Edition rounds up spring season at the Arts Theatre, just for you
From Steinbeck to Footloose, the Arts theatre is offering a star-studded season of spectacular variety this spring.
Kicking things off, a duo of Alan Ayckbourn plays (Confusions and Hero’s Welcome, 1-6 February), followed by Measure for Measure, performed by Cambridge University’s Marlowe Society. Kids can have fun at What the Ladybird Heard, and grown-ups can join Lucy Worsley for an Evening of Murder. Laugh your heart out at Showstopper!, an improvised musical on 22 February, and laugh some more when the Footlights turn up for two nights. If your belly’s aching: Peter Whelan offers a tale about one of Shakespeare’s daughters in The Herbal Bed on 1 March.
Murder mystery fans get a treat in March with a new play from Levinson & Link, the team who penned Murder, She Wrote. Rehearsal For Murder stars Robert Daws and runs from the 7th. Martin Shaw and Christopher Timothy lead the story of Henry Horatio Hobson from 14 March in Hobson’s Choice. More murder on 21 March, starring EastEnders’ Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace, performing together in Peter James’ The Perfect Murder.
In the mood for something a little lighter? Try Toast by Richard Bean or kids favourite The Gruffalo’s Child. April welcomes Pop Idol’s Gareth Gates – he’ll be jamming with Maureen Nolan in Footloose from 4-9 April. Cue a key change on 12 April with Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men starring Dudley Sutton, before Sasha Regan’s all-male team returns with Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S Pinafore on 20 April. The English Touring Opera visit from 26 April with three productions from Mozart, Gluck and Donizetti. David Wood’s adaptation of Goodnight Mr Tom follows for the novel’s 35th anniversary from 3 May. Ken Dodd brings his Happiness Show on 8 May before Bruce Norris’ incisive Clybourne Park. The classics return with Brideshead Revisited and King Lear starring Michael Pennington before the season finale. That privilege goes to Samuel West in Present Laughter just before it hits the West End.
