After over a year in the dark, the new management team at The Altrincham Garrick Playhouse comprising of Artistic Director Joseph Meighan and Operations Director Sarah Louise Reilly have announced an outstanding new season as they bring live theatre back to the town. Highlights include a northern premiere of Disney’s The Little Mermaid and the return of their ever popular pantomime which this Christmas will see Peter Pan flying across the Garrick stage.
The season opens with Curtain Up from Monday 20th – Saturday 25th September 2021 at 7.30pm.
Curtain Up! Light The Lights!
You’re invited to join a celebration of all things Musical Theatre as we kick start our Autumn/ Winter Season with a collection of your favourite songs from your favourite shows!
A stylish and elegant evening of music featuring songs from “Les Misérables”, “The Phantom of the Opera”, “Wicked”, “Dear Evan Hansen”, “A Chorus Line”, “Mary Poppins”, “RENT” and more!
Curtain Up will be an epic reminder that the show always goes on…
Next on the calendar is Alan Bennett’s The Lady in The Van from Monday 4th – Saturday 9th October 2021 at 7.30pm.
It is said that charity begins at home. For Alan Bennett, it began at the bottom of his drive with a custard yellow van inhabited by an irascible eccentric who refused to budge.
The Lady in the Van is the true story of Miss Shepherd, an offbeat woman of uncertain origins, who “temporarily” parked her broken-down van in writer Alan Bennett’s London driveway, and proceeded to live there for the next 15 years.
Miss Shepherd’s stay may have been a blight on Bennett’s front garden, but it eventually allowed him to unravel the fascinating story of her life – for which we are all eternally indebted.
The northern premiere of Disney’s The Little Mermaid is the perfect musical treat for October Half Term! Running from Monday 25th October – Sunday 31st October including matinee performances on the 30th and 31st.
In a magical kingdom beneath the sea, the beautiful young mermaid Ariel longs to leave her ocean home to live in the world above.
Ariel is fascinated with life on land. On one of her visits to the surface, which are forbidden by her controlling father, King Triton, she falls for a human Prince. Determined to be with her new love, Ariel makes a dangerous deal with the sea witch Ursula to become human for three days. But when plans go awry for the star-crossed lovers, a showdown begins between good and evil that only love can remedy.
Based on one of Hans Christian Andersen’s most beloved stories and the classic animated 1989 film, Disney’s The Little Mermaid is a hauntingly beautiful love story for the ages.
With music by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater, and a compelling book by Doug Wright, this fishy fable will capture your heart with its irresistible songs including “Under the Sea,” “Kiss the Girl,” and “Part of Your World.”
Altrincham Garrick Playhouse are proud to be producing the Northern Premiere of this Disney classic!
Over in the Lauriston studio theatre Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things will play from Tuesday 9th – Sunday 11th November at 7:30pm.
How far would you go for love? For art? What would you be willing to change? Which price might you pay? Such are the painful questions explored by Neil LaBute in this play which received its world premiere at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2001.
A young student drifts into an ever-changing relationship with an art major while his best friends’ engagement crumbles: so unleashing a drama that peels back the skin of two modern-day relationships, exposing the raw meat and gristle that lie beneath.
Warning – this play contains strong adult language and explicit sexual references throughout.
From the 15th – 20th of November at 7:30pm back on the main stage is Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, A Streetcar Named Desire is a raw and emotional American drama.
After losing her Mississippi home to creditors, Blanche DuBois relocates to the New Orleans home of her younger sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Undermined by romantic illusions, Blanche is unable to cope with life’s harsh realities. Though she finds a glimmer of hope while connecting with Stanley’s gentlemanly friend, Mitch, Blanche cannot face the truth of her own troubled past and ultimately descends into madness.
Tennessee Williams’ explosive and groundbreaking drama ranks as one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century.
Rounding of 2021, Peter Pan is set to soar across the Garrick main stage in the hugely popular annual pantomime running from the 10th December until 3rd January 2022.
Journey to Neverland for a high-flying Pantomime adventure you’ll never forget! The forever-young Peter Pan sails through the skies to bring Wendy and the Darling children to the Lost Boy’s enchanted island, where the fearsome Captain Hook rules over the high seas.
Written by Tom Whalley and based on the timeless book by JM Barrie, the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse brings you a perfect Pantomime for all the family.
Fairies, mythical creatures, pirates, singing, dancing and flying! Take the second star to the right and keep straight on ’til morning and we’ll see you in Neverland!
Written by Tom Whalley the Garrick’s pantomimes ALWAYS sell out and we advise you to book early for this one!
January 2022 sees Frankenstein come to the Garrick from the 17th – 22nd at 7:30pm. Adapted by Nick Dear and based on the Novel by Mary Shelley.
Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein’s bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Meeting with cruelty wherever he goes, the increasingly desperate and vengeful Creature is determined to track down his creator and strike a terrifying deal…
Scientific responsibility, parental neglect, cognitive development and the nature of good and evil, are embedded within this thrilling, gory, deeply disturbing classic tale.
Nick Dear’s adaptation of Frankenstein, based on the novel by Mary Shelley, premiered at the National Theatre, London, in February 2011 starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
Warning – this play contains scenes of a graphic sexual and violent nature.
If this wasn’t enough to get you excited about live theatre returning to Altrincham, the theatre have also announced two HUGE productions for later into 2022.
George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl and adapted by David Wood plays from the 7th – 24th April 2022.
It’s the half term holiday and George Kranky is looking forward to a break from school when a letter from Grandma arrives announcing that she is coming to stay – that very day! Soon she is making George’s life miserable with spiteful comments and demands for doses of medicine! But one day, when his parents leave him alone with the grizzly old grunion, George takes his chance and sets about creating a brand new medicine to cure her of her cruelty. Little does he know that his perilous potion will be the start of a rather marvellous adventure…
This will be Easter Half Term Mayhem at the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse! This imaginative and entertaining stage adaptation of Roald Dahl’s much loved children’s book is bursting with growing grannies, feathery farm animals and bags of frothbuggling family fun.
Phizz-whizzing fun for all the Family!
Recommended 5+
Finally, the smash hit Calendar Girls The Musical is set to be the Garrick’s traditional end of season musical for 2022, playing from the 20th – 25th June 2022.
“To unexplored horizons in the mind and new coastlines in the heart…”
The death of a much loved husband prompts a group of ordinary women in a small Yorkshire Women’s Institute to do an extraordinary thing. Blasting away all preconceptions of what it is to be in a women’s institute, they decide to do an artistic nude calendar to raise money for charity. Upturning preconceptions is a dangerous business and none of them expect the emotional and personal ramifications, but gradually the making of the fabulous and funny calendar brings each woman unexpectedly into flower.
The true story of the Calendar Girls launched a global phenomenon, a million copycat calendars, a record breaking movie, stage play and now a musical written by Tim Firth and Gary Barlow which coined the term “craughing” – the act of crying and laughing at the same time.
With unforgettable songs, every performance continues to add to the millions already raised for charity and also prove that there is no such thing as an ordinary woman.
Tickets are on sale NOW for all productions up to and including Frankenstein with George’s Marvellous Medicine and Calendar Girls The Musical go on sale from the 1st June. Full details and all ticket information can be found at https://www.altrinchamgarrick.co.uk/