What's on in the Midlands

Published: 29 September 2019
Reporter: Steve Orme

Lizzy Muncey (Mum) and Giles Cooper (Nigel Slater) in Toast at Malvern Theatres Credit: Simon Annand
Frankenstein at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry Credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
Jonny Fines (Johnny) and Omar Malik (Omar) in My Beautiful Laundrette at Curve, Leicester Credit: Ellie Kurttz

Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s ghost story The Woman in Black haunts the Royal, Northampton from Monday until Saturday, while in Derngate the Richard Alston Dance Company will appear for the last time before the company closes in April 2020 in Final Edition on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Martin Shaw returns to the stage as retired Detective Rough in a new production of Patrick Hamilton’s classic psychological thriller Gaslight which tours to the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham from Monday until Saturday.

Henry Filloux-Bennett’s adaptation of food writer Nigel Slater’s memoir Toast will be on stage at Malvern Theatres from Monday until Saturday.

A “passionate and contemporary re-imagining of Shakespeare’s classic love story”, Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet dances into the Theatre Royal, Nottingham from Monday until Saturday.

As part of its 30th anniversary tour, Buddy - the Buddy Holly Story raves on at the Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield from Monday until Saturday.

Bill Kenwright’s production of Willy Russell’s musical Blood Brothers, featuring Lyn Paul as Mrs Johnstone for the final time, returns to Birmingham Hippodrome from Monday until Saturday 12 October.

Rod Campbell’s book is brought to life by Norwell Lapley Productions when Dear Zoo Live on Stage visits Mansfield Palace Theatre on Tuesday and Wednesday.

London Classic Theatre performs Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land at the New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme from Tuesday until Saturday.

Nottingham New Theatre, “England’s only fully student-run theatre”, stages an Edinburgh Festival double bill, Order from Chaos and Franz and Marie: Woyzeck Retold, loosely based on Büchner's incomplete German story, in the Djanogly Theatre at Lakeside Arts, Nottingham on Wednesday while University of Nottingham and Hall Park Academy students find inspiration in a Nottinghamshire author’s poems, novels and plays in D H Lawrence and Nostalgia on Friday.

China Plate and Staatstheater Mainz present a “globe-spanning journey of attempted escape, with songs along the way”, Status, “a show about someone who doesn’t want his any more”, at The Core at Corby Cube, Northamptonshire on Wednesday while The Tiger who Came to Tea is on the menu from Friday until Sunday.

Rona Munro’s new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein places the writer among the action as she wrestles with the realities facing revolutionary young women in a Coventry Belgrade, Selladoor Productions, Matthew Townshend Productions and Perth Theatre at Horsecross Arts co-production in the B2 auditorium at the Belgrade from Wednesday until Saturday 12 October.

Nottinghamshire touring company New Perspectives takes debbie tucker green’s play about the controversial topic of female sex tourism, trade, to the Old Library, Mansfield on Thursday.

Candoco Dance Company presents a double bill, a new piece Hot Mess by Theo Clinkard and the “wild and sensual” Face In by Israeli choreographer Yasmeen Godder, at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry on Thursday.

The Scarecrow’s Wedding, an adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s book, promises “wit, drama and wedding bells” at the Albany Theatre, Coventry on Thursday and Friday.

Thirty-five young people between the ages of 13 and 25 from Derby Youth Musical Theatre perform the musical Barnum at Derby Theatre from Thursday until Saturday while in the Studio Five Years, based on Neal Pike’s memories of life at a Nottinghamshire special educational needs school, can be seen on Saturday.

Created by Jonathan Rockefeller, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show which features 75 puppets crawls into Nottingham Playhouse on Thursday before Sh!t-faced Shakespeare tours its version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to the theatre on Saturday and Wireless Wise—A Celebration of Radio 4, featuring Alistair McGowan, Reverend Richard Coles, Garry Richardson, Charlotte Green and Richie Webb, tunes in on Sunday.

Rush Theatre Company stages Rush, a Joyous Jamaican Journey, the story of how reggae music evolved through the decades, in the Studio at Birmingham REP on Thursday and Les Enfants Terribles investigates the "rising epidemic" of men's suicide in The Thing in the Studio as part of the BEDLAM Arts and Mental Health Festival on Friday and Saturday, while on the main stage Robert Lindsay plays Jack Cardiff in Terry Johnson’s Prism, based on the life of the double Oscar-winning cinematic master, in the Birmingham REP and Hampstead Theatre presentation which runs at the REP from Friday until Saturday 12 October.

Set somewhere north of the Arctic Circle, Red Earth Theatre’s Soonchild, the story of a shaman known as Sixteen Face John who feels out of step with the modern world, will be performed at the Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton on Friday and Saturday.

Exploring the “turbulent teenage years of a girl looking for love in all the wrong places”, Sophie Ellerby’s LIT continues in the Neville Studio at Nottingham Playhouse until Saturday.

The latest play from Birmingham-born writer Robin French, Rebel Music continues in The Door at Birmingham REP until Saturday.

Leicester Curve’s artistic director Nikolai Foster brings to life Hanif Kureishi’s screenplay My Beautiful Laundrette which continues in the Studio until Saturday while on the main stage the National Theatre’s War Horse, adapted by Nick Stafford from Michael Morpurgo’s novel, continues until Saturday 12 October.

BOLDtext Playwrights takes people on a “sometimes giddy, often unhygienic and always revealing walking tour of Digbeth’s hidden history” in Follow Me, beginning at Digbeth Coach Station, Birmingham at 2PM on Sunday.

Shakespeare's rarely-performed history play King John featuring Rosie Sheehy in the title role continues in the Swan Theatre, Stratford until Saturday 21 March 2020.

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