Tuesday, December 24

NEWS

Further Casting Announced for Manchester Panto
NEWS

Further Casting Announced for Manchester Panto

Further casting has been announced for Jack and the Beanstalk at Manchester Opera House this Christmas. Multi-award-winning star of stage and screen Myra DuBois joins the cast as Mrs Blunderbore, Samara Casteallo returns for another year in the Opera House panto as The Spirit of the Beans, and West-End performer Emma Williams joins the cast as Princess Jill, running from Saturday 2nd – Sunday 31st December 2023. The news follows the earlier announcement that Comedy superstar Jason Manford will return to lead the cast in the title role of Jack, alongside returning Manchester panto favourite Ben Nickless as Silly Simon, seeing the dynamic duo come together for a second year by popular demand. The self-declared ‘Siren from South Yorkshire’, the larger-than-life Myra DuBois became a hous...
Wilton’s Music Hall Announce Autumn Season
NEWS

Wilton’s Music Hall Announce Autumn Season

Wilton's Music Hall today announces its stunning autumn season, which sees groundbreaking productions and collaborations with forward-thinking theatre companies. Continuing what has been an incredible year of theatre for Britain's oldest Victorian music hall, this new season is set to be one of the best yet. The riotous and enchanting POTTED PANTO (29th November – 30th December) will make its East End debut at Wilton's Music Hall, truly encapsulating the festive season, to bring seven classic pantomimes in 80 hilarious minutes to Grace's Alley. The spectacular Christmas madcap ride from Daniel Clarkson, Jefferson Turner, and Richard Hurst, through all the best-loved characters from the wonderful world of panto, will be a delight for all the family this Christmas. MAYBE A GHOST STORY ...
The Drifters Girl extends UK & Ireland tour into 2024
NEWS

The Drifters Girl extends UK & Ireland tour into 2024

Michael Harrison and David Ian are delighted to announce extended dates for the first-ever UK and Ireland tour of The Drifters Girl, the acclaimed new musical which tells the remarkable story of one of the world's greatest vocal groups and the woman who made them. Having played to packed houses and nightly standing ovations at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End (following a triumphant run at Newcastle's Theatre Royal), the production recently announced a UK Tour to open in 2023, with performances beginning at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton, on Tuesday 12th September 2023. Now, following huge public demand, the tour reveals extended dates through 2024, visiting: Bristol Hippodrome, Bristol; Regent Theatre, Stoke; Venue Cymru, Llandudno; Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin; Gran...
Metamorphosis Full Cast and Creative Team Announced
NEWS

Metamorphosis Full Cast and Creative Team Announced

Frantic Assembly is delighted to announce casting and the full creative team for its new adaptation of Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, a collaboration between BAFTA nominated poet, playwright and broadcaster Lemn Sissay OBE (author of bestselling book My Name Is Why and soon to be published new poetry collection Let the Light Pour In - out this September) and Frantic Assembly’s Artistic Director Scott Graham (Othello, Lovesong, Beautiful Burnout). Metamorphosis premieres at Theatre Royal Plymouth from 11th September before embarking on a major tour culminating with a 4 week run at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre from 1st February – 2nd March 2024. Following their acclaimed performances as Iago, Roderigo and Bianca in Frantic Assembly’s recent sell-out tour of Othello, Joe Layton (Young Wallander...
The Ballads of Billy the Kid set for Summer tour
NEWS

The Ballads of Billy the Kid set for Summer tour

Off the Ground Theatre are taking a trip to the Wild West for the first time this summer, with The Ballads of Billy the Kid. The famous outlaw and desperado who made his name as a gunslinger and fearsome cowboy in Arizona and New Mexico is the hero of this brand new play, from the minds of OTG graduates Mat Oliphant and Connor Wray. Taking in venues across the North West, Wales and Ireland, this summer’s showdown promises to be a barnstorming, darn tootin’ hoedown of drama and delights, hilarity and big characters! An all new piece of writing, this play makes use of different storytelling devices to whistle through the life of one of the West’s most notorious outlaws, Billy the Kid. An ensemble cast of 10 take on all roles across the stories, showing us what happens when unfortunate ...
Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! Returns to Edinburgh Fringe and on Tour
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Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! Returns to Edinburgh Fringe and on Tour

