Midlands productions

Published: 9 April 2017
Reporter: Steve Orme

Northanger Abbey at Derby Theatre
Sarah Wynne Kordas (Paisley), Andrew Ryan (Styler) and Michael Sherwin (Farquhar) in Mindgame at Malvern Theatres

Tim Luscombe’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s earliest novel Northanger Abbey, presented by Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, tours to Derby Theatre from Monday until Wednesday.

Marking the 30th anniversary of the popular choreographer’s company with a selection of three pieces that started his career, Matthew Bourne’s Early Adventures dances into Northampton’s Royal and Derngate from Monday until Wednesday.

English Touring Opera presents Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience at Wolverhampton Grand on Monday and Puccini’s Tosca on Tuesday before moving to Curve, Leicester to stage Patience on Wednesday and Tosca on Thursday.

Featuring classic tracks by Roy Orbison, the Shadows, Eddie Cochran, Billy Fury and many more, Dreamboats and Petticoats the Musical rocks Stoke’s Regent Theatre from Monday until Saturday.

Theatre Ad Infinitum takes the epic tale of a Mexican woman’s fight for justice, Bucket List, to the Guildhall Arts Centre, Grantham on Tuesday, Lincoln Drill Hall on Wednesday and Nottingham Lakeside Arts on Thursday.

Anthony Horowitz’s “mind-bending psychological thriller” Mindgame, a Tabs Productions presentation featuring Andrew Ryan as Mark Styler, Michael Sherwin as Dr Farquhar and Sarah Wynne Kordas as Nurse Paisley, tours to Malvern Theatres from Tuesday until Saturday.

A new production celebrating the 20th anniversary of Jonathan Larson’s rock opus Rent the Musical visits Cheltenham’s Everyman Theatre from Tuesday until Saturday.

Derby Theatre Youth Theatre groups stage a triple bill of Daffodil Scissors by Philip Ridley, Stay Brave Bryony Gravy by Carl Grose and Dark Age by Richard Hurford in the Studio on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Birmingham Stage Company presentation of David Walliams’s Gangsta Granny holds up Buxton Opera House from Wednesday until Sunday.

Noise, a “bold piece of new writing” by Thomas Moran which “throws humour and tragedy into a vocally snappy, physically expressive and aesthetically engaging piece commenting on how we choose whether to cope”, can be heard—and seen—at the Old Rep, Birmingham from Thursday until Saturday.

Scamp Theatre’s The Scarecrows’ Wedding, adapted from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s book, tours to Birmingham Town Hall on Friday and Saturday.

Gayle Telfer Stevens and Louise McCarthy perform their new comic play The Dolls at the Core at Corby Cube, Northamptonshire on Saturday.

Choreographer Gary Clarke presents COAL, a “riveting dance theatre show which takes a nostalgic look at the hard-hitting realities of life at the coal face”, at Curve, Leicester on Saturday.

The European première of the off-Broadway musical by Kirsten Childs The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin continues at the Belgrade, Coventry until Saturday.

The National Theatre production of Simon Stephens’s adaptation of Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time continues at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham until Saturday.

The Original Theatre Company production of Torben Betts’s Invincible continues at the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme until Saturday.

Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games tours to the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham from Sunday until Tuesday 18 April.

The world première of One Love: The Bob Marley Musical continues at Birmingham REP until Saturday while in the Studio a new play by Mike Kenny based on the best-selling picture books created by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul, Winnie and Wilbur, continues until Saturday 22 April.

Lewis Smallman from West Bromwich shares the role of Billy in Billy Elliot the Musical which continues at Birmingham Hippodrome until Saturday 6 May.

At the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, the Rome season is underway in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre with Julius Caesar which continues until Saturday 9 September and Antony and Cleopatra which continues until Thursday 7 September while in the Swan Theatre Richard Bean’s new comedy The Hypocrite featuring Caroline Quentin and Mark Addy continues until Saturday 29 April.

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