Not Exactly Billington

Leicester-based theatre blog. We've been writing about the arts in Leicester and around the UK since 2012.
Reviews by Adam and Jasmine

[Not Exactly Billington @NoBillington]

New Review: Willy Russell's Blood Brothers on tour @CurveLeicester builds on 40 years of its own performance history
📸Jack Merriman
https://t.co/Q5NHD7yL1R

[Not Exactly Billington @NoBillington]

New Review: Ned Bennett's production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is strikingly different and has an identity of its own while maintaining the spirit of Haddon’s novel @CurveLeicester and on tour
📸Johan Persson
https://t.co/iVGNH6jHM4

[Not Exactly Billington @NoBillington]

New Review: In Cara Nolan's production of Educating Rita @CurveLeicester, Willy Russell’s language, humour and call for the importance of education is as fresh and persuasive as ever
📸Jonathan Pryke
https://t.co/s4pm8TJw4f

[Not Exactly Billington @NoBillington]

New Review: Beverley Knight and Naomi Katiyo star in Sylvia: A Musical Revolution @CurveLeicester and on tour, one of the most exciting new British musicals in years
📸Tristram Kenton
https://t.co/PdKbCKQ5NB

[Not Exactly Billington @NoBillington]

Review: Now in its final week, Beth Steel's masterpiece Till the Stars Come Down @NottmPlayhouse brings the play home in a suitably rowdy production which isn’t afraid to get cheek-by-jowl with the audience
📸Sam Taylor
https://t.co/gNkxPr89Rf

[Not Exactly Billington @NoBillington]

New Review: Matt Rawle is all charm portraying Barnum’s inexhaustible zest for life in the Watermill Theatre's production of Barnum on tour @CurveLeicester
📸Pamela Raith
https://t.co/sfOs9mkZjm

[Not Exactly Billington @NoBillington]

New Review: Gina Gionfriddo's stage adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs @CurveLeicester smartly places the focus on Clarice in a cinematic production with two compelling central performances
📸Marc Brenner
https://t.co/tBHBcCRANB

[Not Exactly Billington @NoBillington]

New Review: Gina Gionfriddo's stage adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs @CurveLeicester smartly places the focus on Clarice in a cinematic production with two compelling central performances
📸Marc Brenner
https://t.co/tBHBcCRANB

[Not Exactly Billington @NoBillington]

New Review: Ten years on, Sarah Bareilles and Jessie Nelson’s @WaitressUK still has its pie and eats it @CurveLeicester
📸Matt Crockett
https://t.co/m2JMg4i5FB

[Not Exactly Billington @NoBillington]

New Review: Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party on tour @CurveLeicester: a highly polished revival featuring some knock out performances that highlight the resonance of Leigh’s themes
📸Ellie Kurttz
https://t.co/ptqtD4UHXR

[Not Exactly Billington @NoBillington]

New Review: Hannah Sands, Kyla Stroud, Natalie Stroud and Olivia Zacharia's new musical Public is a promising four-hander about Gen-Zs navigating their identities and discovering their purpose in life @CurveLeicester

📸Mark Senior

https://t.co/1kAqOiKmyE

[Paul Chuckle @PaulChuckle2]

Well who'd have thought it .. me @NationalTheatre as Mr Boo in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice alongside @JillHalfPenny and @FrannMills , its going to be amazing and I'm really looking forward to it 😀

@PhilPdale #nationaltheatre

[Variety @Variety]

#TonyAwards: Best Play Nominations

“The Balusters”
“Giant”
“Liberation”
“Little Bear Ridge Road”

https://t.co/SVRleqNhPu

[Concord Theatricals @ConcordShows]

Major congratulations to Bess Wohl for winning the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Drama for her play Liberation! ✨ We are thrilled to have this provocative, funny and moving work in our catalog.

From the @pulitzerprizes citation: “A striking blend of comedy and sincerity that explores the legacy of the consciousness-raising feminist groups of the 1970s, using the story of the playwright’s mother to demonstrate how the movement grew out of conversation, and that anyone experiencing the play has joined the discussion.”

Learn more at https://t.co/d4e4AY39Ai.

[Not Exactly Billington @NoBillington]

New Review: Ray Davies' and Joe Penhall's 2014 musical Sunny Afternoon @KinksMusical now on tour @CurveLeicester evokes the hard rock sound and specifically English energy of The Kinks
📸Manuel Harlan
https://t.co/OhoETkfj9G

[Curve @CurveLeicester]

Scrumdiddlyumptious news!

We’re so excited to announce CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY as our #MadeAtCurve Christmas production this year.

[Carl Woodward @mrcarl_woodward]

Carrie Cracknell’s production of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia transfers to the West End - runs 9 Jun until 13 Sep x

[Not Exactly Billington @NoBillington]

Faultless performances command Paul Foster’s revival of Kander and Ebb’s Kiss of the Spider Woman @CurveLeicester. The production effortlessly juxtaposes ‘glamour and grime’ in bringing Puig’s tale of unlikely love to a new audience.

https://t.co/hUsKf0UD8C
📷: Marc Brenner

[Not Exactly Billington @NoBillington]

25 years on from its premiere, Mamma Mia! on tour @CurveLeicester remains a tonic https://t.co/742WDJtnIm

[Nottingham Playhouse @NottmPlayhouse]

🎉 WINNER 🎉
We are thrilled that #Punch has been named Best New Play at the @CCTheatreUK

Commissioned by Adam Penford, written by James Graham and designed by Anna Fleischle, #Punch has been on an extraordinary journey. From its world premiere in 2024 at Nottingham Playhouse to a sell-out at the Young Vic and then simultaneous runs in the West End and on Broadway, this powerful play has moved people to tears and initiated much needed conversations.

With thanks to the brilliant creatives, cast and London producers KPPL Productions, Mark Gordon Pictures and Eilene Davidson Productions in association with the Young Vic Theatre and Nica Burns.

Our deepest thanks to Joan Scourfield, David Hodgkinson and Jacob Dunne for allowing us the privilege of sharing their story.
Punch is dedicated to James Hodgkinson and all victims of one-punch.