What's on in the Midlands

Published: 27 November 2021
Reporter: Steve Orme

Tom Chambers (Tony Wendice) and Christopher Harper (Captain Lesgate) in Dial M for Murder at Malvern Theatres Credit: Manuel Harlan
Groan Ups at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham
Jeremy Smith (Albert) and John Hewer (Harold) in Steptoe and Son Radio Show at Louth Riverhead Theatre Credit: Jack Lovett

Tom Chambers is former tennis professional Tony Wendice while Diana Vickers and Katy Allen share the role of Margot Wendice in Frederick Knott’s Dial M for Murder at Malvern Theatres from Monday until Saturday.

Following “an unruly classroom of six-year-olds on their journey through anarchic high-school teenagers to the challenges of adulthood”, Mischief Theatre’s Groan Ups visits the Theatre Royal, Nottingham from Monday until Saturday.

Historical figures and events come alive when Birmingham Stage Company presents Horrible Histories—Barmy Britain at the Alexandra, Birmingham from Wednesday until Saturday.

Eric's Christmas Carol gives Scrooge a swinging ‘60s twist when David Graham Productions provides a “a fresh but nostalgic take” on the Dickens classic at the New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme from Wednesday until Saturday 11 December while the theatre takes Beauty and the Beast back to its roots for a retelling of the story which continues until Saturday 29 January.

Tall Stories’ “stellar” new show based on Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler’s The Smeds and the Smoos zooms off into space at Curve, Leicester from Wednesday until Friday 31 December while a new production of the Broadway musical A Chorus Line runs from Friday until Friday 31 December.

Suzanne Shaw is Belle with Thomas Redgrave from Britain’s Got Talent winners Collabro as Gaston and Andrew Fleming as Philippe Philoppe in Beauty and the Beast at the Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield from Friday until Sunday 2 January.

Kenneth Alan Taylor’s Beauty and the Beast is the Nottingham Playhouse panto which runs from Friday until Saturday 15 January.

“Shining new light on this incendiary interrogation of power and privilege in modern Britain”, Joe Penhall’s Blue / Orange, a co-production with Theatre Royal Bath and Oxford Playhouse, continues at Northampton’s Royal and Derngate until Saturday.

Beckett's Room, the latest work from Dublin-based company Dead Centre, explores writer Samuel Beckett's Parisian apartment during World War II using only voices and objects when it visits Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry from Saturday until Tuesday 7 December.

The “perfect family-friendly alternative to a traditional panto”, Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is adapted by Coventry’s Albany Theatre and runs from Saturday until Sunday 26 December.

A new, festive radio play based on the original TV scripts by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, Hambleton productions’ Steptoe and Son Radio Show tours to Louth Riverhead Theatre, Lincolnshire on Sunday.

Theresa Heskins’s adaptation of Treasure Island, inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of buried treasure and buccaneers, continues to sail into Derby Theatre until Friday 31 December.

Adapted from Kate DiCamillo's novel, the world première of The Magician's Elephant continues in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford until Saturday 1 January.

James Peake, winner of best dame in the 2020 Great British Pantomime Awards, plays Widow Twankey in Loughborough Town Hall’s panto Aladdin which continues until Sunday 2 January.

Mansfield Palace Theatre continues to wake up Sleeping Beauty until Sunday 2 January.

Written by Nick Lane, The Snow Queen runs at The Courtyard Hereford from Saturday until Friday 31 December while audiences will have the climb of their life when they see Jack and the Beanstalk which continues until Saturday 8 January.

Iain Lauchlan is Dame Dolly Mixture in the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry panto Beauty and the Beast which continues until Saturday 8 January.

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