British Theatre Guide

News, reviews, features and podcast on theatre across the UK

Midlands

Reviews

Janet Dibley (The Governess)

Turn of the Screw

Henry James, adapted by Tim Luscombe

Dermot McLaughlin Productions, Mercury Theatre Colchester, Wolverhampton Grand and Exeter Northcott Theatre

Theatre Royal, Nottingham

9 to 13 April 2019

Iniki Mariano (Mowgli) and Esme Sears (Bagheera)

The Jungle Book

Rudyard Kipling, adapted by Neil Duffield

Derby Theatre

Derby Theatre

5 to 20 April 2019

The Cast of Barber Shop Chronicles

Barber Shop Chronicles

Inua Ellams

Fuel, National theatre and Leeds Playhouse

Curve Theatre, Leicester

2 to 6 April 2019

Abigail Prudames (Victoria) and cast

Victoria

Choreography, direction and scenario Cathy Marston, music Philip Feeney

Northern Ballet with The National Ballet of Canada

Curve Theatre, Leicester

2 to 6 April 2019

The cast of The Comedy About a Bank Robbery

The Comedy About a Bank Robbery

Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields

Kenny Wax and Stage Presence Ltd, in association with Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Curve Theatre, Leicester

26 to 30 March 2019

John Kani (Lunga Kunene) and Antony Sher (Jack Morris)

Kunene and the King

John Kani

Royal Shakespeare Company and Fugard Theatre, Cape Town

Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

21 March to 23 April 2019

Claire Price (Petruchia) shows new husband Joseph Arkley (Katherine) who's boss

The Taming Of The Shrew

William Shakespeare

Royal Shakespeare Company

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

19 March 2019 to 4 April 2020

Sarah Wynne Kordas (Suzette), Anna Mitcham (Suzanne), Susan Earnshaw (Jacqueline) and David Martin (Robert)

Don't Dress for Dinner

Marc Camoletti adapted by Robin Hawdon

Tabs Productions and Rumpus Theatre Company

Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield

12 to 16 March 2019

Joyce El Khoury as Elisabetta

Roberto Devereux

Gaetano Donizetti

Welsh National Opera

Birmingham Hippodrome

8 March to 8 May 2019

Anna Mitcham (Suzy Stevens), John Goodrum (Max Harrington) and Karen Henson (Janet Harrington)

Anybody for Murder

Brian Clemens and Dennis Spooner

Tabs Productions and Rumpus Theatre Company

Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield

5 to 9 March 2019

Samantha Womack (Rachel)

The Girl on the Train

Based on the novel by Paula Hawkins and Dreamworks film, adapted by Rachel Wa...

Simon Friend, Amblin Partners and Josh Andrews

Curve Theatre, Leicester

4 to 9 March 2019

Liam Collins and Rambert company

Life is a Dream

Choreography Kim Brandstrup, music by Witold Lutoslawski, based on the play b...

Rambert

Curve Theatre, Leicester

28 February to 2 March 2019

Stephen Tompkinson, Nigel Havers and Denis Lawson

Art

Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton

David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers present Old Vic production

Festival Theatre, Malvern

25 February to 2 March 2019

David Martin (Bill) and Susan Earnshaw (Monica)

An Evening with Gary Lineker

Arthur Smith and Chris England

Tabs Productions and Rumpus Theatre Company

Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield

25 February to 2 March 2019

Niamh Cusack (Kenton), Stephen Boxer (Stevens)

The Remains of the Day

Kazuo Ishiguro, adapted by Barney Norris

Royal and Derngate, Northampton with Out of Joint in association with Oxford Playhouse

Royal and Derngate, Northampton

23 February to 16 March 2019

News

Samantha Womack (Rachel) and Adam Jackson-Smith (Tom) in The Girl on the Train at Royal and Derngate, Northampton

Midlands productions

Theatre productions in the Midlands for the week beginning Monday 22 April.

"Promising new show": James Dacre

New collaboration about loss and inheritance in Northampton

Northampton’s Royal and Derngate is to co-produce The Last of the Pelican Daughters, its latest collaboration with The Wardrobe Ensemble, which is being developed in partnership with Complicité.

“Surprised and inspired”: Theatre Absolute artistic director Chris O’Connell

Storytellers wanted for new Coventry project

The hunt is on for stories from across Coventry, with residents becoming storytellers in a new project called City Voices.

Les Dennis will play an Ugly Sister

Les Dennis, Gareth Gates and Sooty go to the ball in Nottingham

Les Dennis, Connor McIntyre, Gareth Gates and Sooty head the cast of Cinderella, the 2019 panto at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham.

“Strikingly relevant issues”: My Beautiful Laundrette

Four theatres to co-produce My Beautiful Laundrette

Four theatres are getting together to co-produce a new stage version of Hanif Kureishi’s 1985 Oscar-nominated film My Beautiful Laundrette.

Responsibility to its community: Buxton Opera House

Buxton gets grant to look at Opera House improvements

Arts Council England and High Peak borough council have awarded Buxton Opera House a grant to conduct a study on how to protect and enhance the building.

