THE MIDLANDS
Birmingham
Repertory Company / Birmingham Hippodrome / The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham /
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry /
Haymarket Theatre, Leicester / The Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
/ Walsall / Nottingham Playhouse; / Derby Live & Derby
Theatre; The Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon /
Worcester Swan Theatre / Malvern Theatres / Chester Gateway Theatre / The
Courtyard Theatre, Hereford / Crewe, Lyceum Theatre / Stoke-on-Trent venues
(Hanley): Royal Theatre - Victoria Hall - Regent Theatre
(to find a specific production use the "find/search" facility on your Internet server, and enter the title)
BIRMINGHAM REPERTORY
THEATRE COMPANY
BOX OFFICE: 0121 238
4455
BOX OFFICE EMAIL: tickets@birmingham-rep.co.uk
BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME
TICKET SALES: 0844
338 5000
ALEXANDRA THEATRE
BIRMINGHAM
Station
Street
Birmingham B5 4DS
BOX OFFICE: 0870 607
7533.
PERMANENT REVIEWER REQUIRED FOR THIS VENUE - please contact The Editor via email: GPowner@aol.com
THE BELGRADE THEATRE
COVENTRY
Belgrade
Square
Coventry
CV1
1GS
BOX OFFICE: 024 7655
3055
PERMANENT REVIEWER REQUIRED FOR THIS VENUE - please contact The Editor via email: GPowner@aol.com
THE BELGRADE THEATRE
STUDIO
BOX OFFICE: 024
7655 3055.
HAYMARKET THEATRE
LEICESTER
Belgrave
Gate
Leicester
LE1 3YQ
Ticket Hotline: 0870 330
3131
PERMANENT REVIEWER REQUIRED FOR THIS VENUE - please contact The Editor via email: GPowner@aol.com
GRAND THEATRE
WOLVERHAMPTON
BOX OFFICE: 01902
42 92 12
SUMMER PLAY SEASON 2010
Inside Job: Tuesday 6 – Saturday 10 July
PRESS NIGHT: Tuesday 6 July at 7.30pm
The Late Edwina Black: Tuesday 13 – Saturday 17 July
PRESS NIGHT: Tuesday 13 July at 7.30pm
It’s Never Too Late: Tuesday 20 – Saturday 24 July
PRESS NIGHT: Tuesday 20 July at 7.30pm
Murdered To Death: Tuesday 27 – Saturday 31 July
PRESS NIGHT: Tuesday 27 July at 7.30pm
A host of star
names promise a summer of thrills, laughter and suspense as the Summer Play
Season 2010 plays at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre throughout July.
An entertaining mix of murder mysteries and hilarious comedies the Summer
Play Season 2010 offers something for every theatrical taste.
Matt Healy, who set female hearts racing as Matthew King in Emmerdale
stars alongside Christopher Villiers (Grayson Sinclair in Emmerdale)
and Michelle Morris (Jess Howarth in The Knock) in the season
opener Inside Job. On The Costa del Sol, a professional safe-cracker
enjoys a hedonistic life in the sun, until the stunning Suzy sweeps into his
world with an offer he can’t refuse. But, what starts out as a simple act
of theft, rapidly spirals into an intrigue of diamonds, murder, bluff and
double-bluff. From the pen of Brian Clemens, creator of The Avengers
and The Professionals deceit and duplicity collide in this most
thrilling of thrillers.
Former London’s
Burning favourite Richard Walsh (Sicknote) leads a cast under suspicion
in the mystery thriller The Late Edwina Black. The invalid Edwina Black
is about to be buried when, the night before the funeral, a detective from
Scotland Yard arrives to say that there is some suspicion about her death and
the funeral must be delayed so that a post-mortem may be carried out. By this
time we know that Edwina’s widower Gregory and her
‘companion’ Elizabeth are lovers, planning to run away to Italy
together, an idea which Scotland Yard’s arrival puts an abrupt and
unwelcome end to. Will the couple find happiness or will Edwina continue to
dominate their lives in death as she did in life?
Joanna Van
Gyseghem, best known for her role as Linda Cochran in
the sitcom Duty Free stars alongside the much loved Jeffrey Holland
(camp entertainer Spike in the hit series Hi-De-Hi) and Judy Buxton
(On The Up) in the hilarious comedy It’s Never Too Late.
