Category: News

Staffordshire’s New Vic Theatre and circus company Upswing are to begin an annual programme of work fusing theatre with contemporary circus. The two organisations will develop their creative collaborations which began in 2009 with Bryony Lavery’s adaptation of Magdalen King-Hall’s novel The Wicked Lady. The partnership aims to bring circus home to Newcastle-under-Lyme where Philip Astley, father of the modern… Continue reading New Vic and Upswing to fuse theatre with circus

Would you trade five years of your life for the perfect body? A new play touring the UK this spring asks audiences this question and tells the story of one woman prepared to do just that. 5 Years, which comes to The Dukes in Lancaster May 4, uses hologram technology to turn the spotlight on… Continue reading Body positive?

A world première stage adaptation of I, Daniel Blake that exposes the reality behind the cost-of-living crisis headlines will open at Northern Stage (May 25–June 10) before touring. The first stage adaptation of Ken Loach’s award-winning film will be written by actor and comedian Dave Johns who won a best actor and best newcomer awards for his… Continue reading I, Daniel Blake on stage

Geraldine James will make her Royal Shakespeare Company debut as Rosalind in director Omar Elerian’s production of As You Like It which runs in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford in summer 2023. In Elerian’s new take on the play, a company of veteran actors—many of whom are likely to have a long and close association with the… Continue reading Geraldine James joins RSC for As You Like It

Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image Saves the World, now known as Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image the Musical, which premièred at Birmingham Rep in 2023, is to transfer to the Phoenix Theatre in London’s West End. Written by Al Murray, Matt Forde and Sean Foley, Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image the Musical is directed by the Rep’s artistic director Foley alongside a… Continue reading Spitting Image musical to get West End transfer

Midlands-born performers Alexia McIntosh and Kieran Hamilton-Amos will join Belgrade Theatre creative director Corey Campbell in Big Aunty, directed and devised by Campbell, which will be the first home-produced show of the Belgrade’s spring season. McIntosh appeared in the Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss musical Six in the West End and on its UK tour… Continue reading “Darkly comic family drama” comes to life at the Belgrade

The Lowry and its Centre for Advanced Training hold their annual recruitment drive for young dancers on June 11. It’s for aspiring young movers aged 11–16 from across the North West, who are passionate about dance and interested in exploring this art form further, even pursuing a career. In advance of the audition, young people… Continue reading Seeking young dancers of future

As You Are, a soundwalk for Leeds written for Opera North by South African-born composer and cellist Abel Selaocoe, will open on March 30 as part of Leeds 2023 Year of Culture. It invites audiences to experience Leeds in new and transformative ways, with an emphasis on the meditative and healing power of walking. Audiences… Continue reading A soundwalk around Leeds

Pascal Theatre Company are staging a revival of Julia Pascal’s play A Manchester Girlhood, based on the lives of three Manchester Jewish women and their Romanian immigrant parents. It opens at Blackpool Old Electric Theatre April 20, Manchester Jewish Museum April 23, followed by London dates at Burgh House May 17 and a run at JW3… Continue reading A Manchester Girlhood revisited

Protest is a new play from Hannah Lavery coming to Northern Stage, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne. It follows the lives of three young girls as they learn to use their voices and take a stand against injustices in their community. Aimed at young people aged 8 and up, and their grown-ups, the play is an… Continue reading Protest on Northern Stage