bay at the Wales Millenium Centre for a three-month stint this summer. Maybe it’s the nostalgia or the songs of Elton John and Tim Rice; even just Hans Zimmer’s orchestral music is enough to lose me. What has never been denied in this performance is the breathtaking amount of effort which has gone into it.
words JAMES ELLIS – read the full review here
THE CHER SHOW
New Theatre, Cardiff, Tue 23 Aug
When was the first time you became aware of Cher? For me, it was a VHS tape of classic Scooby-Doo episodes that included a guest appearance from Sonny and Cher. The next time I encountered her was through music TV channels: autotune karaoke fave Believe and pleather party anthem Turn Back Time. By the time of her turn in Burlesque, one of the best-worst movie musicals of all time, I was totally enamoured and mystified by her: who and what is Cher? Cartoon celebrity? LGBTQ idol? Hollywood dame? Cher is all those things and a hell of a lot more, bitches.
words HANNAH COLLINS – read the full review here
FRIENDSICAL
New Theatre, Cardiff, Thu 8 Sept
Based on the cult American TV series of the 90s/00s, the currently touring production of Friendsical in the UK blends comedy and music in the most amusing of ways. Friends was, and still is thanks to streaming, known by fans everywhere for its hilarious but troublesome insights into adult life via the captivating misadventures of its core New York-based cast. Transitioning the show from television to stage for this particular production was exhilarating to watch as a spectator. As a fan (albeit less hardcore than some) of the original, I had high expectations that this would be good, and I’m pleased to say it exceeded them hugely.
words MEG EVANS – read the full review here
BAT OUT OF HELL
New Theatre, Cardiff, Tue 27 Sept
If you are going to do anything this year, you absolutely need to see Bat Out Of Hell. A non-stop thrill ride that renders you physically breathless by the interval, it is certainly a show that cannot be missed. The show is a loose retelling of Peter Pan, following 18-year-old Raven (Martha Kirby); she wishes to join the Lost, a gang of rebellious outcasts who will remain 18 forever.
words RHIANNON FARR – read the full review here
AN INSPECTOR CALLS
New Theatre, Cardiff, Tue 18 Oct
J.B. Priestley’s 20th-century masterpiece An Inspector Calls has been brought back to the stage and is as poignant as it always has been. A social commentary on class and labour divisions in the early 1900s, the Inspector Goole of its title informs the upper-class Birling family of a young working-class woman’s suicide, and their shared implication in the event. The play took me right back to my GCSE English literature lessons, and it seemed the number of school groups in attendance at Cardiff’s New Theatre felt the same.
words RHIANNON FARR – read the full review here
THE GODS ARE ALL HERE
Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, Thurs 20 Oct
None of us are free
None of us are free
None of us are free one of us in chains
None of us are free
The Gods Are All Here’s Phil Okwedy sings as he enters the stage – a surreal space designed by Molara Adesigbin, with beautiful, pale wall hangings and vast images of times gone by. The space fizzes with unfamiliar energy. Unfamiliar because Okwedy is unassuming, but his presence is immense and impossible to ignore.
words HARI BERROW – read the full review here
THE TRIAL OF ELGAN JONES
Dylan Thomas Theatre, Swansea, Wed 19 Oct
“All rise!”
In The Trial Of Elgan Jones, you are the jury in the case of 14-year-old Elgan, a young man accused of poaching, theft and murder. Aimed at audiences across the Key Stages, the show allows children and young people the opportunity to learn about Victorian history, the justice system, and emotional and interpersonal intelligence. Theatr na nÓg gave Buzz the opportunity to attend a showing of the play for industry professionals and educators, so I didn’t get the opportunity to see young people’s responses to the show, but I did get a chance to enjoy the show for myself.
words HARI BERROW – read the full review here
THE MAKING OF A MONSTER
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Thurs 10 Nov
Grime and theatre may be two worlds which rarely if ever meet, but Connor Allen does the job so well in his debut production The Making Of A Monster, it made me hungry for more of the winning combo. Showing at Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre, the story is based around Connor’s childhood experiences in Newport: singled out at school for being mixed-race, and with an absent father.
words INDIA MUNDAY – read the full review here
TALES OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM
Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, Wed 30 Nov
Whilst I, a 23-year-old with no one under the age of 18 in my life, am by no means the target audience for this Sherman Theatre production, Tales Of The Brothers Grimm really made an impression on me. I found myself entering the theatre slightly cynical at the prospect of watching a festive musical aimed at children before December had even begun, but I left humming the original songs, discussing the clever set design and marvelling at just how richly talented the diverse cast of performers were.
words ELIZABETH MORRIS – read the full review here
THE LION, THE B!TCH AND THE WARDROBE
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Wed 14 Dec
After a successful, but unfortunately shortened, debut run last year, the team behind XXXmas Carol are back with another festive favourite in Cardiff Bay: The Lion, The B!tch And The Wardrobe. If Les Misérables taking over the Donald Gordon Theatre doesn’t tickle your festive fancy, Polly Amorous and company are back in the WMC Weston Studio with an irreverent take on another Christmas classic – Father Christmas himself even turns up in the original book.
words CHRIS WILLIAMS – read the full review here
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