Touring shows

'Wrong' way to start Chester season

Following the success of its multi award-winning comedy The Play That Goes Wrong, Mischief Theatre’s Olivier Award nominated West End smash hit The Comedy About A Bank Robbery opens the new spring season at Storyhouse in Chester.

A Little Kingdom for St Helens

Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom comes to St Helens Theatre Royal.

Abigail's Party date in Manchester

Jodie Prenger leads the cast in Abigail’s Party, Mike Leigh’s comedy classic, which arrives on the Opera House Manchester stage from April 8 to 13.

Anita Dobson for Chester Annie

Anita Dobson will star as Miss Hannigan in Annie at Storyhouse in Chester.

Avenue Q for Chester venue

The Tony Award-winning Avenue Q arrives at Storyhouse in Chester.

Banyan Tree to tour

Tara Arts and Polka Theatre will tour Shamser Sinha's Three Sat under the Banyan Tree from January to March 2019.

Belgian sleuth tries to solve Crimes on the Nile

A cast of four bring to life “lascivious lawyers, crocked captains, fastidious physicians, ardently amorous authors, feuding femme fatales, plodding paramours, colossal kids, friendly first mates and attractive Americans” in New Old Friends’ comedy thriller Crimes on the Nile which tours nationally in 2019.

Bess of Hardwick play to go on three-month tour

Michelle Todd is to reprise her role as Bess of Hardwick in Kevin Fegan’s Bess: The Commoner Queen which is to start a three-month tour at Buxton’s Pavilion Arts Centre.

Delia Mathews as Belle and Brandon Lawrence as the Beast

Birmingham Beauty and the Beast ballet to tour nationally

David Bintley’s “mysterious and magical production” of Beauty and the Beast for Birmingham Royal Ballet is to go on a national tour from January until May 2019.

Birmingham Stage Company to tour Pichon’s Tom Gates

Birmingham Stage Company is to mount an eight-month tour of Tom Gates, a new story for the stage adapted from Liz Pichon’s books by Pichon and BSC actor-manager Neal Foster.

Boxer and Cusack cast in The Remains of the Day at Northampton

Stephen Boxer and Niamh Cusack will lead the cast of Barney Norris’s adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day which will open at Northampton’s Royal and Derngate in February.

Calendar date for Chester

Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s musical comedy, Calendar Girls The Musical, is at Chester’s Storyhouse this year.

Carrying Cole to Chester

Brendan Cole’s new live tour includes two performances at Storyhouse in Chester.

Climate Change Catastrophe!

A new show about climate change, made by children, for grown-ups, from NE theatre company Cap-a-Pie.

Coventry actors cast in Noughts and Crosses adaptation

Two Coventry actors have been cast in Sabrina Mahfouz’s adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses which opens at the city’s Belgrade Theatre in March 2019.

Dreamcoat at Storyhouse

Union J singer Jaymi Hensley will be donning the iconic Dreamcoat in his first ever major musical role.

Freddie Fox (Edmond Rostand), Josie Lawrence (Sarah Bernhardt), Henry Goodman (Constant Coquelin) and Chizzy Akudulo (Maria)

Edmond de Bergerac cast revealed for Birmingham REP and tour

Casting has been announced for Edmond de Bergerac, which will have its UK première at Birmingham REP before touring to York, Northampton, Cambridge and Richmond.

Following in father's footsteps

A NE-based director is to direct a classic play which his father directed 25 years ago

Ghost the Musical back on tour

Ghost – The Musical is back on tour and is at Storyhouse, Chester March 5 to 9.

Glengarry Glen Ross on first UK tour

After its première at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking, Glengarry Glen Ross will tour with a cast headed by Mark Benton and Nigel Harman.

Hair looking trim for golden tour

Full casting has been announced for the 50th anniversary production of Hair—The Musical.

Heart of Darkness première

Imitating the dog premières a retelling of Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness.

Heather and Billy land top roles in Noughts and Crosses

Heather Agyepong and Billy Harris fought off competition from hundreds of people to secure the parts of Sephy and Callum in Noughts and Crosses, the stage adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s young adult novel which is to open at Derby Theatre.

Jodie Prenger and A Taste of Honey

A National Theatre UK tour of A Taste of Honey will star Jodie Prenger as Helen.

Jupp premières Tomlinson tribute

Stand-up comedian and actor Miles Jupp will tour the UK with the world première of The Life I Lead.

Kitchen drama for Everyman

A biting new comedy will be served up to Liverpool audiences when Caroline’s Kitchen visits the Everyman.