What happens when your husband leaves you for a younger woman? How do you kick
start your life when you’ve never had to work? How do you cope with the
realisation that time is not on your side? Susan Shaw, at 58, finds herself in
exactly that situation. She’s run a home, brought up her daughter and had
a very busy life involved in charities and village hall committees but now
what? Fellow committee members offer all kinds of advice ‘think of yourself . . . get fit . . . find yourself a
toyboy’. With that advice wringing in her ears this laugh out loud funny
and at times very tender play follows Susan’s attempts to make a new
start in the belief that ‘it’s never too late’.
The season draws
to a close with comedy thriller Murdered to Death. Norman Pace
(of Hale and Pace fame and such series as Jobs for the Boys and Dalziel
& Pascoe) leads a star studded star cast that includes the legendary Victor
Spinetti, Sandra Dickinson (Hitchiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy), Michelle Hardwick (Lizzie Kennoway in The Royal) and
Chloe Newsome (Vicky McDonald in Coronation Street). Set in a
country manor house in the glorious 1930’s a colourful cast of characters
including a well meaning sleuth Miss Maple who seems to attract murder wherever
she goes find themselves in the midst of a killer following the death of the
house’s owner. But will the murderer be unmasked before everyone else has
met their doom or will the audience die laughing first? A hilarious homage to
the traditions of Agatha Christie, this whodunit twists and turns with side
splitting antics and ever increasing laughter and confusion.
The Summer
Play Season 2010 offers unbeatable summertime value with a top ticket price
of only £17.50. Customers can also take advantage of the subscription
offer which gives you the chance to see the Summer Play Season 2010 for
just £12 per week when you book and pay for all four plays at the same
time, total cost of £48. To book please contact the Box Office on 01902
42 92 12 or book online at www.grandtheatre.co.uk
Summer Play Season 2010
Wolverhampton Grand
Theatre
Lichfield Street
Wolverhampton
WV1 1DE
Inside Job
Performance Dates: Tuesday 6 – Saturday 10 July
Performance Times: Tuesday – Saturday 7.30pm
Press Night: Tuesday 6 July
Matinees: Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm
The Late Edwina Black
Performance Dates: Tuesday 13 – Saturday 17
July
Performance Times: Tuesday – Saturday 7.30pm
Press Night: Tuesday 13 July
Matinees: Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm
Audio Described Performance: Friday
16 July at 7.30pm.
It’s Never Too Late
Performance Dates: Tuesday 20 – Saturday 24
July
Performance Times: Tuesday – Saturday 7.30pm
Press Night: Tuesday 20 July
Matinees: Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm
Murdered To Death
Performance Dates: Tuesday 27 – Saturday 31
July
Performance Times: Tuesday – Saturday 7.30pm
Press Night: Tuesday 27 July
Matinees: Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm
Audio Described Performance: Friday
30 July at 7.30pm.
Tickets: £15.50 – £17.50 with concessions available.
Box Office: 01902 42 92 12
NOTTINGHAM PLAYHOUSE
Wellington Circus
Nottingham NG1 5AF
BOX
OFFICE: 0115 941 9419
Minicom: 0115 947 6100
Book Online - www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
Email - enquiry@nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
PLAYHOUSE
ANNOUNCES SPECIAL PLAY READINGS
Nottingham
Playhouse
has announced a special week of free play readings that extend its
season into the summer. A student and a sex worker develop a tentative
friendship in the UK premiere reading of THE CLOUDS GO BACK HOME by the
Italian playwright Laura Forti, presented on Tuesday 20 July.
Nottinghamshire’s own writers come to the fore on Thursday 22 July
in COME TO WHERE I’M FROM, an evening of short plays with a local
dimension presented in association with the leading touring company Paines
Plough. Then, on Saturday 24 July, dramatist Nick Drake leads
an excursion to STASILAND, adapted from Anna Funder’s
best-selling account of East Germany’s notorious secret police and the
citizens who were brave enough to defy it. Looking further ahead, October
brings a second opportunity to hear Michael Pinchbeck’s new play
about cricket’s infamous Bodyline controversy, THE ASHES. Tickets
for all these rehearsed readings are free of charge and are only
available from Nottingham Playhouse’s Box Office either in person or by
phoning 0115 941 9419.
Another
side of Italy from the romanticised view seen in holiday brochures is glimpsed
in THE CLOUDS GO BACK HOME, written by the award-winning Italian
dramatist Laura Forti and translated into English by Enrico Fink.
