Tour.

NOISES OFF
by Michael Frayn.

Tour to 27 July 2013.
Runs 2hr 20min One interval.
Review: Alan Geary 29 April at Theatre Royal Nottingham.

A splendid production of a stage classic.

Tour.

THE NIGHTINGALE
by Alison Duddle based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen.

Tour to 13 April 2013.
Runs 50min No interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 7 March at Little Angel Theatre London.

Finely-judged piece that relates Andersen to modern childhood.

Tour.

STEPTOE AND SON
by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson adapted by Emma Rice.

Kneehigh Theatre (co-produced with West Yorkshire Playhouse) Tour to 6 April 2013.
Runs 2hr One interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 17 November at Royal and Derngate (Royal auditorium) Northampton.

Giving old TV favourites a third dimension.

/LondonTour.

CARNABY STREET: The Musical
by Carl Leighton-Pope original songs by James Hall.

Hackney Empire 291 Mare Street E8 1EJ To 14 April.
7.30pm Mat Sat 2.30pm Sun 5pm.
Then tour to 29 June 2013.
Runs 2hr 40min One interval.

TICKETS:0208 985 2424.
www.hackneyempire.co.uk (Hackney).
Review: William Russell 10 April.

Wideboys and mini skirts.

Tour/London.

FENCES
by August Wilson.

Tour to 14 September 2013.
Runs 2hr 45min One interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 25 March at Oxford Playhouse.

A Black Death of a Salesman? Or is Arthur Miller’s play a White Fences?

Tour.

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS OFFICIALLY AMAZING SCIENCE LIVE!
by Mark Thompson.

Tour to 13 April 2013.
Runs 2hr 25min One interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 24 January at The Alban Arena.

Science and fun tenuously linked.

Tour.

WHOLE
by Philip Osment

Tour to 28 March 2013.
Runs 1hr 30min + discussion No interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 1 March at Octagon Theatre Bolton.

Drama complete and whole.

Coventry
The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
Propeller in association with The Belgrade Theatre and The Touring Partnership present
‘Twelfth Night’ by William Shakespeare
Belgrade Theatre: Tkts 024 7655 3055
www.belgrade.co.uk
Runs: 3h: one interval:till 10th November and touring
Start: 7.30
Review: Jan Pick
8.11.12

Play on, Propeller!

Tour.

CURIOSITY SHOP
adapted by Daniel Jamieson from Charles Dickens.

Theatre Alibi Tour to 27 April 21013.
Runs 2hr 40min One interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 21 March at Oxford Playhouse.

Dickens impressive as a matter of record.

London.

DOGS DON’T DO BALLET
adapted by David Duffy and Andrea Sadler from the book by Anna Kemp illustrated by Sara Ogilvie.

Little Angel Theatre Tour to 21 April 2013.
Runs 45min No interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 16 January at Little Angel Theatre.

It’s all tutu splendid.

Bristol/Tour.

THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
by William Shakespeare edition and additional lyric by Dominic Power.

Tobacco Factory Theatre Raleigh Road BS3 1TF To 4 May.
Mon-Wed; Sat 7.30pm Thu, Fri 8pm Mat Sat and 18, 25 Apr 2.30pm.
then Tour to 15 June 2013.
Runs 2hr 50min One interval.

TICKETS 0117 902 0344.
www.tobaccofactorytheatre.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 10 April.

Two faces bad; two legs good; four legs best.

Nottingham

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company
In association with Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company, The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich and Teatro Kismet (Bari, Italy)
I Was A Rat!
By Philip Pullman
Adapted and directed by Teresa Ludovico
English version by David Watson

Nottingham Playhouse to Saturday 13th April 2013
Matinee Saturdays 30th March, 6th April 2.30, Friday 29th March, Wednesday 3rd, Thursday 4th, Tuesday 9th, Wednesday 10th, Thursday 11th April 1.30
Audio described performances Saturday 6th April 2.30 and Wednesday 10th April 6.30, captioned performance Thursday 11th April 1.30, signed interpreted performance Friday 12th April 6.30

Then touring
16th to 20th April, Bury St Edmunds Theatre Royal
23rd to 25th April, Truro Hall for Cornwall
1st to 4th May, Cambridge Arts Theatre
7th to 11th May, The Lowry Salford
15th to 18th May, Exeter Northcott Theatre
22nd to 25th May, Leeds, City Varieties Music Hall
20th May to 1 June, Hereford Courtyard Theatre

TICKETS: 0115 9419419
www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
Review: Jen Mitchell 27th March 2013
Runs 2hrs. One interval

Stylised and hugely physical, Philip Pullman’s magical and darkly amusing tale is brought vividly to life this gripping and energetic adaptation.

London/Tour.

MONEY: THE GAME SHOW
by Clare Duffy.

Bush Theatre 7 Uxbridge Road W12 8LJ To 2 March.
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Sat 2.30pm.
then Tour to 13 April 2013.
Runs 1hr 45min No interval.

