★★★☆☆ Perhaps I’m a blackened sinner or just plain naïve, but a play billed as a risqué Roman sex comedy, came across to me as full of charming, childish fun . . . You leave the theatre smiling, and that’s an outcome worth more than rubies in these politically challenged day

★★★☆☆ The title suggested a new take on Moliere by Hull born writer Richard Bean – who came to the fame with Made in Dagenham and One Man, Two Guvnors. There are similarities, but this is bawdy, full-throttle farce with a leading character who delights in openly demonstrating the way he plays one side against the other . . . There’s a great comedy here struggling to get out: meanwhile the irreverence, energy and zest of this production still leaves you smiling.

★★★☆☆ As the name suggests: the relationship between the title characters is key to the play. When as in this production it fails to ignite, when history’s first great love celebrities seem like strangers, 2 hrs 55 mins can seem a very long time. Never, however, when Josette Simon’s captivating Cleopatra is frolicking on stage.

★★★★☆ Where else could Boris reach for a historical parallel when politically carved up on the way to No.10? Here it is Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in a riveting, memorable production, based on 2,000 year old history as interpreted 400 years ago, to provide an eternally relevant treatise upon power and its abuse.

★★★☆☆ The time is now, the place is a remote Chinese factory town. A metallic café stage setting with two landings, flashes and throbs with digital lighting and percussive music. But the action played out assumes the co-existence of an eternal spirit world, alongside the Chinese capitalist take on communism.