Midlands productions

Published: 12 February 2017
Reporter: Steve Orme

Northanger Abbey at Lichfield Garrick
Darren Raymond as Prospero in The Tempest at the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme Credit: Elle De Burgh
The Misfit Analysis in the Studio at Derby Theatre

The Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds production of Tim Luscombe’s adaptation of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey tours to Lichfield Garrick from Monday until Wednesday.

Bill Kenwright’s “spectacular” version of the musical La Cage aux Folles visits the Theatre Royal, Nottingham from Monday until Saturday.

In a “better-late-than-never nod to the Bard’s 400th anniversary”, the Reduced Shakespeare Company performs William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged) at Birmingham REP on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Cuba’s flagship contemporary dance company Danza Contemporanea de Cuba teams up with leading choreographers for an “electrifying” new show at the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Meera Syal’s Anita and Me, a “poignant coming-of-age tale which follows Meena, a young girl growing up in the only Punjabi family in a 1970s Black Country mining village”, takes to the Wolverhampton Grand stage from Tuesday until Saturday.

David Wood’s adaptation of Roal Dahl’s The Twits “promises to be just as repulsive as earth worms disguised as spaghetti” at Northampton Royal from Tuesday until Saturday.

The RSC’s First Encounters with Shakespeare production of The Tempest which is the “perfect introduction” to Shakespeare for 8- to 13-year-olds visits the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme on Wednesday.

Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre performs its ninth show of songs, sketches, socks and violence in Scottish Falsetto Socks Do Shakespeare at the Pavilion Arts Centre studio theatre, Buxton on Wednesday.

David Bintley’s “enchanting” fairy tale Cinderella is a Birmingham Royal Ballet presentation at Birmingham Hippodrome from Wednesday until Saturday 25 February.

An original stage play concerning the actual story of Count Dracula, Don’t Go Into the Cellar’s Dracula’s Ghost should send shockwaves through the studio theatre at the Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton on Thursday.

Outer Circle Arts celebrates “motherhood in all its messy glory, offering support and encouragement, albeit using sometimes unorthodox methods”, in Hayley Pepler’s In the Motherhood at the Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton on Thursday and Albany Theatre, Coventry on Saturday.

Two of the 20th century’s most brilliant and original minds collide in Terry Johnson’s Hysteria, a London Classic Theatre presentation, at Buxton Opera House from Thursday until Saturday.

Matthew Bourne returns to his roots in Early Adventures, a programme of hit pieces that launched the career of “Britain’s favourite choreographer”, at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry from Thursday until Saturday.

Jane English goes on a mission to find her former neighbours from a demolished building on a council estate in east London in 20B in the Foyle Studio at mac Birmingham on Friday.

Strictly Come Dancing’s Brendan Cole “whips up an extravagant mix of Latin fever and ballroom charm” in All Night Long at Derngate, Northampton on Friday.

A new adaptation by John Ginman of Mary Shelley’s gothic horror masterpiece Frankenstein, “fusing ensemble storytelling, live music, puppetry and stunning theatricality”, should frighten audiences at Lichfield Garrick on Friday and Saturday.

“From Kerala to Camden, an epic, mystical tale of love, loss and soul-food”, Chopping Chillies, written and performed by Clair Whitefield and directed by Guy Masterson, is on the menu at Lichfield Garrick on Saturday.

The Misfit Analysis by Access All Areas, which “takes us through a world of wheelchairs and blow-up dolls in an unconventional exploration of an autistic mind”, tours to the Studio at Derby Theatre on Saturday.

A new play with songs set during World War II “that brings to life a powerful story of love, guilt, heroism and betrayal”, Narvik by Lizzie Nunnery visits the Foyle Studio at mac Birmingham on Saturday.

A new theatre production for an audience with headphones that puts men’s bodies under the spotlight, Dancing Bear, Dancing Bear, which was created by Gameshow with Hannah Ringham, looks for an identity at the Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton on Saturday.

Writer and performer Francesca Millican-Slater DJs her own late-night radio show, “channelling the rambling raconteurs of presenters from the wee hours to spin a noirish stack of stories, odd, familiar, funny, true and stolen,” in Stories To Tell In The Middle Of The Night which continues in The Door at Birmingham REP until Saturday.

Ray Quinn, Ruth Madoc, Roxanne Pallett, Jon Robyns and Cassie Compton appear in the musical The Wedding Singer which continues at Curve, Leicester until Saturday.

John Vernon Lord and Janet Burroway’s picture book comes to life in New Perspectives’ The Giant Jam Sandwich, adapted by Jack McNamara, which continues at the Guildhall Theatre, Derby until Saturday.

A new musical adaptation inspired by Federico Fellini’s Oscar-winning 1957 film La Strada (The Road), with a score by Benji Bower, continues at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry until Saturday.

Northern Broadsides and Newcastle-under-Lyme’s New Vic continue to stage Cyrano, Deborah McAndrew’s new adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s romantic comedy Cyrano de Bergerac, at the Staffordshire theatre-in-the-round until Saturday 25 February.

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