Midlands productions

Published: 27 January 2019
Reporter: Steve Orme

Callum Francis as Lola in Kinky Boots at the Regent Theatre, Stoke Credit: Helen Maybanks
DadMan: the Bathtime Warrior at the Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton-on-Trent, mac Birmingham and Derby Theatre
Pepter Lunkuse (Marie-Clare) and Michelle Asante (Sister Evangelique) in Our Lady of Kibeho at Royal and Derngate, Northampton Credit: Manuel Harlan

Bold Text Playwrights’ fascination with crime and punishment is uncovered in The Sentence, three new short plays by Liz John, Vanessa Oakes and Julia Wright, in The Door at Birmingham REP on Monday.

Joe McFadden and Rita Simons appear in Peter James’s “spine-chilling thriller” The House on Cold Hill, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham from Monday until Saturday.

Samantha Womack takes the lead role in a new adaptation of Paula Hawkins’s novel The Girl on the Train, which pulls into the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham from Monday until Saturday.

Bill Kenwright’s production of Ghost the Musical visits Curve, Leicester from Monday until Saturday.

A “deliciously warped journey into the depths of the human psyche”, Missing turns up at Nottingham Playhouse from Tuesday until Thursday.

Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers promises a bright new day in the Festival Theatre, Malvern from Tuesday until Saturday.

The 70th anniversary season at Chesterfield’s Pomegranate Theatre continues with Tabs Productions’ and Rumpus Theatre Company’s presentation of Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, first staged at the theatre in 1962, from Tuesday until Saturday.

New Old Friends’ Belgian detective Artemis Arinae heads to sunnier climes for a little boat trip—with deadly consequences for someone on board—in Crimes on the Nile which tours to The Barn, Cirencester, Gloucestershire from Tuesday until Saturday.

Kinky Boots takes audiences from the factory floor to the glamorous catwalks of Milan when it walks into the Regent Theatre, Stoke from Tuesday until Saturday 9 February.

Middle Ground Theatre Company revives Barry Reed’s legal thriller The Verdict, which starts its second UK tour at Coventry’s Belgrade from Wednesday until Saturday.

Two contrasting “yet equally mesmerising” pieces of dance, Aakash Odedra Company’s Echoes and I Imagine, can be seen in the Patrick Studio at Birmingham Hippodrome on Thursday.

Notnow Collective’s new show, DadMan: the Bathtime Warrior, mixes quiz, fantasy, live music and original songs in an “entirely baby-friendly, baby-welcoming and baby-proof show geared at adults”, at the Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton-on-Trent on Thursday, mac Birmingham on Friday and Derby Theatre on Sunday.

Jonty Stephens and Ian Ashpitel pay homage to Morecambe and Wise in An Evening with Eric and Ern at the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme on Friday and Saturday.

Oddsocks Productions takes its tour of Robin Hood and the Revolting Peasants to Landau Forte College, Derby on Friday and Saturday and the Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton on Sunday.

The story of “Gorgeous” George O’Connell, a bare-knuckle fighter who enters the world of professional boxing which puts him on a collision course with his roots, his identity and his greatest fear, is told in Gypsy Queen in the Neville Studio at Nottingham Playhouse on Saturday.

Shortlisted for the Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award 2016, Pizza Shop Heroes features four refugees who made the journey to the UK on their own as children from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Albania and is on the menu in the Studio at Derby Theatre on Saturday.

Elmer The Patchwork Elephant Show, which includes 21 puppets, tells the tale of an elephant that stands out—both with his patchwork-coloured skin and his sense of humour—at the Albany Theatre, Coventry on Saturday.

The UK première of Katori Hall’s play Our Lady of Kibeho continues at Northampton’s Royal and Derngate until Saturday.

At the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, in the Swan Theatre, Kathryn Hunter takes the title role in Timon of Athens which continues until Friday 22 February and Molière’s classic Tartuffe is brought up to date in a new version by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto which continues until Saturday 23 February.

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