Local dance stars in Bourne's Romeo and Juliet in Salford

New Adventures announces full casting for the world première of Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet which will open at The Lowry in Salford on June 11 as part of a UK tour to 13 venues.

London Classic Theatre loses show set to fire

The set, props and costumes for LCT's production of My Mother Said I Never Should are being remade in time for the second leg of its current tour following a devastating fire.

Memoir makes it to the stage

September sees the National Theatre of Scotland and HOME co-production of the world première of Red Dust Road, Jackie Kay’s memoir.

Motown memories could earn you FREE tickets

Motown The Musical comes to Manchester in February and music fans across the North West are being encouraged to share their memories of Motown legends performing at the Manchester Odeon on March 30, 1965.

NE company on national tour

NE company The Letter Room takes No Miracles Here, a story of resilience and hope set in a dance marathon, on a national tour.

New Horrible Histories first dedicated show for deaf children

Deafinitely Theatre and Birmingham Stage Company are teaming up for the world première of the next in the Horrible Histories series, Dreadful Deaf which is “deafinitely not for the faint-hearted”.

New Vic teams up with Northern Broadsides on Much Ado

Northern Broadsides has joined forces with Newcastle-under-Lyme’s New Vic Theatre to stage William Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing.

New take on Kafka’s Metamorphosis starts tour in Birmingham

A fresh adaptation of Franz Kafka’s “disquieting tale of transformation” Metamorphosis is to start a UK tour at the Old Rep, Birmingham.

New tour of legal thriller The Verdict starts in Coventry

Middle Ground Theatre Company is to revive Barry Reed’s legal thriller The Verdict which starts its second UK tour at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre in January 2019.

Northern Broadsides appoints Laurie Sansom as artistic director and CEO

Award-winning Northern Broadsides will be led by Laurie Sansom following current artistic director Conrad Nelson's departure next month.

Noughts and Crosses with love at The Lowry

Pilot Theatre presents the première of Sabrina Mahfouz's new adaption of Malorie Blackman’s award-winning novel Noughts and Crosses at The Lowry in Salford.

Only at Live!

Live Theatre to host the only English date for an iconic Scottish play.

Pepperland debut at The Lowry

The Beatles’ ground-breaking Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album is the inspiration behind Mark Morris Dance Group’s Pepperland, making its Lowry debut.

Play tour staged in Chinese restaurants

After a successful sold-out tour in 2017, From Shore to Shore / Piao Yang Guo Hai is set to return for a national tour from March.

RSC share three into six

RSC will tour As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew and Measure for Measure to six regional venues.

Remains of the Day to open in Northampton

The world première of Barney Norris’s adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day will be staged at Northampton’s Royal and Derngate before going on a national tour.

Rowe is Badger for In The Willows tour

Metta Theatre and Exeter Northcott Theatre have confirmed full casting for their new musical based on The Wind in the Willows.

Royal appointment for Opera House

The King And I will open a major UK tour at Manchester’s Opera House.

Saturday Night Fever in Chester

Saturday Night Fever is coming to Storyhouse in Chester.

Shane Richie to play Archie Rice in The Entertainer

Shane Richie will play Archie Rice in a new production of John Osborne's The Entertainer which opens at Leicester’s Curve in August before a UK tour.

Stephen Tompkinson in Educating Rita

A new stage production of Willy Russell’s Educating Rita will tour in 2019, starring Stephen Tompkinson as Frank.

The Mormons are coming!

The Book of Mormon, the musical which takes a comic look at the Mormon religion, is coming to Sunderland.

The Mousetrap comes to Sunderland and Darlington

Long-running West End hit comes to Sunderland Empire and Darlington Hippodrome.

To Kill a Mockingbird tour called off over legal action threat

The UK and Ireland tour of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird has been cancelled because of an exclusivity claim brought by the producers of the Broadway production.

Train tickets nearly all gone!

Tickets are almost sold out for the stage adaptation of Paula Hawkins’s The Girl on the Train at Liverpool Playhouse.

Trial by Laughter at The Lowry

Ian Hislop and Nick Newman take inspiration from real life events for their new play Trial by Laughter, based on their BBC Radio 4 drama.

Twirlywoos live on stage

Twirlywoos—as seen on CBeebies—will be brought to life on stage for the first time next year.

We Will Rock You Manchester in 2020

Following 2010 and 2011 UK theatre tours and a 2013 10th anniversary world arena tour, the Queen and Ben Elton musical We Will Rock You has been ‘reimagined’ for 2019 and will embark on a new tour, showing in Manchester from January 27 to February 8, 2020.