More Theatre News
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Review: Sunny Afternoon at The Alexandra
Posted on Wed 22 Oct
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Review: Macbeth at The Other Place
Posted on Wed 22 Oct
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Falling in love - Frantic Assembly bring new show to The Belgrade
Posted on Tue 21 Oct
There’s never a dull month when it comes to theatre in the Midlands. Check out our selection of shows coming to venues across the region during the next few weeks...
MEASURE FOR MEASURE
The darkest of Shakespeare’s comedies, Measure For Measure is usually considered a problem play, which basically means that it asks more questions than it answers.
The structure is simple enough. Poor old Angelo is left in charge of an anarchic Vienna, whilst the Duke pretends that he has work overseas. Instead, he uses the opportunity to spy on his diligent though misguided deputy, waits for a mistake, then reappears to make Angelo a convenient scapegoat for Vienna’s woes.
A stitch-up, or just judicial authority? No wonder politicians of all parties quote Shakespeare to justify their dark deeds...
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until Saturday 25 October
MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL
Based on the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, Moulin Rouge! The Musical tells the love story of dancer Satine and writer Christian, set against the heady parties of Paris’ most famous nightclub.
“There are over 75 pop songs in the show, from Offenbach to Lady Gaga,” says actor Kurt Kansley, who plays the part of the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. “There’s so much music that pulls at the heartstrings of any demographic of person who might have a memory of a particular song. There’s a lot to be said for a jukebox musical, and what I like about Moulin Rouge! is that it doesn’t apologise for being one. Instead, it celebrates it.”Best brace yourself for an evening of eye-popping excess!
Birmingham Hippodrome, until Saturday 15 November
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
Edmond Rostand’s famous 1897 play tells the tale of the French poet and soldier of the title, Cyrano de Bergerac, who is desperate to win the love of the beautiful Lady Roxane.
His efforts to do so, however, are somewhat complicated by the fact that he’s got a proboscis that’s almost as big as the Eiffel Tower (that’s an exaggeration for effect, obviously, but you get the idea).
Making the situation even trickier for the big-hootered Cyrano is the fact that Roxane has fallen for the ever-so-handsome Christian.
But wait... the course of true love never runs smooth, and Christian has a major problem of his own. He gets tongue-tied, and knows he needs to woo Roxane with poetic words.
Enter, the magnificently verbose Cyrano, with a clever plan to save the young man’s bacon... Birmingham-born actor Adrian Lester takes top billing in the title role.
Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until Sunday 15 November
THE DINOSAUR THAT POOPED: A ROCK SHOW
Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter are promising their brand-new production will come complete with new songs, a lot of laughs and (not surprisingly given the show’s title) a whole load of poo!
Based on Tom and Dougie’s bestselling children’s books, The Dinosaur That Pooped follows Danny and Dino as they try to get hold of the last two tickets to their favourite rock band’s last-ever concert. But with a villainous band manager lurking, nothing goes to plan... Will the band perform? Will Danny rock out? Or will Dino’s rumbling tummy save the day?...
Malvern Theatres, Saturday 25 October; Lichfield Garrick, Wednesday 29 October; Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunday 23 November; Palace Theatre, Redditch, Thursday 19 February; Brierley Hill Civic, Sunday 24 May; Swan Theatre, Worcester, Saturday 6 June
PIRATES LOVE UNDERPANTS
Claire Freedman certainly knows a thing or two about writing for children. And she’s no slouch on the subject of underpants either, with her picture books including Aliens Love Underpants, Aliens Love Panta Claus and Aliens In Underpants Save The World...
It turns out pirates are pretty keen on underpants too, as evidenced by this stage adaptation of yet another of her publications.
Shrewsbury Theatre Severn’s legendary pantomime Dame, Brad Fitt, has written the show, which features a winning combination of ‘music, puppetry and glittering pants of gold’.
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Tuesday 28 - Wednesday 29 October
THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
This much-loved story from the pen of CS Lewis is rightly regarded as an all-time classic of children’s literature. It sees the lion-god Aslan coming to the aid of four youngsters who’ve accidentally stumbled into his mystical world of Narnia...
Visiting Birmingham this month having last stopped off in the city at The Rep for the Christmas 2023/24 season, the show features ‘magical storytelling, bewitching stagecraft and incredible puppets’.
“We have this epic stage and fantastic imagery,” says the production’s director, Michael Fentiman, “but there’s not a lot of literal depiction of location of the show. Instead, we’re asking the audience to take a leap with us. We work with an illusionist to try and do things that seem impossible. So the way we use magic and lighting and shift-of-focus achieves the possible from the seemingly impossible.”
