Midlands productions

Published: 24 February 2019
Reporter: Steve Orme

Stephen Tompkinson, Nigel Havers and Denis Lawson in Art at Malvern Theatres Credit: Matt Crockett
The cast of Much Ado About Nothing at the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme Credit: Nobby Clark
Lucy Phelps (Rosalind) and David Ajao (Orlando) in As You Like It in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford Credit: Topher McGrillis

The Sad Club by Luke Barnes is a New Vic youth theatre production as part of National Theatre Connections at the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme on Monday.

Nigel Havers, Denis Lawson and Stephen Tompkinson form the cast of Yasmina Reza’s Art at Malvern Theatres from Monday until Saturday.

Gary Lucy, Andrew Dunn, Louis Emerick, Joe Gill, Kai Owen and James Redmond drop everything in Simon Beaufoy’s The Full Monty at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry from Monday until Saturday.

Brendan Cole’s fifth production Show Man with eight professional dancers and nine musicians tours to Derngate, Northampton on Tuesday.

Based on the book by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, Sally Cookson’s adaptation of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt visits The Core at Corby Cube, Northamptonshire from Tuesday until Thursday.

The Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield’s 70th anniversary celebrations continue with the Tabs Productions and Rumpus Theatre Company presentation of An Evening with Gary Lineker by Arthur Smith and Chris England from Tuesday until Saturday.

Written and performed by Amahra Spence, Concubine “delivers an urgent look at womanhood, sexuality and faith, asking what we risk in the pursuit of a dream” in The Door at Birmingham REP from Tuesday until Saturday.

A new adaptation of Franz Kafka’s “disquieting tale of transformation” Metamorphosis by Beyond the Horizon starts a tour at the Old Rep, Birmingham from Tuesday until Saturday.

Birmingham Stage Company narrates stories of Terrible Tudors and Awful Egyptians in its Horrible Histories series at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham from Tuesday until Saturday.

The Take That musical The Band should shine at Wolverhampton Grand from Tuesday until Saturday.

Based on the book by Dr Seuss, The Cat in the Hat “features feline frivolity aplenty” in the Studio at Birmingham REP from Tuesday until Sunday.

“Highlighting and commemorating women’s suffrage in the UK through emotional and fierce choreography”, Deeds Not Words sheds light on the physical and mental fight women faced in their struggle for suffrage in Black Country Dance Hub’s presentation at Forest Arts Centre, Walsall on Wednesday.

Stafford Gatehouse Youth Theatre performs Disney Jungle Book Kids in the MET Studio at the Gatehouse from Wednesday until Friday.

Atiha Sen Gupta’s What Fatima Did, a “funny and provocative exploration of attitudes to identity, freedom and multiculturalism in contemporary Britain”, will be staged at Derby Theatre from Wednesday until Saturday.

A new story of Liz Pichon’s Tom Gates and his friends comes to life in Birmingham Stage Company’s adaptation which tours to the Lyceum Theatre, Crewe from Wednesday until Saturday.

With projection and multiple train sets, Lipservice’s Strangers on a Train Set promises to be just the ticket when it pulls into the Djanogly Theatre at Lakeside Arts, Nottingham on Thursday and Friday.

When an inflatable doll comes to life it could be just the man Kate needs in Paperback Theatre’s Me and My Doll at the Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham from Thursday until Saturday.

A new dance show from Kim Brandstrup which is set in a run-down rehearsal room and features a director drifting off to sleep with images of the day’s rehearsals running through his mind, Rambert’s Life is a Dream transports audiences into another world at Curve, Leicester from Thursday until Saturday.

A “multi-disciplinary solo show exploring masculinity and lesbianism in black women, partly inspired by the rebellious butches of the early 20th century and beyond”, Mia Johnson’s Pink Lemonade is on the menu in the Studio at Derby Theatre on Friday.

Kevin Fegan’s play Bess the Commoner Queen featuring Michelle Todd as Bess of Hardwick begins a three-month tour at the Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton on Saturday.

A nostalgic trip back to the 1980s and a comic exploration of a childhood haunting where nothing is quite what it seems is on offer in Little Earthquake’s I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost in the Studio at Derby Theatre on Saturday.

Northern Broadsides’ first performance of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing for 19 years continues at the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme until Saturday.

Set in Coventry and Guangzhou, Amy Ng’s new play Under the Umbrella “explores tradition, trauma and triumph in the art of finding love” at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry from Saturday until Saturday 16 March.

Proforça Theatre Company presents Feel, a new piece of writing about a search for fulfilment, second-hand love and the hope of one day becoming something better than you are, at the Albany Theatre, Coventry on Sunday.

Anton and Erin Dance those Magical Musicals at the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham on Sunday.

The world première of Barney Norris’s adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day continues at Royal and Derngate, Northampton until Saturday 16 March (press night Wednesday 27 February).

At the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Kimberley Sykes directs a “fierce, exhilarating version” of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy As You Like It which continues until Saturday 31 August.

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