Shirley Valentine

Shirley Valentine, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2017.

Cast: Jodie Prenger

Writer: Willy Russell

Director: Glen Walford

My abiding memory off this is that there was cooking on stage. She definitely fried an egg - one benefit of the cheap seats is that you could see into the frying pan - perhaps she did the chips too? I think I liked it more than I was expecting to partly because I was probably older than the character so I could understand the disappointment she felt whereas when it first came out I'd just turned 20 and knew nothing.

The Play that goes Wrong

The Play that goes Wrong, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2017.

Cast: Graeme Rooney, Katie Bernstein, Patrick Warner, Jason Callender, Adam Byron, Edward Howells, Meg Mortell, Alastair Kirton, Natasha Culley, James Waterson, Helena Muir, Matthew Howell.

Writers: Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields

Director: Mark Bell

I hated this. Me and the fiend I went with sat in silence while everyone around us roared with laughter. I hate slapstick so I guess it was fairly stupid of me to go in the first place.

The Last Ship

The Last Ship, York Theatre Royal, 2018.

Cast: Richard Fleeshman, Joe McGann, Michael Blair, Matt Corner, Marvin Ford, Annie Grace, Katie Moore, Parisa Shahmir, James William-Pattison, Charlie Hardwick, Frances McNamee, Joe Caffrey, Susan Fay, Orla Gormley, Sean Kearns, Charlie Richmond, Kevin Wathen, Penelope Woodman,

Music & lyrics: Sting

Director & book writer: Lorne Campbell

I have a real soft spot for this and hope someone revives it before too long. There are several reasons: a fondness for Sting; knowing the concept album before I saw the show (which included The Unthanks); and a general love of all things north-east. I was lucky to see it in York at the tail end of the tour.