Bristol Theatre News, Reviews & What's On | Backstage Bristol

The Crawl - Loco Klub
2026-05-18 | Loco Klub, BS1 6QH
In this splash-hit comedy performance, two swimmers go head-to-head in the race of a lifetime – on a stage with no water.
Told through physical storytelling, The Crawl dives into a world of absurd rivalry, exploring what it really means to win.

Bassekou Kouyate & Amy Sacko - The Jam Jar
2026-05-16 | The Jam Jar, BS2 9EB
From Mali, legendary musician and ngoni master Bassekou Kouyate tours the UK for the first time as a duo with his wife, the revered griot singer and exceptional vocalist Amy Sacko following the release of Djudjon, L’Oiseau de Garana (2024), their first chart-topping album together.
Connecting past and present, this will be a unique, intimate and extraordinary opportunity to experience a performance that reaches to the very heart of Mali – deeply personal, expressive, chamber-style that promises a rare closeness between artists and audience, a space where each note and lyric resonates deeply.

Ensembles - Circomedia’s Second-Year Degree Students
2026-05-15 - 2026-05-16 | Circomedia, BS2 8SJ
Ensembles Presented by Circomedia’s Second-Year Degree Students.
Devised by Circomedia’s second year degree students, Ensembles celebrates the idea of working collaboratively to create a performance about complicity. The performance reveals themes of synchronicity, discovery and commonality. The process of devising combines contemporary trends in circus and physical theatre with whimsy, ingenuity and daring.
Featured Image: Circomedia

One Breath Before The End - Alma Tavern Theatre
2026-05-13 - 2026-05-16 | Alma Tavern Theatre, BS8 2HY
“Can’t Wait To Leave”.
“It’s always been the end.” The sky’s on fire and everything’s falling apart. Out of options, inseparable trio Ash, Oliver, and Kieron have retreated to their old childhood hangout to figure out what the plan is – or whether there’s even one at all. That’s until Phoebe turns up. Wanting to talk. Wanting connection. Wanting forgiveness. As the hours tick down, old grudges are unearthed and tempers flare as the group struggle to come to terms with the decade-long fallout of an event that drove them apart. If all you had was one night, do you think you could make things right again?

Philosopy of The World - Weston Studio of Bristol Old Vic
2026-05-13 - 2026-05-16 | The Weston Studio BOV, BS1 4ED
In Bed With My Brother brings Philosophy of the World to The Weston Studio.
It’s inspired by The Shaggs with the show named after their 1969 ‘best word album of all time’.
It’s about power, patriarchy and band t shirts. But mainly about dads.
It features questionable mime, high-intensity dance sequences, cheap wigs, jump scares and a well-trained actor.

Bristol Pride presents: SMOKE - The Wardrobe Theatre
2026-05-12 | The Wardrobe Theatre, BS2 0DF
Theatre-maker Alexis Gregory is out on tour this spring with SMOKE. It’s a daring piece of theatre written by Gregory which he will also be performing. The show confronts the hardest issues facing the queer community head on.
Alex receives an Instagram message from his boyfriend. But his boyfriend has been dead for two years.
The two-part show is a fast-paced thriller which follows Alex’s desperate search for the truth in the digital era. It takes him through grief, psychosis and drug use.
The show is performed with the house lights up, dispensing with theatre’s traditional ‘theatrical frame’.
Folloing the performance, organisation You Are Loved, will host a curated 45 minute panel discussion. This will be unique to each city and create a safe space for collective reflection.
Featured Image: Tyler Kelly

Liberace and Liza - Tobacco Factory Theatres
2026-05-10 | Tobacco Factory Theatres, BS3 1TF
Liberace & Liza Minnelli never performed together, but that didn’t stop David Saffert & Jillian Snow from creating this wildly successful mashup of two over-the-top icons.
Saffert’s dizzying piano skills and Snow’s powerhouse belt team up in Cabaret, New York, New York, Over the Rainbow to surprise covers by Lady Gaga and Britney Spears. There are as many laughs as there are sequins when their Liberace & Liza take hilarious (and sometimes mischievous) turns vying for the spotlight. No matter what, they both come out winning and audiences are left in awe, humming and quoting a night they’ll not soon forget.

