★★★★★ This was a special night at the Old Vic – utterly vindicating BOV Artistic Director Tom Morris’s decision to bring this Blood of the Young production to Bristol. “There is nothing as thrilling as… people who can say new things in new ways and startle the rest of us into a new way of understanding our world.” Amen

★★★☆☆ Told by Nell and Oscar the action rolls over a 400 year period, with each character popping up on the same Dorset beach.  Annabel Baldwin as Oscar is a recent graduate, bounding around in a puppy like state; a would-be poet and swimmer . . .

★★★★★ Unicorns, Almost tells the story of Keith Douglas, an almost unknown poet who fought on the Western desert as a tank commander and was killed three days after the D-Day landings aged just 24 . . . packs a punch as heavy as a kitbag and we learn that there is more to be said about war after all.

★★★☆☆ Emma Rice has taken the fundamental components from Blyton’s Malory Towers stories, blended them with some great music and created this new adaptation as a summer treat for the audiences at Brunel’s old railway station. . . .The acting is spirited; the songs are impressive and in abundance; rousing and sensitive in turns. This striking show is lashings of fun and sure to be popular during the school holidays.

★★★★☆ Summer Rolls, like the dish, reveals more than is suggested at first bite. It is in fact a fascinating insight into a family’s struggles with identity. Although the themes covered are ambitious, it is fantastic that the voice of the Vietnamese community is at last heard in UK theatres.