Let It Be, Wipers Times, Duet For One, Burning Tower
Let It Be: A Celebration Of The Music Of The Beatles – tour starts 20 August
Hit show Let It Be: A Celebration Of The Music Of The Beatles has had a makeover ahead of its new tour.
Featuring a new Let It Be Part II with a Magical Mystery Tour of the concert that never was set ten years after the band broke up, the updated show will première at Wales Millennium Centre Cardiff at the start of an international tour.
For this new tour, Michael Gagliano plays John Lennon, Emanuele Angeletti plays Paul McCartney, John Brosnan plays George Harrison and Ben Cullingworth plays Ringo Starr. Musical direcctor Michael Bramwell joins the four on keyboards.
The show features many of the Beatles' hits including "A Hard Days Night", "Day Tripper", "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Twist and Shout", "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "Strawberry Fields Forever", covering the band's story from the early days at the Cavern Club to the height of Beatlemania.
Let It Be visits Wales Millennium Centre, Cheltenham Everyman, Empire Theatre Liverpool, Royal Concert Hall Nottingham, Gaiety Theatre Dublin, New Theatre Hull, Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh, Orchard Theatre Dartford and Opera House Manchester.
The Wipers Times – tour starts 28 August
The Wipers Times, which enjoyed a run in London's West End and on tour last year, is back on the road.
Written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, it is a stage adaptation of their award-winning BBC film which tells the true story of a satirical newspaper created at the Somme when two officers discover a printing press and create a newspaper for the troops.
The Wipers Times is directed by Caroline Leslie, the composer is Nick Green and the musical director is Paul Herbert. It is produced by Bob Benton & David Parfitt.
Following the tour, The Wipers Times will have a short run at London's Arts Theatre.
The Wipers Times visits Nottingham Theatre Royal, Oxford Playhouse, Malvern Festival Theatre, Leicester Curve, Devonshire Park Theatre Eastbourne and Birmingham Rep.
Duet For One – tour starts 28 August
Robin Lefevre directs Belinda Lang and Jonathan Coy in Tom Kempinski’s award-winning play Duet For One.
This play based on the life of Jacqueline Du Pré tells the story of a concert violinist who consults a psychiatrist when forced to re-evaluate her life.
Belinda Lang is currently starring in The County Wife at Chichester Festival Theatre with other stage credits including Dead Funny, Hay Fever, Life x3, What The Butler Saw, Things We do for Love and Single Spies.
On television, Lang is best known for 2 Point 4 Children.
Jonathan Coy will be known to Downton fans as George Murray, prior to which he was in the long running series Rumpole.
Coy's stage credits include Ink, Privacy Relatively Speaking, Much Ado About Nothing and Noises Off.
The production which toured successfully last year with Jemma Redgrave and Oliver Cotton is produced by Lee Dean and Daniel Schumann and visits Oxford Playhouse, Clwyd Theatr Cymru Mold, Salisbury Playhouse, Darlington Hippodrome and Grand Theatre Wolverhampton.
The Burning Tower – tour starts 31 August
The Burning Tower by Helena Thompson tours council estates in Birmingham, Newcastle and Nottingham in a short tour followed by a run at London's Kensal House Estate.
Inspired by interviews with West London estate residents, it is an interactive response to the Grenfell fire, with the play looking at the history of social housing and the shadow cast by the fire.
The Burning Tower grew out of SPID’s ground-breaking Kensington Stories programme. SPID—Social Political Independent Direct—which shares a landlord with Grenfell Tower, is an award-winning charity that promotes solidarity and community spirit through participatory drama.
Their Living History programme was the subject of a BBC documentary and their work has won Time Out Critic’s Choice, Fringe Report’s Best Outreach Award, the Apollo Award and a Young People Now award.
The play is presented by SPID Theatre in association with Bush Theatre and locally in association with Birmingham Rep, Northern Stage and Nottingham Playhouse.
The Burning Tower will visit Birmingham’s Druids Heath estate, Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s Meadow Well Estate and Nottingham’s Clifton Estate.
Check web sites for information regarding post-show Q&As, captioned, signed and relaxed performances, and age suitability. At the time of going to press, some dates may not yet be on sale.