Final Major Projects - Presented by Circomedia’s Third-Year Degree Students
2026-05-07 - 2026-05-08, 2026-05-01 - 2026-05-02 | Circomedia, BS2 8SJ
Join Circomedia over four nights to experience a mini-festival of new works presented by the graduating students from their degree programme!
With a selection of different acts each night, this is a fantastic opportunity to support and celebrate the circus artists of the future as they showcase their circus and performance skills.
Featured Image: Bea Blade

Blodwen Rocks the Boat - Blakehay Theatre
2026-05-06 | Blakehay Theatre, BS23 1JZ
What happens when your dream job turns into a dead end – and your escape plan involves a boat? Meet Blodwen: Welsh, wide-eyed, and wondering what the hell happened.
With original songs, sharp comedy and a big heart, Blodwen Rocks the Boat follows one woman’s hilarious journey from burnout to breakthrough.

Created and performed by Emily Davis – a Welsh singer and actor who’s taken her signature character, Blodwen, to stages across the UK – the show is a joyful, satirical, and uplifting hour of musical mischief.

A Noise Annoys - The Wardrobe Theatre
2026-05-03 | The Wardrobe Theatre, BS2 0DF
Jude Simpson brings an hour of uplifting playful poetry, witty wordplay and silly songs to children in Bristol this May.
A Noise Annoys was recently nominated for Best Kids Show at Leicester Comedy Festival early this year.
It’s been described by audiences as “fantastically funny”.
She’s performed with the much-loved Michael Rosen in the past, who called her work “funny” and “sharp” as well as her being a “terrific performer”.
Youngsters can expect songs celebrating peanut butter sandwiches, tongue twisters about naming a pet badger, alongside a lot of joy and nonsense.
“I just want people to enjoy themselves and have a laugh together, but if they go away feeling inspired to play with words, then my mission is complete,” Jude says.
The show, which comes to The Wardrobe Theatre, is aimed at children aged 5 years upwards with their families.

The Everly Pregnant Brothers - The Exchange
2026-05-03 | The Exchange, BS2 0EJ
Pete McKee will be coming to The Exchange in Bristol with exhibition The Boy With A Leg Named Brian and a live evening performance with his band The Everly Pregnant Brothers.

The ukulele band are well known for their comedic parodies of popular songs.

During the day, the exhibition will be free to attend.

In the evening there will be ticketed live show.

The Festival - Spielman Theatre of Tobacco Factory Theatres
2026-05-02 - 2026-05-03 | Spielman Theatre, BS3 1TF
The University of Bristol’s Drama Society brings a new play by Mim Clements to the Spielman Theatre this May.
Ten strangers meet at a folk festival on a windswept cliff in Devon. Under canvas and surrounded by music, light and dancing, Pip is hiding from her past, humming just beneath the waves, Reuben is learning how to find joy in distance, and Mr Leroy is watching his famous stories slip out of his grasp. Ceilidhs, cliff-top conversations, sleep-deprived laughter, and lots of bunting are the backdrop for this musing on nature, connection, and collective experiences.
The Festival asks what it means to feel deeply, dance joyfully and what makes festivals such magical places.

Free Circus in St. Paul’s - Portland Square
2026-05-02 | Circomedia, BS2 8SJ
Circus in St. Paul’s – Presented in partnership with Diverse Artists Network as part of Diaspora!
The free and unticketed drop-in event at Portland Square, will see participatory circus and performance workshops and shows and Caribbean food, music and more.
Aimed at ages 3 – 12 and their grown-ups
Location: Portland Square, outside St. Paul’s Church, BS2 8SJ
Head to Portland Square this Early May Bank Holiday weekend for a fantastic, diaspora-led day of free, family friendly activities.
The day is being organised in partnership with Aid Box Community and will be led by, with and for people for Bristol’s wider diaspora community.
Featured Image: Circomedia

The Diverse Artists Network (DAN) - DIASPORA!
2026-05-01 - 2026-05-10 | Festival
The Diverse Artists Network (DAN) brings DIASPORA! back to Bristol once again.
The not-for-profit festival takes place in venues across Bristol and the South West region this May.
The even celebrates cultural diversity, community and creativity from international communities.
Events will include everything from films and exhibitions to talks, performances, theatre and online events.

