Playhouse Theatre

The Playhouse Theatre in Northampton is where you go if you want live performance without the pretension. It's a proper working theatre - the kind that mixes West End transfers with local amateur productions and everything in between. You'll find pantomime, comedy, drama, and children's shows rotating through the schedule, which means there's genuinely something different happening most weeks of the year.

The theatre itself has that warm, intimate feel of a mid-sized regional venue. Not enormous, which works in its favour - you're close enough to the stage to catch the actors' expressions without feeling like you're watching from a football stadium. It's the sort of place families drag their kids to for the annual panto, where older theatre types catch serious drama, and where stand-up comedians try out material before moving on to bigger rooms.

Stay at Billing Aquadrome or Riverview Park - both are minutes away - and you can catch an evening show without the faff of driving home late. Ticket prices and what's on vary by production, so you'll need to check their current programme before booking. Allow two to three hours if you're making an evening of it, including time for a drink beforehand.

The theatre doesn't pretend to be anything it's not. It's a genuine community venue that happens to put on quality entertainment. Worth checking what's on if you're passing through Northampton.