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...

CALAMITY JANE

Calamity Jane, telling the story of the Wild West’s most notorious female outlaw, is best known from its 1953 film version, starring Doris Day and Howard Keel. In common with the movie, the stage show boasts comedy, drama, dance and music, with its playlist including such much-loved numbers as The Deadwood Stage, Black Hills Of Dakota, Windy City and Secret Love.   

“The show is so wholesome,” says West End star Carrie Hope Fletcher, who takes the title role. “It’s such a wonderful, nostalgic story. People are going to come and be immersed in the world of Deadwood City, be transported away for a while and not have to think about the state of the world right now. 

“Calamity Jane is a really fun, feelgood time, and I think our audiences will be leaving the theatre slapping their thighs and singing. That’s what we hope, anyway!”

Birmingham Hippodrome, Tues 18 - Sat 22 March; Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Tues 17 - Sat 21 June; Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Tues 9 - Sat 13 September

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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 Sweet Transvestite, Damn It Janet 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).

The Alexandra, Birmingham, Mon 17 - Sat 22 March; Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Mon 7 - Sat 12 April; Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Mon 5 - Sat 10 May

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FARM BOY

For anybody who loved War Horse - whether as a book, a film, a stage production or all three - this critically acclaimed adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s compelling follow-up novel is surely a must-see work of theatre. 

Presented by Lichfield Garrick, the family-friendly production revisits War Horse’s main characters of Albert and his horse, Joey, via the story of a teenager who regularly visits his grandfather on his farm in rural Devon... 

A moving account of the changing face of the English countryside, Farm Boy was written by Morpurgo as a response to the many post-War Horse enquiries he received from readers wanting to know what happened to Joey.

Morpurgo has also stated that, of all the books he’s written, Farm Boy is his favourite. If ever there was a good reason to check out the stage version...  

Tamworth Assembly Rooms, Sat 22 & Sun 23 March; The Swan Theatre, Worcester, Mon 31 March & Tues 1 April; The Albany Theatre, Coventry, Fri 25 - Sun 27 April

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NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL A MUSICAL

EastEnders’ Nina Wadia, former X Factor winner Sam Bailey and 80s pop icon Sonia are the terrific trio tasked with lighting up this brand-new musical comedy.

Directed & choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood, and marking 40 years of the chart-topping NOW That’s What I Call Music compilation albums, the show is set in Birmingham and finds old school friends Gemma and April facing up to the challenges of a 20th anniversary school reunion...

Featured hits from an evening of 80s classics include Gold, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Tainted Love, Hey Mickey and Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves.

The Alexandra, Birmingham, Tues 11 - Sat 15 March

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YOU KNOW MY MUM

Marketed as ‘a cheeky comedy about life and death for all the family’, You Know My Mum is presented by Ego Arts and features a baby bird named Bluey and a 25-year-old woman with Down’s syndrome, who is struggling to come to terms with the death of her mother.

While Bluey learns about fried chicken factories and joins a boot camp for birds, Alex battles Harry Potter monsters and dreams about life after death. As her wild imagination comes to life, she begins to realise that the love which she thought she had lost is actually all around her...

Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Fri 28 & Sat 29 March; The Rep, Birmingham, Fri 27 & Sat 28 June

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VICI WREFORD-SINNOTT: UNRULY

A rare example of disabled-women-led theatre, Unruly is written and performed by playwright & campaigner Vici Wreford-Sinnott. Using her work to challenge societal and cultural misconceptions around the subject of disability, Vici here turns the spotlight on the character of Marina, who, having lost her best friend Suze, ‘carefully unpacks her life and slowly removes the layers of women she was expected to be by others’.

Unruly is a powerful, urgent show about refusing to be invisible in hostile environments and the power of friendship and community to get us through.

mac, Birmingham, Thurs 20 March

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A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

New Vic Artistic Director Theresa Heskins has adapted and directs this stage version of the much-loved 1941 film starring David Niven.

The story’s main character is World War Two pilot Peter Carter, who thinks he’s about to meet his maker when his plane goes down just off the coast of England. Instead, he finds himself face-to-face with June, the American radio operator who kept him company on what he thought would be his final journey. Peter soon falls in love with her and looks ahead to a bright future - until, that is, a celestial entity makes contact to inform him that he should in fact have died in the plane crash...    

With an amazing live swing-band, A Matter of Life and Death seamlessly blends together romance, drama and fantasy, and will take audiences on an emotional journey, exploring what happens when love, fate and the laws of the universe collide.

New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Fri 28 March - Wed 19 April

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AN INSPECTOR CALLS

When Inspector Goole calls unexpectedly on the prosperous Birling family, his startling revelations not only shatter the foundations of their lives but also challenge them to examine their consciences...

Anybody who’s seen a production of JB Priestley’s classic 1945 play will have no trouble understanding why it’s been such a long-time worldwide hit.

Presented by the National Theatre, Stephen Daldry’s epic production has won 19 major awards and been seen by more than five million theatregoers worldwide.

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Tuesday 4 - Saturday 8 March; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Tuesday 6 - Saturday 10 May

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HAMLET

Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, struggles to come to terms with his life. Not only is he faced with the ghost of his murdered father, he must also grapple with the behaviour of  his widowed mother, who has married his conniving uncle, Claudius, in indecent haste. And things aren’t going too well with his girlfriend, Ophelia, either... 

One of the true masterpieces of world theatre, Shakespeare’s most famous play is also one of the most testing to perform. The lead role is among the largest ever written, and it's a brave actor indeed who undertakes the necessary plunge into his own psyche.

So best of luck, then, on this particular occasion, to RSC debutant Luke Thallon... Jared Harris and made-in-the-Midlands veteran actor Anton Lesser also star.

