Midlands

Empty Stage

Concept Carlos Acosta, words and music Benjamin Scheuer,

Nick Cave to join cast of RSC Dream

4 March 2021

Musician, writer, film composer and actor Nick Cave is to join the cast of Dream, a live online Royal Shakespeare Company production based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Hippodrome and Rambert to stream Rooms

4 March 2021

Birmingham Hippodrome and dance company Rambert are to stream a new production, Rooms by Norwegian choreographer and theatre and film director Jo Strømgren.

Emerging talent in the spotlight in Birmingham

4 March 2021

Birmingham Hippodrome has announced two live-streamed events which will put emerging Midlands talent in the spotlight.

Northampton theatre’s online movement festival

2 March 2021

Northampton Royal and Derngate’s Generate talent development programme is to stage Gen-Fest Movement, an all-day online festival dedicated to supporting the work and development of professional and emerging artists.

Online play analyses Mercutio’s friendship with Romeo

2 March 2021

New East Midlands company Anegada Theatre has produced a retelling of one of Shakespeare's tragedies, Mercutio’s Romeo and Juliet, which is available online for free.

Full Buxton International Festival to go ahead

2 March 2021

Buxton International Festival 2021 is to go ahead in full after the 2020 festival was cancelled for the first time in 40 years and had to move online because of COVID-19.

Antonucci is new BRB Assistant Director

28 February 2021

Birmingham Royal Ballet has appointed Dominic Antonucci, currently Ballet Master with the Company, as Assistant Director with immediate effect, succeeding Marion Tait.

RSC appoints five new trustees

27 February 2021

The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced five new trustee appointments after a “public and far-reaching recruitment campaign” for RSC board members.

Derby Theatre celebrates young people’s work

27 February 2021

Derby Theatre is to showcase work created by young people in areas of low cultural engagement through Reimagine, an online project supported by £1.1 million from Arts Council England.

Sharma steps down at Birmingham REP

25 February 2021

Amit Sharma is to step down from his role as deputy artistic director of Birmingham REP, although no decision has been given for his departure date.

Courtyard delivers workshops for kids in World Book Week

24 February 2021

Drama workshops based around well-known children’s books will be on offer at The Courtyard Hereford as part of celebrations for World Book Week.

Albany secures its future with major grant

24 February 2021

Coventry’s Albany Theatre has secured a grant of £2.908 million to create more spaces that will generate enough money to ensure its long-term future.

Belgrade to première children’s show online

24 February 2021

Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre is to livestream Asif Khan’s new play for children Jabala and the Jinn.

Short film Empty Stage helps BRB to keep dance alive

20 February 2021

Birmingham Royal Ballet is to release of a short film, Carlos Acosta's first major digital commission for the company, Empty Stage.

Fifth Word secures rights to Man Booker-shortlisted novel

19 February 2021

Nottingham playwright Mufaro Makubika is to adapt NoViolet Bulawayo's We Need New Names for the stage in a world première commissioned by East Midlands company Fifth Word.

Actor loses case in The Color Purple gay row

18 February 2021

An actor who was sacked following a social media post which attacked homosexuality has lost her case at an employment tribunal in which she sued a Midlands theatre and her former agent.

Dancers’ tour postponed, so they go online

18 February 2021

Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara are to stream their “new dance spectacular” Remembering the Oscars for a three-week period, details at Northampton Royal and Derngate’s web site.

Courtyard to show mother-and-baby story online

17 February 2021

The Courtyard Hereford is to première online Hush Now which aims to give voice to the unmarried pregnant women who "were silenced, stigmatised, and hidden away in mother-and-baby homes”.

Birmingham REP and ballet company share £15,000 in donations

16 February 2021

More than £15,000 has been given to Birmingham REP and Birmingham Royal Ballet in a Save a Seat campaign, with donations from audiences being match-funded by law firm DLA Piper.

Chronic Insanity airs hairy hands horror story

12 February 2021

Nottingham-based theatre company Chronic Insanity is to release Hairy Hands FM, an online interactive experience which will bring the “legendary Hairy Hands of Dartmoor to the smartphone in your hands”.

Northampton theatre appoints new trustees

9 February 2021

Canadian-born British actress Tanya Moodie and director, writer and producer Samuel Munday-Webb have joined the board of Northampton Theatres Trust, the charity that runs Royal and Derngate.

RSC paves way with live online performance

8 February 2021

The Royal Shakespeare Company is to stage Dream inspired by Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream which lets audiences influence the live performance.

Venues start to gear up for Buxton Fringe

6 February 2021

Indoor and outdoor venues across Buxton and beyond have told Buxton Fringe they are ready to welcome Fringe performers in summer 2021.

Northampton theatre airs new musical as free videos

6 February 2021

Northampton’s Royal and Derngate is to release a new musical, On Hostile Ground, inspired by the stories of people “affected by the government’s hostile environment policy”.

Derby Theatre to commemorate Rams’ 1946 FA Cup success

6 February 2021

Derby Theatre is to produce a community play to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Derby County’s winning the FA Cup.

Midlands theatre in 2020

3 January 2021

Steve Orme summarises the year in theatre in the Midlands.