TICKETS: 020 8743 5050.
www.bushtheatre.co.uk (London performances).
Review: Timothy Ramsden 9 February.

Glittering show as money makes the world go round and stops people up short.

Tour.

THE SEAGULL
by Anton Chekhov in a new version by John Donnelly.
Tour to 22 June 2013.
Runs 2hr 30min One interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 24 April at Watford Palace.

A Seagull that’s no common tern.

Oxford.

WHAT THE DICKENS?
by Abigail Anderson, Mark Conway, Neil Haigh, Emily Murphy.

Pegasus Theatre Magdalen Road OX4 1RE To 30 December 2012.
10am 12, 13 Dec
1pm 12, 13, 18-20, 24 Dec.
2.30pm 14, 15, 21-23, 27-30 Dec.
7pm 14, 15, 1823, 26-30 Dec.
Runs 2hr One interval.

TICKETS: 01865 812150.
www.pegasustheatre.org.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 1 December.

then Tour to 13 April 2013.

A huddled city, it’s life crowded with incidents.

Theatre company Gonzo Moose operate in that indeterminate area of performance termed ‘devised’. Aged 12, they belong to a theatre generation versed in things ‘visual’ and ‘physical’. Their Dickens show, from its title on, displays the symptoms of such an upbringing.

The performers’ self- and mutual critical skills are paramount. What results so often, and certainly at Pegasus this December, is a show of crafty, crafted moments, nifty interludes and sharp-etched caricatures, without much overall coherence or drive.

Still, as the other great staple of English writing might have put it, ‘Better an opportunistic wit than a witless opportunist’. The Mooses have to present their material themselves. And they have the advantage of Mandy Dike and Ben Rigby’s set, crowding a 3D London-scape on a stage of limited size, including anything old, curious or shoplike, alongside several other interiors and fogbound street-scenes.

All fits with snug conviction, backed by a huddle of narrow, winding streets amongst which the dome of St Paul’s tends to become more prominent, until it reaches the foreground in the final events.

It’s a breeding-ground for the fertility of mind in Mark Conway’s fresh-faced, eager but so far unsuccessful newspaper reporter Charles Dickens. As are the various characters benevolent, villainous or simply bursting with personality he meets.

Though the lyrical gifts that obstruct Conway’s Dickens’ factual reporting don’t seem markedly Dickensian, the sense of a life crowded by surroundings sparking the literary imagination is strong.

So are the best parts of the action, where the actor’s technique and personality fits the situation, as with Emily Murphy’s housekeeper, chatting inconsequentially on in a manner our author would certainly have picked-up, but which even he could hardly have made more comic than it is here. In other words, the performance is Dickens to the life.

Not all the humour achieves this but it’s intriguing to find the author a struggling journalist looked down upon by his editor and looking up to his paper’s ill-fated star reporter. And a pre-show tour of Pegasus spaces with the theatre’s youth company provides a suitably dark, yet garish vision of Victorian entertainment values.

Cast: Mark Conway, Neil Haigh, Emily Murphy.

Director: Abigail Anderson.
Designers: Mandy Dike, Ben Rigby.
Lighting: Tom Richmond.
Sound: Martin Stansbury.
Costume: Maija Nygren.
Fights: Seamus Allen.

Tour:
22 Feb 7.30pm East Knoyle Village Hall 01747 830132.
23 Feb 8pm Compton Bassett Village Hall 01249 760273.
24 Feb 3pm Grittleton Village Hall 01249 782798.
26 Feb 7.30pm Queen's Hall Hexham 91434 652477 www.queenshall.co.uk
27 Feb Artrix Bromsgrove 01527 577330 www.artrix.co.uk
28 Feb 7.45pm Corn Exchange Newbury 0845 521 8218 www.cornexchangenew.com
1 March 7.45pm The Neighbours Hall Great Milton 01844 279474 www.wegottickets.com/event/201737
2 March 7.45pm Loyd Lindsay Rooms Ardington karen@loydlindsayrooms.co.uk
5 March 7.30pm Llandrillo College Rhos-on-Sea 01248 351151 www.pontio.co.uk
8 March 7.30pm Bradon Forest Theatre 01793 773981 www.bradonforesttheatre.co.uk
14 March 7.30pm Arena Theatre Wolverhampton 01902 321321 www.wlv.ac.uk
15 March 7.30pm Middlesbrough Theatre 01642 815181 www.middlesbrough.gov.uk
16 March 7.30pm Harrogate Theatre 01423 502116 www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk
18-22 March 8.15pm Brewery Theatre Bristol 0117 902 0344 www.tobaccofactorytheatre.com*
23 March 7.30pm Hawthorne Theatre Welwyn Garden City 01707 357117 www.hawthornetheatre.co.uk
27-28 March 7.30pm Greenwich Theatre 020 8858 7755 www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk
5-6 April 8pm Rondo Theatre Bath 01225 463362 www,rondotheatre.co.uk
13 April Lenham Community Centre (Main Hall) 01622 853800/ 01622 858581
*with interval; runs 1hr 50min