Coulrophobia - Tobacco Factory Theatres
2026-04-30 - 2026-05-02 | Tobacco Factory Theatres, BS3 1TF
TWO CLOWNS TRAPPED IN A CARDBOARD WORLD…
Take your seat, relax but don’t get too comfortable. Coulrophobia (fear of clowns) is 80 minutes of brilliant slapstick, mime, puppetry, existential angst and big shoes.
Dik and Adam are Clowns! They couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag, let alone a surreal cardboard world. Why are they there and what are they supposed to be doing? They know something sinister is afoot and they need to get out before it’s too late. Join them on a hysterical and sometimes terrifying quest for a more meaningful existence.
With enough subversive humour to please the most hardened cynic, Coulrophobia glides seamlessly from sinister to touching, from ridiculous to outright hilarious. A high energy, anarchic, roller coaster of a clown / puppet show that has been a sell-out hit at festivals in Portugal, Holland, Norway, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, Romania, Finland and the UK.

Final Major Projects 2026 - Circomedia
2026-04-30 - 2026-05-02 | Circomedia, BS2 8SJ
Join us over three nights to experience a mini-festival of new works presented by the graduating students from Circomedia’s degree programme!
With a selection of different acts each night, this is a fantastic opportunity to support and celebrate the circus artists of the future as they showcase their circus and performance skills.

Kiss Of The Spider Woman - Bristol Old Vic
2026-04-29 - 2026-05-16 | Bristol Old Vic, BS1 4ED
Curve, Bristol Old Vic and Mayflower Southampton have come together for a co-production of Kiss Of The Spider Woman.
It stars Layton Williams, George Blagden and Anna-Jane Casey.
The Kander and Ebb musical is based on Manuel Puig’s novel.
Obsession or salvation? One kiss from the Spider Woman can change everything.
In a brutal prison, Molina – condemned for his sexuality, and Valentin – a political prisoner, are forced into an unlikely friendship in the cell they share. To escape their harsh reality, Molina conjures dazzling fantasies of glamorous movies, spinning tales of the seductive and dangerous Spider Woman. As their conditions worsen and the line between truth and fiction blurs, the two men find a deeper connection – one that could cost them everything.

Jack - Bristol Musical Theatre - Redgrave Theatre
2026-04-29 - 2026-05-02 | Redgrave Theatre
Bristol Musical Theatre brings Phil Dixon’s new musical – Jack – to the Redgrave Theatre this Spring.
The show tells the story of 18 Century thief and escape artist Jack Sheppard.
The musical is a new collaboration between Bristol Musical Theatre, award-winning composer Phil Dixon and lyricist Elizabeth Major.
Bringing together historical drama and contemporary musical storytelling, the show gives audiences a fresh take on the legendary real-life person.

Double Double - Barn Theatre
2026-04-28 - 2026-05-30 | Barn Theatre, GL7 1BN
Weeks before his 37th birthday, Philippa’s husband Richard dies – the birthday that the terms of his inheritance required him to be alive and married. In the throes of grief, Philippa hatches a plan: find someone she can pass off as Richard and split the £2million windfall.
The good news is that she’s found Richard’s doppelganger in Duncan. The bad news? Duncan is homeless, shabby and has a broad Scots accent. Can she turn him into a passable version of genteel antiques collector Richard?
What follows is a witty psychological duel where Philippa and Duncan each struggle to get the upper hand, entangling feelings and second guessing intentions. Because now the con is on, who really has the most to lose?

Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x) - The Weston Studio
2026-04-28 - 2026-05-02 | The Weston Studio BOV, BS1 4ED
Eat the Rich (but maybe not me mates x) comes to Bristol Old Vic Thursday 16 April – Saturday 02 May 2026.
The show delivers a witty, irreverent exploration of class, privilege, and the lengths we go to succeed in a system that’s stacked against us. With a bold voice and a gutsy heart at its core, this coming-of-age story examines the complexities of identity, ambition, and the sacrifices we make to climb the social ladder-no matter the cost.

