There’s an embarrassment of theatre riches across the North of England this month.
Among the new writing on offer is Anna Jordan’s Bruntwood Prize-winning Yen which will receive its world premiere in The Studio at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre. The play was commended for its “beautiful empathy, and a humanity which stood out to all the judges” by the Bruntwood Prize and will be on from February 18 until March 7.
Fans of The Woman in Black will be pleased to hear that another of Susan Hill’s gothic horror novels has been adapted for the stage. The Mist in the Mirror runs at Oldham Coliseum Theatre until February 21 and, according to Northern Soul‘s four star review, is “a thoroughly theatrical experience which might well move audiences enough that they’ll still be flocking to see it a quarter of a century on from this world première”. For Northern Soul‘s interview with the playwright Ian Kershaw, click here.
Scuttlers tells the story of first urban gangs in history who originated in Ancoats in the 19th century. The play’s premiere is at the Royal Exchange and is on until March 7.
For those who prefer the classics, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge is at Bolton Octagon Theatre until February 14 and Uncle Vanya runs from February 28 to March 21 at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Sebastian Faulks’s seminal story Birdsong is on at the Northern Stage in Newcastle, February 23–28.
If you’re looking for a laugh then these two plays are just the ticket: the Reduced Shakespeare Company are bringing their latest tour The Complete History of Comedy (abridged) to The Civic Barnsley on February 19, and Lip Service Theatre’s The Picture of Doreen Gray will be on at the Customs House, South Shields on February 24 and 25.
The 35th anniversary production of Willy Russell’s Educating Rita will also raise some laughs and will be warming hearts until March 7 at Liverpool Playhouse. For Northern Soul’s exclusive interview with Russell, click here.
For something a bit different Robert Louis Stevenson’s cult classic Jekyll and Hyde will be reinterpreted in a modern adaptation set in an alternative London of the future, on February 23 at Sale’s Waterside Arts Centre.
Main image: Leanne Best and Con O’Neill in Educating Rita at Liverpool Playhouse (c) Stephen Vaughan
If you would like your venue included in next month’s preview send us your links, blogs and press releases to stephaniealderson@northernsoul.me.uk
