There’s never a dull month when it comes to theatre in the Midlands. Check out our selection of shows coming to venues across the region during the next few weeks...

MEASURE FOR MEASURE

The darkest of Shakespeare’s comedies, Measure For Measure is usually considered a problem play, which basically means that it asks more questions than it answers. 

The structure is simple enough. Poor old Angelo is left in charge of an anarchic Vienna, whilst the Duke pretends that he has work overseas. Instead, he uses the opportunity to spy on his diligent though misguided deputy, waits for a mistake, then reappears to make Angelo a convenient scapegoat for Vienna’s woes. 

A stitch-up, or just judicial authority? No wonder politicians of all parties quote Shakespeare to justify their dark deeds...

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until Saturday 25 October

---

BUDDY: THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY

Seen by tens of millions of people across the globe, Buddy is an enormously enduring and touchingly affectionate portrayal of one of rock & roll’s earliest and brightest stars. Charting the singer’s meteoric rise to fame and fortune, and following his career through to his very last performance, the show features timeless Buddy classics such as That’ll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, Oh Boy, Rave On and Everyday...  

Lichfield Garrick, Monday 2 - Saturday 7 March; Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Monday 23 - Tuesday 24 March

---

2:22 A GHOST STORY

Husband & wife Jenny and Sam are divided. Jenny believes their new home is haunted; Sam isn’t having any of it. But something certainly feels strange and frightening. Determined to find out the truth once and for all, they decide to stay up until 2:22 - at which time, all will be revealed. Or not... 

2.22 A Ghost Story premiered in the West End back in 2021, not only becoming a major hit but also providing both Lily Allen and Cheryl with an opportunity to tread the boards. This latest touring version of the show stars real-life couple Kevin Clifton and Stacey Dooley alongside Grant Kilburn and Shvorne Marks, pictured.

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Tuesday 18 - Saturday 23 May 

---

THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW

Hook up your fishnets, tighten your corsets and prepare to ‘do The Time Warp again’ - The Rocky Horror Show is returning to the Midlands! Richard O Brien’s cult production tells the tale of the straight-laced Brad and the deliciously corruptible Janet, who arrive at the castle of the alien transvestite Frank N Furter and witness the birth of the monster, Rocky. Along the way, they take the audience through a selection of love-’em-or-loathe-’em musical numbers, including Damn It Janet, Sweet Transvestite, and The Time Warp. Great fun’s a guarantee - particularly if you get into the spirit of things and attend the show dressed in your very best stockings & suspenders (as many patrons do)! 

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Monday 13 - Saturday 18 April; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Monday 6 - Saturday 11 July

---

BLOOD BROTHERS

Although it’s effectively a class-driven ‘scouse melodrama’, to describe Blood Brothers as such is to greatly underestimate the emotional response it produces within its audience. 

The show features adult actors playing children, a narrator who wanders through the scenes with warnings of impending doom, a good helping of sharp social awareness to counteract the sticky sentimentality, and a raft of much-loved musical numbers, including Bright New Day, Marilyn Monroe, and the emotionally charged Tell Me It’s Not True. 

Musical theatre veteran Vivienne Carlyle stars as Mrs Johnstone.

Crewe Lyceum Theatre, Tuesday 20 - Saturday 24 January; Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Tuesday 27 - Saturday 31 January

---

CYRANO DE BERGERAC

Edmond Rostand’s famous 1897 play tells the tale of the French poet and soldier of the title, Cyrano de Bergerac, who is desperate to win the love of the beautiful Lady Roxane.

His efforts to do so, however, are somewhat complicated by the fact that he’s got a proboscis that’s almost as big as the Eiffel Tower (that’s an exaggeration for effect, obviously, but you get the idea). 
Making the situation even trickier for the big-hootered Cyrano is the fact that Roxane has fallen for the ever-so-handsome Christian. 

But wait... the course of true love never runs smooth, and Christian has a major problem of his own. He gets tongue-tied, and knows he needs to woo Roxane with poetic words. 