A university student who is cleaning hotels rooms during the vacation finds a
sex worker from Albania enclosed in one of them. Each has to overcome
instinctive prejudice as they gradually forge a friendship, but the
relationship is set to face a dangerous challenge. Susannah Tresilian
directs an insightful, often humorous drama that confronts the challenges of
our open-bordered, open-minded Europe. Presented in collaboration with Envision
Theatre, this one-off reading represents the play’s UK premiere.
THE CLOUDS GO BACK HOME on Tuesday 20th July at 7pm
in the Playroom Studio.
The
same week, Nottingham Playhouse enters into partnership with the acclaimed new
writing company Paines
Plough, in association with Theatre Writing Partnership, to present COME
TO WHERE I’M FROM. As part of a national project in which playwrights
from all over the UK are invited to write and perform short plays about the
places they grew up, five playwrights from in and around Nottinghamshire come
home to tell their tales. Leah Chillery, James Graham, Laura
Lomas, Mufaro Makubika and Beth Steel each ask whether home
truly is where the heart is, adding their threads to a rich theatrical tapestry
of the country. The writers themselves perform their work in the Playroom
Studio on Thursday 22 July at 6.30pm, and the day also includes
two special workshops: If It Didn’t Exist, You’d Have to Invent
It, starting at 11.30am, distils all Paines Plough’s
experience and advice about setting up and running a theatre company, while Producing
Plays, Developing Writers at 2.00pm will be invaluable for budding
dramatists.
The
week of rehearsed readings concludes in the Playhouse’s main auditorium
on Saturday 24 July at 7pm with the first ever theatrical airing of STASILAND,
based on the best-selling book by Anna Funder. Subtitled Tales from
Behind the Berlin Wall, the book delves deep into the history of the Stasi,
the much-feared secret police which for 40 years propped up the East German
state with its insidious network of citizen informers. Stories of the men and
women who courageously resisted the Stasi bring existence under such an
Orwellian regime to dramatic and heart-stopping life.
Nottingham Playhouse’s Artistic Director Giles Croft directs an
ingenious stage reworking by the poet, playwright and novelist Nick Drake,
whose adaptation of Philippe Petit’s To Reach the Clouds was
staged at the Playhouse in 2006.
One
further rehearsed reading follows in the autumn. Last September, in the very
week England played Australia at Trent Bridge, Nottingham Playhouse presented
the first reading of a new play about their most notorious clash of all time:
the Bodyline tour of 1932. THE ASHES, by Nottingham-based writer and
performance artist Michael Pinchbeck, proved so popular that director Giles
Croft has now arranged a return fixture on Thursday 21 October at 7pm
in the main auditorium. THE ASHES tells the story of a controversy that
spilled out of the cricket ground and into the diplomatic arena. Humiliated in
their previous Ashes campaign by Aussie batsman Don Bradman, the England team
sailed Down Under with a new strategy up their sleeves: Harold Larwood,
Nottinghamshire miner and cricketer, was instructed to bowl “leg
theory” in a way that was so physically threatening that it was
eventually outlawed.
Pinchbeck’s play recounts a riveting tale of sporting rivalry that
echoes down the decades.
Tickets
are free for the entire series of readings and workshops, with a
voluntary collection on the door. Early booking is advised as places are
limited, particularly for the workshops. Details will be found at www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
but places should be booked directly with the Box Office (0115 941 9419).
Information kindly supplied by Elaine
Peel - Reviewer. Theatreworld Internet Magazine
DERBY THEATRE
Theatre
Walk
Eagle
Centre
Derby
DE1
2NF
Box
office: 01332 255 800
DERBY LIVE
Guildhall
Theatre
Market Place, Derby, DE1 3AE
Box Office: 01332 255800
Website: www.derbylive.co.uk
e-mail: boxoffice@derby.gov.uk
Thursday 26 November to Saturday 16 January
Based on the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen
Adapted for the stage by Peter Roberts
A classic adaptation of one of the world’s
greatest fairy tales - a magical story about the triumph of love over
wickedness.
When an evil mirror that distorts reality and magnifies all the
bad and ugly things within people falls to earth and shatters into billions of
pieces, one of these shards gets into the heart of a little boy, Kay. Kay
becomes cruel and aggressive, rejecting his family and his best friend Gerda.