The show’s Midlands stop-offs come as part of a UK-wide tour to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the novel’s publication.
Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Tuesday 28 October - Saturday 1 November
GRANDAD ANANSI
A work of theatre created for children aged four and older, Grandad Anansi finds Abi and her grandfather busying themselves in the latter’s allotment. As well as watering fruit and vegetables, the pair spend their time telling one another folk tales.
But Grandad has something else on his mind: a yearning to return to his homeland of Jamaica... Described by its publicity as a ‘humorous and heartfelt inter-generational adventure’, Grandad Anansi brings together ‘captivating songs and joyous dancing’ to tell an uplifting tale of ‘love, courage and letting go’...
SpArC Theatre, Bishops Castle, Shropshire, Saturday 1 November; Belmont Hall, Wellington, Shropshire, Sunday 2 November
THE WORLD'S FUNNIEST STORY
Beano’s directors of mischief and mayhem, Mike Stirling and Craig Graham, reveal their top-secret tips for creating laugh-out-loud stories and comic strips. In the process, they’ll be inviting youngsters to help them create ‘The World’s Funniest Story... of all-time!’
The show forms part of the Farshore Funny Fest, which also features three workshops, facepainting, scavenger hunts, and the chance to meet much-loved Beano characters Dennis and Gnasher.
Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, Sunday 2 November
THE BODYGUARD
When former secret-service agent Frank Farmer is hired to protect superstar Rachel Marron from an unknown stalker, sparks soon begin to fly between the pair. Each expects to hold the whip-hand in their interaction; neither expects to fall in love...
This blockbusting West End musical is of course based on the similarly blockbusting 1992 Hollywood movie starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston.
Featuring classic numbers One Moment In Time, I Wanna Dance With Somebody and the legendary I Will Always Love You, the stage show received mixed reviews from the critics when it opened in 2012, but has since proved to be a real hit with its audiences. Sidonie Smith stars as Rachel, with Olivier Award nominee Adam Garcia taking on the role of Frank.
Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Monday 3 - Saturday 8 November
ORDINARY DECENT CRIMINAL
Comedian Mark Thomas takes the lead role in award-winning Ed Edwards’ brand-new play. Set in the years following the Strangeways Prison Riot, the story sees Mark starring as recovering addict Frankie, who finds himself entering ‘the brave new world of a liberal prison experiment’.
The production is helmed by Paines Plough’s joint artistic director, Charlotte Bennett.
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Tuesday 4 - Saturday 8 November
MOHIT MATHUR: DIAL 1 FOR UK
YouTube influencer and New Delhi call-centre worker Uday Kumar loves the United Kingdom - so much so, in fact, that he dreams of leaving India and chiselling out a life for himself in Britain. But having arrived in his ‘promised land’, he finds that his experience as an immigrant is very different from how he’d imagined it would be...
Written and performed by West End actor Mohit Mathur, Dial 1 For UK visits the region having garnered plenty of praise on its travels.
Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, Tuesday 4 November; Swan Theatre, Worcester, Friday 7 November; Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, Thursday 13 November; Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton, Friday 14 November
THE GRUFFALO'S CHILD
With millions of copies having been sold in double-quick time after it was published in 1999, it’s fair to say that Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler’s picture book The Gruffalo captured the hearts and minds of children everywhere. So it was no surprise when the dynamic duo then produced this sequel story five years later...
Despite her dad’s warning to stay away from the deep, dark wood, the Gruffalo’s child decides it’s time to go and explore, caring not a jot about the legend of the Big Bad Mouse...
Award-winning theatre company Tall Stories, who certainly know a thing or two about adapting Donaldson/Scheffler books for the stage, here present a production that brings together ‘songs, laughs and scary fun for everyone aged three to 103’.
Swan Theatre, Worcester, Wednesday 5 & Thursday 6 November; Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, Friday 7 & Saturday 8 November; The Rep, Birmingham, Friday 20 - Sunday 22 February; Lichfield Garrick, Monday 9 & Tuesday 10 March
MURDER SHE DIDN'T WRITE
Improvised shows are seemingly all the rage nowadays - and this one has certainly got plenty to recommend it...
First and foremost, it was a multiple-sell-out hit at the Edinburgh Fringe...
Secondly, it’s presented by a critically acclaimed company - Degrees Of Error - who are past masters of the improv genre...
Thirdly, the show is a real hoot. An Agatha Christie-inspired whodunnit, it features a classic murder-mystery which is created ‘on the spot’. Audience members are then encouraged to don their deerstalkers (if they’ve brought them along), grab a magnifying glass and make sure their ‘finger of suspicion’ is ‘at the ready’... The show runs for two hours, including an interval.
Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Wednesday 5 November; Lichfield Garrick, Tuesday 3 February; The Swan Theatre, Worcester, Tuesday 24 February
BAD LADS
Coventry-originated theatre company Graeae - the ensemble behind this brand-new play by Mike Kenny - put features such as signing, captioning and audio description at the heart of their productions.
“Every Graeae show is different,” says the company’s CEO & artistic director, Jenny Sealey. “We never add access on. It comes from looking at the script, who the characters are, what we’re trying to say, and then thinking about what access brings to that.”
Bad Lads tells the disturbing true story of the boys held at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre in County Durham in the 1980s. Although the facility was ‘sold’ to the public as being an institution via which a ‘short, sharp shock’ would be delivered to wayward youths, in reality something far darker was happening within its walls...
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Tuesday 11 & Wednesday 12 November
ELF THE MUSICAL
A flying sleigh, an interactive snowball fight with the audience, and a giant candy cane journey from the North Pole, all set against video-film backdrops on a massive LED screen. There’s little wonder Elf The Musical’s star, Jordan Conway, describes the production as “a really exciting show”...
“It has a lot of the traditional values of pantomime,” says Jordan, “but with circus-style acrobatics and lots of immersive action for the audience to get involved in.”
For those not already in the know, the show’s story follows the adventures of Buddy, an orphan boy who grows up in the North Pole with Santa and his elves. Buddy thinks he’s an elf too, but his enormous size and inability to make toys tells an altogether different story...
Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Tuesday 11 - Sunday 16 November
SLAVA'S SNOWSHOW
First staged in 1993, now an international phenomenon, and blending slapstick comedy, heart-wrenching tenderness, dramatic spectacle and moments of wonder, Slava’s Snowshow focuses on the adventures and interactions of a group of yellow clowns and green clowns. The production has been seen by audiences in more than 60 countries, along the way receiving multiple awards, including an Olivier for Best Entertainment.
“There are a lot of layers,” explains Slava Polunin in talking about his show. “There are mundane, everyday things, right through to very cosmic, eternal things. I try to make it so that every person in the audience will find their own interest in the Snowshow. Growing up, people lose the idea of wanting to achieve their dreams. I remind them about it, and they return to what were the most important things in their lives; what they have lost as they grew up.”
The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, Wednesday 12 - Saturday 15 November
THE ANCIENT OAK OF BALDOR
“We create theatre you can touch, theatre you can smell, theatre that happens during intimate one-to-one interactions, theatre that is collective.”
So state highly rated creatives Frozen Light, in explaining the kind of shows they produce and tour. This latest offering is a multi-sensory stagework developed specifically for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities. The production sees the ensemble welcoming their audience into a fantasy realm for a folk tale about ‘love, loss, and the interconnectedness of all things’...
Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, Thursday 13 & Friday 14 November
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Of all Charles Dickens’ festive stories, A Christmas Carol reigns supreme. The covetous sinning of the miserly Scrooge, the eternal hope offered by Tiny Tim, the eerie visions of redemption - visiting Ebenezer in the shape of his long-deceased partner Jacob Marley and three seasonal ghosts - all combine to give the tale a real olde worlde charm.
The critically acclaimed Dickens Theatre Company here makes a welcome return with a somewhat unusual take on the Carol...
With the rest of the acting cast stuck on a train, Dickens himself, and his faithful tour manager, George Dolby, embrace the daunting challenge of performing a two-man theatrical adaptation of the story...
Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Thursday 13 & Friday 14 November
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
Think Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber and three musicals come to mind: Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita.
Now, a new show has been added to the list of productions on which the legendary pair have collaborated: Sherlock Holmes And The Twelve Days Of Christmas.
A Birmingham Rep production created in association with Rice’s company, Heartaches Ltd, the brand-new comedy whodunnit - penned by and starring The Penny Dreadfuls’ Humphrey Ker and David Reed - finds Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson investigating a series of murders most foul in Victorian London’s theatreland...
And what’s more, each of the grisly crimes comes complete with an intriguing link to The Twelve Days Of Christmas...
The game, as Sherlock is famous for saying, is most definitely afoot...
The Rep, Birmingham, Friday 14 November - Sunday 18 January
MISS SAIGON
The musical partnership of Alan Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg has produced some impressive results down the years, most memorably the smash-hit musical Les Miserables.
Another of their shows, less lauded than Les Mis but still widely admired, is this epic tale, which premiered in the West End some 36 years ago... Set against the backdrop of the American evacuation of Saigon in 1975, the show tells the story of an American GI and his love for a young Vietnamese woman.
Best-known numbers include The Heat Is On In Saigon, The Movie In My Mind, Last Night Of The World and The American Dream.