Writer and Performer – Jade Franks
Director – Tatenda Shamiso
Producer – Jasmyn Fisher-Ryner JFR Productions
Set and Costume Designer – Claudia Casino
Lighting Designer – Zoe Beeny
Composer and Sound Designer – Roly Botha
Movement Director – Sean Wang
Dramaturg – Ellie Fulcher
Production Carpenters – Steve Evan & Maddy Collins
Stage Manager – Lauren Lambert Moore
Featured Image: Marc Brenner

As Good As God Loves Them - Alma Tavern Theatre
2026-04-28 - 2026-05-02 | Alma Tavern Theatre, BS8 2HY
1655. England is under the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, but the scars of civil war remain. A remote village, desperate to curtail the spread of the plague, has cut itself off from its neighbours in a self-imposed isolation. As supplies dwindle and tensions fray, the community struggles to hold itself together. Until a stranger arrives at the village gates, begging to be let in.

Split Ends - Loco Klub
2026-04-28 - 2026-04-29 | Loco Klub, BS1 6QH
Claudia Shnier brings her one-woman show – Split Ends – to the Loco Klub this April.
The tragi-comedy explores themes around obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and coercive control.
Split Ends follows the story of a woman who falls in love with a vacuum – the item being a literal stand in for an abusive male character. The vacuum provokes and affects the character’s OCD and mental health.
The thing about split ends is that as soon as you cut one off, somewhere else on the head, another strand of hair will split. Cut, split, cut split, ad infinitum.
Claudia is consumed by her split ends until she falls in love with a Vacuum, an actual Vacuum, who happened to be the hairiest thing she’d ever fallen in love with. A thing that made her want to pluck her arm hairs, wax her legs and cut her hair.
The Vacuum would shed his hairs, leave, disappear, reappear, shed, tell her he loved her, tell her he lied, leave, shed, appear, shed, malt, love, lie, cheat, shed, shed. Claudia cut hairs, plucked hairs, vacuumed hairs, hunted hairs, waiting for him to pull the plug on what they had because she couldn’t.
Claudia, who has written and directed the piece – has taken inspiration from her own life.
“I started writing the piece with my own truth and experiences at the forefront of my mind, which I found was an incredible way to validate and process my own recollectionsm,” she says.
“As the piece developed, the autobiographical elements were still there, but the reactions I received from audiences really showed me the universality of this story, which influenced how the piece evolved for its next iteration. As I have continued to perform the show, the sharing of this piece and the way it has connected to people from completely different backgrounds has been so enriching.”
The show premiered at Brighton Fringe last year, picking up a nomination for Best New Show 2025. Claudia then took it to the Edinburgh Fringe, Camden Fringe and internationally in Melbourne and Sydney. It’s the first time it’s gone on a regional UK tour of the show.
Following a performance in Edinburgh, a doctor approached Shnier with an invitation to perform to NHS staff. The shows would provoke conversation within the NHS about coercive control and its affects on both physical and mental health.
The story is told through physical theatre, puppetry and video and audio produced by Oscar Gross.

Krapp’s Last Tape - Tobacco Factory Theatres
2026-04-27 - 2026-04-28 | Tobacco Factory Theatres, BS3 1TF
Krapp’s Last Tape is a journey through an old man’s life, filled with hilarious memories and hopes for the future, coupled with the mourning of lost love and unfulfilled ambition. This production, directed by Academy Award nominee Stockard Channing and starring David Westhead, tours globally throughout 2025 and 2026. Revel in Samuel Beckett’s classic play, as audiences are invited into Krapp’s world of solitude, memories, dreams, elation, and despair. This touring production has been brought to life in disused function rooms, underground vaults, former jails, and dusty factories. We are transported to a land of joy, sadness, lost ambition, love, madness, and hope.

Lil Wenker: BOYKING - The Wardrobe Theatre
2026-04-27 | The Wardrobe Theatre, BS2 0DF
Lil Wenker returns to Bristol with Cecily Nash for their brand new comedy show BOYKING.
The work-in-progress performance sees the award-winning pair explore humankind’s insatiable thirst for power through the eyes of a supposedly wronged prince. It has already been going down a storm with audiences and is now booking for this year’s Edinburgh Festival.
BOYKING sees eight-year-old Prince Wilfred – Willy for short – seek power at all costs. This includes but not limited to: death, destruction and dastardly deeds. Nowhere near in-line for the throne, Prince Wilfred ruminates on a plan for total world domination while guzzling Mummy’s Milk. Bow down – this coronation’s a killer.
It’s performed through a blend of clowning, bouffon and musical theatre.

