Blood Brothers, Private Lives, Flying Lovers, The Wedding

Blood Brothers – tour starts 16 January

Hit musical Blood Brothers opens its 2018 tour at the Theatre Royal Bath.

30 years on, this musical by award-winning playwright Willy Russell continues to enjoy great success performing to sell-out houses.

Actress and singer—member of the hit '70s band New Seekers—Lyn Paul returns to the role of Mrs Johnstone, directed by Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright. The show has musical direction by Rich Morris.

Blood Brothers visits Theatre Royal Bath, Grand Opera House Belfast, Playhouse Theatre Weston Super Mare, Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Darlington Hippodrome, Edinburgh Playhouse, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham, Rhyl Pavilion, Carlisle Sands Centre, Queen’s Theatre Barnstaple, Hall for Cornwall Truro, Grand Theatre Wolverhampton, Regent Theatre Ipswich, Mayflower Theatre Southampton and Palace Theatre Manchester.

Private Lives – tour starts 16 January

London Classic Theatre's tour of Noël Coward's classic comedy Private Lives extends.

Directed by Michael Cabot, the cast is made up of Olivia Beardsley and Helen Keeley who reprise their roles as Sibyl Chase and Amanda Prynne, with new cast members Gareth Bennett-Ryan as Elyot Chase and Paul Sandys as Victor Prynne. Rachael Holmes-Brown plays Louise.

Set in 1930s France, this classic comedy has two honeymooning couples in adjoining hotel suites. All goes well until Amanda hears a familiar voice singing a forgotten song.

Coward also wrote Hay Fever, Design for Living, Present Laughter and Blithe Spirit.

Private Lives visits Yvonne Arnaud Guildford, Cheltenham Everyman Theatre, Derby Theatre, Dukes Lancaster, Cast Doncaster, The Brunton Musselburgh, Gaiety Theatre Ayr, Mumford Theatre Cambridge, South Hill Park Bracknell, Connaught Theatre Worthing, Lighthouse Poole, Theatr Clwyd, Everyman Theatre Cork, Hull Truck Theatre, Lyceum Theatre Crewe and Coventry Belgrade Theatre.

The Flying Lovers Of Vitebsk – tour starts 17 January

Kneehigh and Bristol Old Vic present the tour of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, the story of Marc and Bella Chagall whose lives played out against the backdrop of a world marked by Pogroms, warn, exile and Revolution.

The play is written by Daniel Jamieson with composition inspired by the Russian Jewish folk tradition by Ian Ross, performed by Ross and James Gow. This award–winning production is directed by Emma Rice.

Marc Antolin reprises his role as the iconic artist Chagall for this revival and Daisy Maywood plays Bella.

The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk visits Wilton’s Music Hall London, The Wallis Annenberg Center Beverley Hills, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Salisbury Playhouse, Home Manchester, Northcott Theatre Exeter, Oxford Playhouse and Cheltenham Everyman Theatre.

The Wedding – tour starts 17 January

Gecko Theatre's tour of The Wedding extends into the Spring.

This work from the Ipswich-based physical theatre company looks at migration and social cohesion, topics to be covered in the company's outreach programme for local artists and participants of refugee background in the areas around the venues it visits.

The Wedding is created by in collaboration with a team of creatives including Dave Price who has composed original music for the piece.

The devising performers are Fionn Cox-Davies, Chris Evans, Madeleine Fairminer, Lucia Chocarro, Katie Lusby, Ryen Perkins-Gangnes, Uros Petronijevic, Dan Watson and Kenny Wing Tao Ho.

The musicians and vocalists are Tom Allan, Sam Burgess, Ben Hales, Frank Moon, Dave Shulman, Jon Thomas and Temesgen Zeleke.

The Wedding visits Bristol Old Vic, Watford Palace Theatre, Nottingham Playhouse, Derby Theatre, Liverpool Playhouse, Cast in Doncaster, Oxford Playhouse and Nuffield Southampton Theatres.