The Alexandra, Birmingham, Tuesday 18 - Saturday 29 November
KINKY BOOTS
The newly appointed manager of his late father’s shoe factory, Charlie Price has got some tough decisions to make as he attempts to save the struggling business.
After a chance meeting with drag queen Lola, Charlie identifies a potentially lucrative niche market - creating footwear to cater for men who dress as women...
A topical story about diversity and acceptance, Kinky Boots is based on the 2005 film of the same name and features music & lyrics by 80s pop star Cyndi Lauper.
Expect a feelgood evening of catchy tunes, fierce anthems and warm-hearted humour.
Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Wednesday 26 - Sunday 30 November
THE FORSYTE SAGA
An epic family drama, written by Nobel Prize winner John Galsworthy and here adapted for the stage by Lin Coghlan and Shaun McKenna, The Forsyte Saga arrives in Stratford-upon-Avon this month having received rave reviews during its sell-out run at London’s Park Theatre last year.
Presented in two parts and telling a story of love, ownership, and the end of Empire, the production is set across a time period of more than 40 years, from 1886 to 1927.
Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, Friday 28 November - Saturday 10 January
THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA
Everybody’s favourite tea-guzzling tiger is back in town, dropping in on Sophie and her mum just as they’re settling down for an afternoon cuppa... Adapted by David Wood from Judith Kerr’s 1968 book of the same name, this 55-minute show features singalong songs and plenty of magic - not to mention a big, stripy tiger, of course!
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Saturday 29 November - Sunday 28 December
BLOOD BROTHERS
Although it’s effectively a class-driven ‘scouse melodrama’, to describe Blood Brothers as such is to greatly underestimate the emotional response it produces within its audience.
The show features adult actors playing children, a narrator who wanders through the scenes with warnings of impending doom, a good helping of sharp social awareness to counteract the sticky sentimentality, and a raft of much-loved musical numbers, including Bright New Day, Marilyn Monroe, and the emotionally charged Tell Me It’s Not True.
Musical theatre veteran Vivienne Carlyle stars as Mrs Johnstone.
Crewe Lyceum Theatre, Tuesday 20 - Saturday 24 January; Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Tuesday 27 - Saturday 31 January
THE WOMAN IN BLACK
Adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the same-named Susan Hill novel, The Woman In Black is a classic ghost story first performed in 1989. It has since become one of the West End’s most successful plays, and was memorably made into a film starring Daniel Radcliffe in 2012.
Solicitor Arthur Kipp believes that his family have somehow been cursed by a mysterious woman in black. In an attempt to tell his story, and to exorcise the evil curse which he’s convinced hangs over him, he hires a young actor to assist him in recounting his experiences...
The Alexandra, Birmingham, Tuesday 27 - Saturday 31 January; Malvern Theatres, Tuesday 31 March - Saturday 4 April
BUDDY: THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY
Seen by tens of millions of people across the globe, Buddy is an enormously enduring and touchingly affectionate portrayal of one of rock & roll’s earliest and brightest stars. Charting the singer’s meteoric rise to fame and fortune, and following his career through to his very last performance, the show features timeless Buddy classics such as That’ll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, Oh Boy, Rave On and Everyday...
Lichfield Garrick, Monday 2 - Saturday 7 March; Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Monday 23 - Tuesday 24 March
THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW
Hook up your fishnets, tighten your corsets and prepare to ‘do The Time Warp again’ - The Rocky Horror Show is returning to the Midlands! Richard O Brien’s cult production tells the tale of the straight-laced Brad and the deliciously corruptible Janet, who arrive at the castle of the alien transvestite Frank N Furter and witness the birth of the monster, Rocky. Along the way, they take the audience through a selection of love-’em-or-loathe-’em musical numbers, including Damn It Janet, Sweet Transvestite, and The Time Warp. Great fun’s a guarantee - particularly if you get into the spirit of things and attend the show dressed in your very best stockings & suspenders (as many patrons do)!
Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Monday 13 - Saturday 18 April; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Monday 6 - Saturday 11 July
2:22 A GHOST STORY
Husband & wife Jenny and Sam are divided. Jenny believes their new home is haunted; Sam isn’t having any of it. But something certainly feels strange and frightening. Determined to find out the truth once and for all, they decide to stay up until 2:22 - at which time, all will be revealed. Or not...
2.22 A Ghost Story premiered in the West End back in 2021, not only becoming a major hit but also providing both Lily Allen and Cheryl with an opportunity to tread the boards. This latest touring version of the show stars real-life couple Kevin Clifton and Stacey Dooley alongside Grant Kilburn and Shvorne Marks, pictured.
Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Tuesday 18 - Saturday 23 May