What's on in the Midlands

An “irreverent satire of the UK’s current TV landscape”, Yellow Mug Theatre’s new black comedy The Gay Train by LGBTQ actors Ray Stafford and Andrew Lake pulls into the Crescent Theatre, Birmingham on Monday.

“One of the largest aerial and physical theatre festivals outside London”, the Tilt Festival takes place at the West Midlands Circus and Creation Centre, Birmingham from Monday until Friday 12 August.

The Colin McIntyre Classic Thriller Season continues at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham with Agatha Christie’s Spider’s Web from Tuesday until Saturday.

Millie O’Connell, Danielle Steers and Debbie Kurup play Cher at various stages of her life in The Cher Show at Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday until Saturday.

New English Ballet Theatre returns to the Crescent Theatre, Birmingham with a new work about the music of Genesis, Into the Spotlight—Genesis Dance Project, featuring the work of six choreographers, on Wednesday and Thursday.

ACE Dance and Music and Birmingham Hippodrome stage It’s Carnival, a large-scale dance and music extravaganza in and around Birmingham Bullring and Grand Central, on Saturday.

Identical, a new musical adaptation of Erik Kästner’s novel The Parent Trap, which tells the story of twin girls separated at birth who are reunited by chance ten years later at a summer camp, continues at Nottingham Playhouse until Sunday 14 August.

A young company of 39 actors appears in the Lyric Hammersmith production of Alan Parker’s Bugsy Malone at Birmingham Rep which continues until Sunday 14 August.

Sally Ann Triplett plays dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson in Billy Elliot the Musical, featuring music by Elton John and book and lyrics by Lee Hall, which continues at Curve, Leicester until Saturday 20 August.

Disabled actor Arthur Hughes plays the title role in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Richard III which continues in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford until Saturday 8 October.