He is entranced by the only thing that is still beautiful to him - tiny
snowflakes.
During the following winter, Kay is lured from his home by the
beautiful but soulless and vindictive Snow Queen, who charms him with two
kisses, making him forget about Gerda and his family completely.
Kay’s friend Gerda will not accept that he has gone and sets
out on a long and perilous journey to rescue him. In her search Gerda
encounters a host of strangers to whom she relays her plight. Enchanted by her
story and her innocence, each one assists Gerda - eventually leading her to the
Snow Queen’s palace. But will Gerda manage to set Kay free at the end of
her epic journey?
This festive season bring the whole family to see Derby
Theatre’s debut Christmas production – a wonderful and
heart-warming festive treat which will leave young and old alike gasping in
wonder and excitement.
Guildhall Theatre
Thursday 15 October to Saturday 31 October
Shining City by Conor McPherson
Directed by Robin Herford
We all have to confront our ghosts, to release the skeletons from
within.
A recently-bereaved widower seeks help when he begins seeing the
terrifying image of his wife’s spirit.
His gripping and moving story, exploring his inner demons and the
guilt and anguish he feels over the death of his wife, forces his therapist, a
former priest, to confront some personal ghosts of his own.
What begins as just an unusual encounter becomes a struggle
between the living and the dead, the past and the present, as both men search
for absolution, acceptance of themselves and the hope of a fresh start. It is a
struggle that will define both men for the rest of their lives.
Conor McPherson is one of the world’s best contemporary
playwrights and in this haunting and powerful ghost story,
he explores what it means to lose faith in God, in relationships and in
one’s self.
Having previously played to sell-out audiences in London, Dublin
and on Broadway, McPherson’s riveting and shocking ghost story will have
you gripped to your seat, right up to the chilling twist at its finale.
“as close to perfect as
contemporary playwriting gets” The New Yorker
"as the title suggests, this is a
play that shines" Telegraph
Derby LIVE is proud to welcome back to our city Robin Herford, one
of the country’s finest and most distinguished directors.
Thursday 10 December to Thursday 24 December
The Christmas Quangle Wangle
Written and directed by Virginia Radcliffe
A magical and seasonal musical adventure into the wild and
wonderful world of make–believe
Stella and Stan are waiting for Christmas. They find a mysterious
parcel, which leads them to discover the Quangle Wangle who lives alone on his
Crumpetty Tree.
A mass of strange
visitors arrive and change the Quangle Wangle’s life forever….the toe-less
Pobble, the Orient Calf, Mr & Mrs Canary and the Golden Grouse.
Sail with them as they journey to the land where the Jumblies
live, to dance by the light of the Mulberry Moon!
An off-the-wall, hilarious celebration and
musical voyage into the wild and wonderful world of Edward Lear’s
nonsense poetry, which promises to be an exciting and festive theatrical treat
for the whole family.
The Christmas Quangle Wangle is a merry, madcap show that will
have you dancing in your seats - a must this festive season for anyone from the
age of 3 to 93.
Thursday 4 February to Saturday 27 February
A Pair of Pinters – The Dumb Waiter and A Kind of Alaska
Directed by Esther Richardson
Two classic Harold Pinter plays paired together in one evening This double bill portrays the Nobel-prize winning writer at
two very different points in his career. Both plays, though, show one of the
twentieth century’s greatest playwrights operating at the height of his
powers.
THE DUMB WAITER
In the basement of a Birmingham restaurant, two squabbling hit men
await instructions for their next assignment. When will the call come, and who
will their next victim be?
Then the room’s dumbwaiter creaks into life, bringing a
series of absurd instructions that will test their ingenuity – and
ultimately their loyalty.
This one act play is a black, claustrophobic comedy with moments
of absurdity, terror and tension.
A KIND OF ALASKA
After twenty nine years, Deborah is suddenly awoken from a deep
coma by her doctor, Hornby. Absent from the world for so long, all she can
cling to are the fractured memories of her vibrant youth.
Confronted with her middle-aged sister, whom she can only remember
as a child, will she finally be brought to accept the events of the years she
has lost? Can she bridge the gap between this world and the one in which she
has been suspended?
A Kind of Alaska was inspired by the acclaimed best-selling book
Awakenings by Oliver Sacks MD, which was also adapted into the Oscar-nominated
film of the same name.
