Midlands productions

Published: 18 February 2018
Reporter: Steve Orme

Birdsong at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
Wonderland at Nottingham Playhouse Credit: Darren Bell
Polly Lister as Mrs Betterton, Danielle Henry as Mrs Marshall and Hannah Edwards as Nell in Playhouse Creatures at the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme Credit: Andrew Billington

Hiccup Theatre cooks up a new version of the classic tale The Gingerbread Man at Create Theatre, Vision West Nottinghamshire College, Mansfield on Monday.

Marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, the Original Theatre Company’s Birdsong, based on the novel by Sebastian Faulks, flies into the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham from Monday until Saturday.

Younger audiences could be in for a treat when a show based on the Channel 5 children’s show, Milkshake! Live, The Magic Story Book, visits Derby Theatre on Monday, Mansfield Palace Theatre on Tuesday and Malvern Theatres on Sunday.

Nottingham-born writer and director Adrian Berry’s production about a young David Bowie obsessive, From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads, should be hunky dory in the MET Studio at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre on Tuesday.

Amelia Bullmore, Zodwa Nyoni, Amanda Whittington and Nick Wood discuss “the joys and challenges of writing for theatre” in Meet the Playwrights at Derby Theatre on Tuesday.

Telling a story of love, loss and sacrifice against the backdrop of the horror and conflict of World War I, Akademi’s The Troth has its UK première at Curve, Leicester on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Set “in a seaside hotel of childhood summers”, Jane Upton’s autobiographical play Finding Nana tours to Lincolnshire venues and visits Riverhead Theatre, Louth, on Tuesday, Guildhall Arts Centre, Grantham on Wednesday, South Holland Centre, Spalding on Thursday and Stamford Arts Centre on Friday.

A musical adaptation of Jeff Pope’s ITV mini-series based on the early life of Cilla Black, Cilla the Musical visits Derngate, Northampton from Tuesday until Saturday.

Birmingham Stage Company’s production of David Walliams’s Awful Auntie tours to the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry from Tuesday until Saturday.

Malvern Theatres celebrates the life and music of Dusty Springfield in Son of a Preacher Man, featuring Debra Stephenson and Alice Barlow and directed by Craig Revel Horwood, from Tuesday until Saturday.

The stage adaptation of Rod Campbell’s lift-the-flap book Dear Zoo is uncaged at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre on Wednesday and Thursday.

Tessa Peake-Jones, Aden Gillett and Timothy Watson appear in Terence Rattigan’s The Winslow Boy which tours to Birmingham REP from Wednesday until Saturday 3 March.

An “ocean-filled production perfect for those excited about saving our planet”, The Dead Sea, devised and performed by Louise White, comes to life in Derby Theatre’s Studio on Saturday.

A musical revue “exploring the naked truth about body image, diets, the gym, selfies, Botox, nip ‘n’ tucks, Photoshopping and what we endure trying to look good”, Lambco Productions’ Skin Deep the Musical reveals all in the Albany Theatre, Coventry on Friday while Ballet Theatre UK stages A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Saturday.

Hairspray the Musical continues at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham until Saturday.

The regional premiere of Beth Steele’s Wonderland, set in 1984 at Welbeck Colliery in Nottinghamshire during the miners’ strike, continues until Saturday.

April De Angelis’s Playhouse Creatures, the first play in a season of work focused on empowerment to mark the centenary of women’s suffrage, continues at the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme until Saturday.

Mamma Mia! by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus is the name of the game at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre and continues until Saturday.

In the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford Adrian Edmondson makes his RSC debut as Malvolio and Kara Tointon plays Olivia in Twelfth Night which continues until Saturday.

Based on the story and characters from the DreamWorks animation film, Shrek the Musical continues at the New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham until Sunday.

The world première of British Sikh playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s play Elephant continues in The Door at Birmingham REP until Saturday 3 March.

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