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until Sat 29 March

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BOILER ROOM SIX: A TITANIC STORY

Boiler Room Six tells the impossible true survival story of Titanic stoker Frederick Barrett. Given the
prestigious role of lead firemen in one of the boiler rooms aboard the maiden Titanic, Barrett’s journey
began as countless had before. But on the evening of 14 April, Barrett’s boiler room suddenly ripped
apart, and the freezing Atlantic came crashing through...

Barrett's fight for survival is one of the most devastating accounts of the last few hours of Titanic.
Boiler Room Six gives a voice to the sacrifice of the working men below deck who kept the ship afloat
for as long as possible, saving hundreds of lives, whilst knowingly giving up on their own.
The play premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in August 2024, selling out its entire run, and receiving
widespread acclaim, including being awarded the Best Overall Show of the festival by the Derek
Awards. Written and directed by Tom Foreman.

Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham, Wed 26 & Thurs 27 March

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NAPOLEON DYNAMITE

Highly acclaimed theatre company Imitating The Dog is the ensemble behind this fascinating and true story, which tells the tale of an extraordinary life. At its heartland is Eugene Bullard, a man who, at various points in his life, was a runaway, a circus entertainer, a boxer, a nightclub owner, one of the first black fighter pilots in World War One, a jazz drummer, a spy and a civil rights activist.

Containing themes of racism and references to racist violence, the show’s age recommendation for audience members is 12-plus.

Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton, Fri 21 & Sat 22 March

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ALL BLOOD RUNS RED

Highly acclaimed theatre company Imitating The Dog is the ensemble behind this fascinating and true story, which tells the tale of an extraordinary life. At its heartland is Eugene Bullard, a man who, at various points in his life, was a runaway, a circus entertainer, a boxer, a nightclub owner, one of the first black fighter pilots in World War One, a jazz drummer, a spy and a civil rights activist.

Containing themes of racism and references to racist violence, the show’s age recommendation for audience members is 12-plus. 

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Thurs 13 & Fri 14 March

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SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE LAST ACT

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s master of deduction makes a welcome return in a story that sees Sherlock Holmes emerging from two years of Sussex retirement for the funeral of his friend, Dr Watson, and then returning to Baker Street to resolve ‘the last act’ of his epic career...

Nigel Miles-Thomas stars in this one-man show, taking on the challenge of playing not only the world’s greatest detective but also 13 other characters.

Lichfield Garrick, Wed 12 March

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PETER JAMES: PICTURE YOU DEAD

Bestselling crime writer Peter James has scored major successes on stage as well as in print and on TV, with adaptations of his novels having played to appreciative audiences at venues across the UK. 

This latest offering sees Detective Superintendent Roy Grace - the Brighton-based policeman who’s headed up murder investigations in a number of James’ most popular works - investigating a cold case that leads him into the secretive world of fine art... Casualty’s George Rainsford returns in the role of Grace, with Peter Ash (Coronation Street) and Fiona Wade (Emmerdale) also featuring in the cast.

Malvern Theatres, Tues 25 - Sat 29 March; Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Tues 29 April - Sat 3 May; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Tues 24 - Sat 28 June

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CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG

Everybody's favourite flying car makes a welcome return to the region, complete with the Sherman Brothers’ memorable score and a high-energy cast headed by Adam Garcia and Liam Fox.

When eccentric inventor Caractacus Potts creates an amazing flying automobile, he uses it to take his family to the fictional country of Vulgaria. But all is not well in the European barony, where the sinister Baron Bomburst has decided to make children illegal...

Truly Scrumptious, Toot Sweets, Hushabye Mountain and the Oscar-nominated title song feature among the show’s best-known musical numbers.

Birmingham Hippodrome, Tuesday 4 - Sunday 9 March

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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. 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’.

Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Tuesday 11 - Friday 14 March; Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, Wednesday 23 - Thursday 24 April; Crewe Lyceum, Monday 26 - Tuesday 27 May

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SHARK IN THE PARK

Nick Sharratt has illustrated hundreds of books, a significant percentage of which have been his own. One of these is the hugely successful Shark In The Park!, a children’s story about a young lad named Timothy who goes to his local park to try out his new telescope. While there, he thinks he spots a shark - and not just on one occasion either, but several times in several places!... 

The popularity of the book prompted Nick to write and illustrate two follow-up offerings - Shark In The Dark! and Shark In The Park On A Windy Day!.

All three stories are featured in this much-loved stage production from the highly rated Nonsense Room theatre company. The show is suitable for children aged two-plus.

Patrick Studio, Birmingham Hippodrome, Sat 29 March - Sun 6 April

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ROOM ON THE BROOM

Iggety ziggety zaggety zoom!

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, the creators of The Gruffalo and We’re Going On A Bear Hunt, are the team behind this 'spellbinding' tale of a witch who makes the mistake of thinking she can fit a daft dog, a beautiful bird and a friendly frog - as well as her own cat - on her broomstick without it snapping in two. And when a hungry dragon appears, things really start to hot up...

The Swan Theatre, Worcester, Tues 11 & 12 March; Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Wed 23 - Sat 26 April

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DINOSAURS LIVE

Dinosaurs are once again roaming the region this year, thanks to this interactive show for all the family to enjoy. 

Presented by the Natural History Museum in association with Mark Thompson Productions, Dinosaurs Live! provides youngsters with the chance to meet a host of impressive prehistoric creatures on a fun- and fact-filled journey through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. 

The show is suitable for children aged three-plus. 

Malvern Theatres, Sat 15 March; Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Sun 13 April; Lichfield Garrick, Wed 23 July; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Sun 31 August; Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Sat 20 & Sun 21 September