THE COURTYARD THEATRE
Edgar Street
Hereford
HR4 9JR
BOX OFFICE: 01432 359252
THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE
COMPANY
AT STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
RSC TICKET HOTLINE: 0870
609 1110
For full details
visit: www.rsc.org.uk
RSC BUMPER SUMMER OF THEATRE:
44 ACTORS PLAY 263 ROLES IN 9 PRODUCTIONS AT THE
COURTYARD THEATRE IN STRATFORD
BOX OFFICE: 0844 800 1110 or www.rsc.org.uk
The nine productions use:
·
over 1000 costumes on over 150 rails
·
37 Wigs, 33 Hairpieces
and 51 Beards and Moustaches
·
Over 15 gallons of stage blood
·
3 tins of Lychees (used as the ‘eyes’ that are gouged out in King
Lear)
·
And require the stage crew to change the set from production to
production 51 times
From July the Royal Shakespeare Company is offering theatregoers
the chance to see nine productions at The Courtyard Theatre in
Stratford-upon-Avon.
The Winter’s Tale, As You Like It and Julius Caesar, first seen in 2009,
will return to the stage, playing in repertoire with King Lear, Romeo
and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, Malory’s Morte
d’Arthur, and two Shakespeare productions specially aimed at younger
theatre-goers, The Comedy of Errors and Hamlet.
The productions, which run until 11 September, are performed by an
ensemble of 44 actors, playing 263 roles.
Michael Boyd, RSC Artistic Director, said:
“Our current acting ensemble first started working with us in January
2009. Now, 18 months later, I’m delighted that audiences have the
opportunity to see nine of the productions they have presented.
“Comedies, tragedies and history plays are all on offer,
including six full-scale Shakespeares, an epic adaptation of Malory’s Morte
d’Arthur, and two Shakespeares adapted for younger audiences. The is the great chance to see our actors playing a wide
range of different roles in some of Shakespeare’s greatest plays.”
After September the actors will perform a 10 week season of some
of the plays at The Roundhouse in London, before returning to Stratford in
February 2011 to have the honour of presenting the first RSC shows in the new
Royal Shakespeare Theatre. These productions will be drawn from the
2009-10 repertoire, and full details of play titles and booking details will be
made available later this year.
1 July – 11 September repertoire, The Courtyard Theatre
King Lear,
in rep 1 July – 26 August 2010
Antony and Cleopatra
in rep 1 July – 28 August 2010
Romeo and Juliet
in rep 2 July – 27 August 2010
Morte
d’Arthur
in rep 7 July – 28 August 2010
The Winter’s Tale
in rep 14 July – 2 September 2010
As You Like
It
in rep 21 July – 4 September 2010
Julius Caesar
in rep 28 July – 4 September 2010
The Comedy of Errors
in rep 7 August – 11 September 2010
Hamlet
in rep 21 August – 11 September 2010
WORCESTER SWAN THEATRE
The Moors
Worcester
WR1 3EF
BOX OFFICE 01905 27322
MALVERN THEATRES
FORUM and FESTIVAL
Grange Road
Malvern
Worcestershire
WR14 3HB
BOX OFFICE: 01684 892277
CHESTER GATEWAY THEATRE
Hamilton Place
Chester
CH1 2BH
BOX OFFICE: 01244 340392
www.chestergateway.co.uk
(temporarily
closed)
LYCEUM THEATRE
CREWE
Heath Street
Crewe
Cheshire CW12DA
BOX OFFICE: 01270 537333
Information provided by Jonnie Woodall for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
REGENT THEATRE
Piccadilly
Hanley
Stoke-on-Trent
ST1 1AP
BOX OFFICE: 01782
213800
REVIEWER NEEDED FOR THESE VENUES - contact the Editor by email:- GPowner@aol.com
The Stoke-on-Trent Venues are in Hanley which is the City Centre of Stoke-on-Trent and is easily accessible from the M6, Junctions 15 & 16. Follow signs for Hanley City Centre.
Parking: There is a large car park located between Etruria Road and Clough Street. It is accessible from both roads.
Bus/Coach : The coach drop off point is directly in front the theatre in Pall Mall, Hanley, the central bus station is approximately ten minutes away.
Train: The nearest railway station is Stoke-On-Trent then a short taxi or bus ride away.
REGENT THEATRE
For more details or individual advice/help - email: GPowner@aol.com