As rehearsals begin today, Francesca Moody Productions, Kater Gordon, Wessex Grove and Fiery Angel announce the full cast and creative team for the new expanded version of Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!, the sell-out smash-hit of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022, which returns this summer for a four week run at Underbelly at the Edinburgh Fringe from 2nd – 27th August before touring to Bristol Old Vic from 13th – 30th September and HOME Manchester from 5th – 21st October.  The acclaimed original cast will reprise their roles in the hilarious murder mystery musical including Bronté Barbé (Newsies, Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre) as Kathy, Rebekah Hinds (Oklahoma! Young Vic/ West End) as Stella, Jodie Jacobs (Rock of Ages, West End) as Felicia, TJ Lloyd (Guys and Dolls, Sheffiel...
False Accounts: Exposing the Post Office Cover Up – Upstairs at the Gatehouse
NEWS

False Accounts: Exposing the Post Office Cover Up – Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Last year I listened to a podcast that made my blood boil. It centred on innocent Sub Post Masters being accused of theft by The Post Office due to errors in the new computing system. Some had been sent to jail, some had committed suicide, and all of them had faced unbelievable stress. I couldn’t believe such a travesty of justice could have happened - and was still ongoing, in the UK. False Accounts, a satirical play, by Lance Steen Anthony Nielsen takes a closer look at the events leading up and the aftermath of this scandal. It is not an easy watch, but then it is not meant to be. What happened to these people – and the lack of adequate resolution for their suffering is an outrage. Nielsen does an excellent job in explaining a very complicated situation in a digestible format. We ...
Death Drop’s Holly Stars to bring new solo stand-up show to Camden Fringe this summer
NEWS

Death Drop’s Holly Stars to bring new solo stand-up show to Camden Fringe this summer

Holly Stars, drag queen stand-up comedian and writer of smash hit west end show Death Drop, is bringing an all-new solo show, BIRTHDAY, to Camden Fringe this summer, ahead of Death Drop's off-Broadway transfer this autumn. Holly's turning 40 and she's ready for a new decade to begin. She might be on the fast-track to middle age but nothing's going to slow her down. However, when Holly's nightmare neighbours try to stop her from organising the party of her dreams, Holly goes to war. Will her 40th birthday be her most dramatic yet? Come and find out in this stand-up comedy special with opening performance by drag king Richard Energy. One night only as part of Camden Fringe! About Holly Stars Holly Stars is a comedian and writer, best known for her smash-hit west end murder my...
World Premiere of an Absurdist Comedy Macbeth by the Sea
NEWS

World Premiere of an Absurdist Comedy Macbeth by the Sea

Witches! Ghosts! Karaoke! Shakespeare's tragic power couple, The Macbeths, murder the king and ascend the throne. Good friend Banquo has been killed, too. Banquo's battered spirit disrupts a celebration for the royal couple. Worried that her husband's stressful hallucinations will thwart their reign, Lady Macbeth orders a relaxing weekend at The Happy Hearts Seaside Resort. Will the weight of their evil deeds doom their legacy? Some witches might have something to say about it. Combining raucous physical theatre with skewering the bard, the play comically explores the themes of nepotism versus raw ambition and the merits of couples massages, karaoke, and Bon Jovi. Something Hysterical This Way Comes! This is the third show that Chicago's John Hancock Productions has brought to...
Award winning theatre company return to Greater Manchester Fringe
NEWS

Award winning theatre company return to Greater Manchester Fringe

Award winning theatre company, Northern Rep, are returning to Greater Manchester Fringe Festival in 2023, this time with two original plays. One man show BOSIE, written and performed by Rik Barnett, tells the story of Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (Bosie), the illicit lover of Oscar Wilde and reminisces on the destruction left in his wake. After being forced into exile, Bosie is powerless and angry. Compelled to face his past and the persecution endured by his father. Battling his own tour de force of personal philosophies and deep reflection on how his actions led to Oscar Wilde’s disgrace and how he, Bosie a gentleman of Victorian high society is now trapped, degraded and alone. The scandal and outrage of this overshadowed character in Wilde’s downfall is finally examined throug...