Love and Tantra: A Conversation with Jan Day & Marianne Power -Alma Tavern Theatre
2026-04-26 | Alma Tavern Theatre, BS8 2HY
Writer Marianne Power will be sitting down with tantra teacher Jan Day in A Special Conversation Event taking place at the Alma Tavern Theatre.
Modern Love and Tantra will see an exploration of where tantra fits into modern intimacy.
Marianne and Jan will be exploring:
• How Jan discovered tantra as a divorced virgin — and how that shaped her understanding of sex and relationships
• Sexual shame — where it comes from and how we begin to release it
• Why slowing down might be the most radical sexual act
• Why conflict — handled well — can deepen intimacy
• What tantra offers people navigating modern love
The event will finish with an extended Q&A.

Jessie Nixon: Don’t Make Me Regret This - Alma Tavern Theatre
2026-04-24 | Alma Tavern Theatre, BS8 2HY
Bristolian comedian Jessie Nixon, comes to the Alma Tavern Theatre this April.
Her show – Don’t Make Me Regret This – is directed by Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner Lauren Pattison.
Jessie Nixon is putting her life on the line for this show. Or at least her livelihood/self-esteem. She’s ripped out her heart, covered it in glitter and squirty cream, and offered it to you, still beating. Don’t make her regret it. If you’re mentally ill, a lapsed catholic, queer, occasionally distraught, too smart for your own good or have ever cried in a changing room: this is for you.

We Are Fox - Tobacco Factory Theatres
2026-04-24
Not all folk tales are about forests full of princesses. You knew that, right?
We got to thinking about how we live in the high rises and terraces, suburbs and estates. And then we went skip-diving for old stories about people – human and otherwise – with pasts, with secrets, with experiences to share if you only stop and chat.
We’ve hauled up folktales of strangers with milky eyes, pockets full of rubbish, hands that are not their own, questions that they ask to everyone they meet… Give it up surviving and thriving, for sharp wits, courage and curiosity, and singing your song in the dark.
Get this…
The Leberou walks fast through the night. Legend says he must pass under seven bell towers in seven parishes before dawn breaks. He has walked so many streets, so many nights, with no bed of his own. If you are out as the dusk, be warned! He may jump up on your back. But in return for the ride, what stories he will tell you with his whiskery snout in your ear, and his hairy legs wrapped around your waist.
Forget fear, get curious!
Come be bell ringers and fox choir. Get your ears full of stories. We’ll also be featuring a special guest from your manor, because we are nosey and we want to know everyone and everything.
We Are Fox

Alas! Poor Yorick - Tobacco Factory Theatres
2026-04-22 - 2026-04-23 | Tobacco Factory Theatres, BS3 1TF
If the Two Ronnies were cast as the Gravediggers in Shakespeare’s Hamlet re-written by Samuel Beckett you might have something like Ridiculusmus’s “Alas! Poor Yorick”. Mixing the mundane with the magical; moments of banal idiocy are interspersed with ones of cinematic elegance to an underscore of groans, grunts and the odd Shakespearean aside. The legendary independent theatre double act of Jon Haynes and David Woods pull out every trick in their theatrical playbook to create a fresh take on Shakespeare’s much–loved clowns, re-enacting all the preceding acts of the original and meticulously staging the famous graveyard scene in all its 420 year-old glory. Flipping the Shakespearean original tragedy into an existential clown piece, Ridiculusmus cast aside chaos and mistaken murders to unearth a beautiful and oddly movingmeditation on work, faith and existence, with the prevaricating protagonist offered in a refreshingly contemporary light.

The Woman In Black - Bristol Old Vic
2026-04-21 - 2026-04-25 | Bristol Old Vic, BS1 4ED
The legendary production of Susan Hill’s chilling ghost story The Woman in Black comes to the Bristol Old Vic.
One of the most successful and longest running theatre shows in the history of London’s West End, this gripping production is a brilliant study in atmosphere, illusion and controlled horror. Now seen by over 8 million people worldwide, The Woman in Blackcontinues to delight and terrify audiences of all generations.
Obsessed with a curse that he believes has been cast over him and his family by the spectre of a Woman in Black, Arthur Kipps engages a skeptical young actor to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul.
