What's on in the Midlands

Published: 13 August 2022
Reporter: Steve Orme

Les Misérables at Birmingham Hippodrome Credit: Michael Le Poer Trench
The Book of Mormon at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham Credit: Phil Coltas
Counting and Cracking at Birmingham Rep Credit: Brett Boardman

Returning “by popular demand” after a sell-out run, Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Boublil and Schönberg’s musical Les Misérables is at Birmingham Hippodrome from Monday until Friday 26 August.

The musical The Book of Mormon by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez which “follows a pair of Mormon boys sent on a mission to a place that’s a long way from their home in Salt Lake City” journeys to the Theatre Royal, Nottingham from Tuesday until Saturday 10 September.

Blanche McIntyre’s contemporary take on Shakespeare’s dark comedy All’s Well That Ends Well for the Royal Shakespeare Company, which “explores themes of romantic fantasy, toxic masculinity and consent”, runs in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from Tuesday until Saturday 8 October while disabled actor Arthur Hughes takes the title role of Richard III which also continues until 8 October.

Roy Williams and Tim Sutton’s musical To the Streets!, inspired by the 1963 Bristol bus boycott, a “pivotal moment in the UK’s civil rights history”, drives into Handsworth Park, Birmingham on Friday and Saturday.

Written by S Shakthidharan with Eamon Flack, Counting and Cracking, which features a cast of 19 performers hailing from six different countries, visits one of only two venues in the UK, Birmingham Rep, from Friday until Saturday 27 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.

A “deliberately anarchic and anachronistic retelling of the Arthurian legend with live music, physical comedy, lo-fi acrobatics and some silly jokes”, King Arthur is presented by The Last Baguette as a fundraiser for the Courtyard, Hereford at Swinmoor Farm in the city on Sunday.

An ensemble of youngsters aged 14 and above perform alongside professional actor-musicians in Song of the Summer, a comedy drama that explores the highs and lows of teenage life, written by Tristan Jackson-Pate and co-produced by Cherwell Theatre Company and Northampton’s Royal and Derngate, which continues at the Picturedrome, Northampton until Sunday.

    Related listings

  • The Book of Mormon - Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Bobby Lopez
  • Les Misérables - Alan Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel by Victor Hugo, music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer (Cameron Mackintosh)

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