The iconic 1963 film Summer Holiday, starring a young Cliff Richard, will have undoubtedly provided some relief to the rain-sodden Brits in the more than likely cold February of its release that year. In recent years, building on the success of the much-loved film, its story has found a new life on stage, having now been adapted into a musical. As I walked into the Leeds Grand Theatre, where I managed to catch it on its national tour, I looked forward to experiencing the summertime vibes the show promised to drench its audience with – I’m sure this would definitely make it the hottest summer we’ve had in England for a very long time…

Yorkshire based theatre company The Melting Shop claim to deliver ‘real stories that matter’ as part of their mission, and make it their goal to visit established theatre venues and communities that don’t have as much access to live theatre. Their latest offering is Ray Castleton’s new play On Behalf of the People, which premiered last year as part of the National Coal Mining Museum for England’s schedule of events to mark 70 years since the nationalisation of Britain’s coal mining industry. Having been a fan of the museum itself for quite some time, and always on the lookout for powerful, relevant pieces of theatre, I looked forward to catching the play on its stop at Halifax’s Square Chapel during its new tour.

Northern Broadsides Theatre Company has been around for quite some time. Its audiences are undoubtedly full of loyal fans that first began following them back when Barrie Rutter formed the company as an answer to the lack of regional voices performing classical and extant texts. In a bid to engage with new fans, the Broadsides have been commissioning new writing and adaptations of classic literary works. The latter is their latest offering, in the form Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s Hard Times, under the direction of Conrad Nelson.

Paula Hawkins’ novel The Girl on the Train regularly sits atop worldwide bestseller lists, and since its publication in 2015, has embarked on an even greater journey to well and truly cement itself in popular culture as an unforgettable thriller. This journey began with its adaptation to film in 2016, which brought it to even wider audiences; the next logical step in this journey was a theatre adaptation. Over three years since the novel’s publication, the West Yorkshire Playhouse has taken on the task, with a new adaptation by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel, prior to its imminent closure for major refurbishment.

In recent years, Jez Butterworth’s plays, particularly Jerusalem and The Ferryman, have been causing a real stir in British theatre and cementing his status as a true stalwart of contemporary drama. Sitting in between these two plays is his dark, haunting drama The River, and luckily, I got the opportunity to review York-based company Wildgoose Theatre’s latest production of it.