Theatres - Starting This Week - 4/2/10

Feb 1 2010 by Michael Green, Chester Chronicle

STARTING THIS WEEK

ARDEN OF FAVERSHAM (Emlyn Williams Theatre, Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold, February 11-March 6)

AN ELIZABETHAN drama by an anonymous author based on a true story in which desire, envy and greed inexorably lead to death. The play, directed by Terry Hands, is an early example of Elizabethan tragi-comedy. Visit www.clwyd-theatr-cymru.co.uk or ring 0845 330 3565.

BAHOK (The Lowry, Salford Quays, February 4)

NAMED after a Bengali word meaning “carrier”, this hotly anticipated work from Akram Khan Company features a score by Nitin Sawhney and explores how the bodey can express a sense of national identity and belonging. The dancers come from diverse cultures - Chinese, Korean, Indian, South African, Slovakian and Spanish - and their rich mix of both spoken and dance language pushes the boundaries of movement vocabulary. Visit www.thelowry.com or ring 0870 111 2000.

CALENDAR GIRLS (The Lowry, Salford Quays, February 9-20)

FOLLOWING two sell-out weeks at The Lowry, Calendar Girls has become the fastest selling tour ever and has triumphed in the West End. Now it’s back for one final season starring Lynda Bellingham, Gemma Atkinson, Judith Barker, Letitia Dean, Jan Harvey and Hannah Waterman. A group of ordinary women do something extraordinary and spark a global phenomenon when they persuade one another to pose for a charity calendar with a difference! Visit www.thelowry.com or ring 0870 111 2000.

THE COLLECTOR (The Lowry, Salford Quays, February 4-5)

BASED on an adaptation of John Fowles’ classic novel, this superb psychological thriller from Pronto Productions is in turn sad, tense and horrific. Frederick is a man obsessed, repressed, introverted and unloved. A collector of butterflies and a keen photographer, he seeks solace in Miranda, a young intelligent art student. When his luck takes a turn for the better, he buys a remote farmhouse and makes plans for the future. However, he soon discovers the reality of his new life is far from the fantasy he imagined. Visit www.thelowry.com or ring 0870 111 2000.

DANCING IN THE STREETS (Empire Theatre, Lime Street, Liverpool, February 8-13)

A CELEBRATION of 50 years of Motown with a company that dynamically recreates the energy, style and music of the stars of the Motown stable including Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, The Four Topes and The Temptations. Visit www.liverpoolempire.org.uk or ring 0844 847 2525.

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (The Brindley, High Street, Runcorn, February 9-13)

ANNE, 13,Šand her family went into hiding in Amsterdam in 1942 to escape the Nazi persecution of the Jewish community. The play shows the tensions within the family, the trauma of their confinement, the heartbreak of loss - and the triumph of the spirit. Visit www.thebrindley.org.uk or ring 0151 907 8360.

DIE FLEDERMAUS (Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, February 8-9)

ONE of the world's most famous operettas gets a glittering new look from the country's best small-scale opera and operetta company. Opera della Luna have earned themselves a matchless reputation. They now turn their hand to the waltz king Johann Strauss and this most sparkling of scores. This entirely new and saucy production is directed by Jeff Clarke. Visit www.ambassadortickets.com/stoke or ring 0844 871 7649.

THE DREADFUL HOURS (Everyman Theatre, Hope Street, Liverpool, February 11-13)

COMBINING Tmesis Theatre’s trademark physicality with new writing from acclaimed North West playwright Chris Fittock, this is a darkly comic drama exploring the quiet disintegration of love’s first flourish through the lifetime of one couple’s relationship. Visit www.everymanplayhouse.com or ring 0151 709 4776.

THE EVENT (Axis Arts Centre, Crewe Green Road, Crewe, February 11)

THE man stands in a pool of light on the stage. He is an actor. We know this because he tells us so. He appears to be intelligent but this might just be clever direction. This deceptively simple piece of theatre is presented by Absurdum International, written and directed by John Clancy and performed by David Calvitto. Visit www.axisartscentre.org.uk or ring 0161 247 5302.

GHOST STORIES (Playhouse Theatre, Williamson Square, Liverpool, February 4-20)

A TRULY terrifying theatrical experience written and directed by Jeremy Dyson of The League of Gentlemen fame and Andy Nyman, who co-created Derren Brown’s TV and stage shows. This is a spectacular 80 minute ride that will chill and thrill in equal measure. Not suitable for anyone under the age of 15 or of a nervous disposition. Visit www.everymanplayhouse.com or ring 0151 709 4776.

I OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES (Library Theatre, St Peter’s Square, Manchester, February 11-27)

TOUCHING, poignant and typically funny Neil Simon comedy drama. Hollywood screenwriter Herbert Tucker is down on his luck. Struggling with writer’s block, his career is on the skids. One day, his daughter Libby, an aspiring New York actress he abandoned nearly 20 years ago, turns up unannounced at his door. Visit www.librarytheatre.com or ring 0161 236 7110.

PEPPA PIG’S PARTY (The Lowry, Salford Quays, February 4-7)

THE award-winning children’s TV series is recreated with puppets live on stage for the first time by the producers of Lazy Town Live. Peppa is a playful little pig who lives with her younger brother George, Mummy and Daddy Pig. Through everyday adventures, she plays games, makes new friends and enjoys jumping up and down in muddy puddles. Visit www.thelowry.com or ring 0870 111 2000.

SCATTERED (The Lowry, Salford Quays, February 9-10)

COMBINING highly physical dance theatre with mesmerising aerial imagery and film, Scattered - presented by Motionouse - uses projection technology, daring dancing plus aerial harnesses and bungees to create an extraordinary world in which the dancers move seamlessly in, on and through the image. Visit www.thelowry.com or ring 0870 111 2000.

SHERLOCK HOLMES - THE LAST ACT (The Lowry, Salford Quays, February 6-7)

FOLLOWING the success of Sherlock Holmes – The Death and Life in 2009, Roger Llewellyn returns in this very different and thrilling new play. With wit, humour, high drama and a touch of pathos, the world's greatest fictional detective confronts the most complex case of all…his own psyche. Exploring the mind of the real man, he strips away his infamous clinical façade, revealing unexpected fears and weaknesses. Visit www.thelowry.com or ring 0870 111 2000.

TO BREAK A MAN (The Lowry, Salford Quays, February 11)

FLORA is a disturbed young woman with an unbearable insight into the human predicament. Harry is an ordinary man caught between doing the right thing and doing what is best for everyone. Tonight he must choose whether to save his daughter...by losing her. Sometimes, you have to make a decision which will change your life. Sometimes, whatever you choose, you lose. Tonight the audience and chance will decide how the story will be told in this Tarry Theatre presentation. Visit www.thelowry.com or ring 0870 111 2000.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (Anthony Hopkins Theatre, Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold, February 4-27)

ONE of the greatest modern classics, this is the powerful story - based on the book by Harper Lee - of a fight for racial justice in a community divided and ruled by prejudice and discrimination. In Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s, momentous events unfold through the eyes of eight-year-old Scout Finch who lives in a close-knit neighbourhood with older brother Jem and lawyer father Atticus. Visit www.clwyd-theatr-cymru.co.uk or ring 0845 330 3565.