Paul Bradley (Marvin), Carolyn Backhouse (Gloria) and Nick Hancock (Seymour) in Octopus Soup! at Malvern Theatres

Midlands productions

Theatre productions in the Midlands for the week beginning Monday 15 April.

Theophilius Oloyade

Let’s Dance goes International in Leicester

Let’s Dance International Frontiers will launch in Leicester on International Dance Day in venues across the city.

Anton Lesser will play The Pope

Anton Lesser to play Pope in Northampton

Anton Lesser will return to the stage for the first time in a decade to play Pope Benedict in the world première of The Pope at Northampton’s Royal and Derngate.

“Quirky comedy”: Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis

Comedy and classic drama in New Vic summer season

A “heart-warming quirky comedy”, a classic drama about a brass band and a story filled with “magical moments, devilish encounters and spellbinding music” will be the attractions at a north Staffordshire theatre in summer 2019.

“Excellent news”: Mansfield Palace Theatre

Record number of tickets sold at Mansfield theatre

A Nottinghamshire theatre has sold a record number of tickets for the second year running.

Andrew Pollard (Phileas Fogg), Michael Hugo (Passepartout), Kirsten Foster (Mrs Aouda) and Pushpinder Chani (Mr Naidu) in Around the World in 80 Days

Broadway beckons for New Vic show

A show that started life in north Staffordshire is to head to Broadway for the New Vic Theatre’s first international tour.

Gwyneth Strong (Mrs Boyle) in The Mousetrap at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

Midlands productions

Theatre productions in the Midlands for the week beginning Monday 8 April.

Danielle Bird (Mildred) and Rachel Heaton as Miss Hardbroom in The Worst Witch

Northampton’s The Worst Witch gets West End transfer

The Worst Witch, the Northampton Royal and Derngate production which is touring the UK, is to fly into the West End for a seven-week season.

Wicked Stepmother: Anita Dobson

Anita Dobson cast in Cinderella in Northampton

Anita Dobson will play the Wicked Stepmother in Northampton Royal and Derngate’s 2019 panto Cinderella.

Nasrin Samavi at the first Meet Your Neighbour event in 2018

Communities get together in second Derby Meet Your Neighbour party

Derby-based theatre company Maison Foo is to host its second Meet Your Neighbour party with the aim of helping to “forge new friendships and greater understanding between people living in the county and those who have migrated here”.

“Thrilled”: Liam Steel

Peter Pan flies into Birmingham REP for Christmas

A new staging of the J M Barrie classic Peter Pan will be the Christmas 2019 show at Birmingham REP.

Madagascar the Musical at Malvern Theatres

Midlands productions

Theatre productions in the Midlands for the week beginning Monday 1 April.

Frankenstein: new take on Shelley’s novel

New Frankenstein staging gets Coventry outing

Coventry audiences will be among the first to experience a new staging of Mary Shelley’s seminal 1818 gothic horror novel Frankenstein when an “inventive” co-production visits the Belgrade Theatre in autumn 2019.

Juliet Cowan plays Teresa, the eldest of the three sisters

Memory of Water cast unveiled by Nottingham Playhouse

Nottingham Playhouse has revealed the cast for Shelagh Stephenson’s “hilarious and heart-breaking drama” The Memory of Water.

The cast of A Thousand Splendid Suns

Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns to have Birmingham première

An adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, the story of three generations of women discovering strength in unity, will have its European première at Birmingham REP before a national tour.

“Licence to create”: Swiss Family Robinson

Swiss Family Robinson is Christmas show in Corby

A new, comic re-telling of Swiss Family Robinson is to be the 2019 Christmas show at Northamptonshire theatre The Core at Corby Cube.

Esme Sears (Bagheera) and Ivan Stott (Baloo) in rehearsal for The Jungle Book

Jungle Book to be first Derby Theatre show with integrated BSL

Neil Duffield’s The Jungle Book which is inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s stories will be Derby Theatre’s first in-house production with fully integrated BSL interpretation and captioning.

“Hugely excited”: Jack McNamara

New Perspectives on the road with two new shows

Nottinghamshire-based rural touring company New Perspectives has announced two productions for 2019: The Man Without a Past—a new adaptation of a Finnish film—and debbie tucker green’s trade.

Jane Asher and Simon Callow in A Song at Twilight at Malvern Theatres

Midlands productions

Theatre productions in the Midlands for the week beginning Monday 25 March.

“Fulfilling dreams”: Derby Theatre

Children to benefit from Derby Theatre performing arts programme

A scheme to open up theatre-making to children aged between 8 and 18 is to be set up at Derby Theatre, Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright has announced.

Working with adults at risk of social exclusion: Underground Lights

Three get springboard to develop their talent in Coventry

Three companies are to join Coventry Belgrade Theatre’s Springboard talent development programme for 2019.

“The strongest girl in the world”: Pippi Longstocking

Pippi Longstocking to get Christmas première in Northampton

The world première of the musical staging of children’s book Pippi Longstocking is to be the 2019 Made in Northampton Christmas show at the town’s Royal and Derngate.

Tina Hofman in Pepper and Honey

Croatian play gets Derby première day after supposed Brexit

Written by a Croatian playwright and performed by a Croatian actor, Pepper and Honey is to have its première at Derby Theatre the day after the UK was due to leave the European Union.