Enter, the magnificently verbose Cyrano, with a clever plan to save the young man’s bacon... Birmingham-born actor Adrian Lester takes top billing in the title role.

Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until Sunday 15 November

---

PIRATES LOVE UNDERPANTS

Claire Freedman certainly knows a thing or two about writing for children. And she’s no slouch on the subject of underpants either, with her picture books including Aliens Love Underpants, Aliens Love Panta Claus and Aliens In Underpants Save The World... 

It turns out pirates are pretty keen on underpants too, as evidenced by this stage adaptation of yet another of her publications.

Shrewsbury Theatre Severn’s legendary pantomime Dame, Brad Fitt, has written the show, which features a winning combination of ‘music, puppetry and glittering pants of gold’.

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Tuesday 28 - Wednesday 29 October

---

THE WOMAN IN BLACK

Adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the same-named Susan Hill novel, The Woman In Black is a classic ghost story first performed in 1989. It has since become one of the West End’s most successful plays, and was memorably made into a film starring Daniel Radcliffe in 2012. 

Solicitor Arthur Kipp believes that his family have somehow been cursed by a mysterious woman in black. In an attempt to tell his story, and to exorcise the evil curse which he’s convinced hangs over him, he hires a young actor to assist him in recounting his experiences... 

The Alexandra, Birmingham, Tuesday 27 - Saturday 31 January; Malvern Theatres, Tuesday 31 March - Saturday 4 April 

---

THE HAUNTING OF BLAINE MANOR

When Doctor Roy Earle, a renowned American parapsychologist famous for discrediting hauntings and exposing fake mediums, accepts an invitation to attend a seance at ‘the most haunted building in England’ - the Blaine Manor of the title - he finds himself, along with his companions for the evening, temporarily cut off from the outside world by a raging storm... And as every lover of the ghost story/horror genre very well knows, where there’s a raging storm and a haunted house, there are also, inevitably, things that go bump in the night...

An award-winning love letter to both the Golden Age of Hollywood and the era of Hammer Horror movies here in the UK, The Haunting Of Blaine Manor is described by its publicity as the new Woman In Black - only scarier...

Palace Theatre, Redditch, Saturday 25 October

---

THE FAMILY MAGIC SHOW

Those unfamiliar with The Great Baldini are advised to imagine an amalgamation of arch Bond villain Ernst Blofeld and legendary magician/comedian Tommy Cooper.

The self-proclaimed - presumably with his tongue firmly in his cheek - ‘emperor of illusion, prince of prestidigitation and maharajah of mystery’ is stopping off in the region this month to tell the story of his partnership with his faithful companion, Baldwin The Magical Dog...

Bristol-based Baldini comes complete with a host of five-star reviews and is a firm family favourite, so be sure to check him out before he disappears in the proverbial puff of smoke...

Ludlow Assembly Rooms, South Shropshire, Saturday 25 October

---

THE DINOSAUR THAT POOPED: A ROCK SHOW

Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter are promising their brand-new production will come complete with new songs, a lot of laughs and (not surprisingly given the show’s title) a whole load of poo! 

Based on Tom and Dougie’s bestselling children’s books, The Dinosaur That Pooped follows Danny and Dino as they try to get hold of the last two tickets to their favourite rock band’s last-ever concert. But with a villainous band manager lurking, nothing goes to plan... Will the band perform? Will Danny rock out? Or will Dino’s rumbling tummy save the day?...

Malvern Theatres, Saturday 25 October; Lichfield Garrick, Wednesday 29 October  

---

​THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

This much-loved story from the pen of CS Lewis is rightly regarded as an all-time classic of children’s literature. It sees the lion-god Aslan coming to the aid of four youngsters who’ve accidentally stumbled into his mystical world of Narnia...

Visiting Birmingham this month having last stopped off in the city at The Rep for the Christmas 2023/24 season, the show features ‘magical storytelling, bewitching stagecraft and incredible puppets’.

“We have this epic stage and fantastic imagery,” says the production’s director, Michael Fentiman, “but there’s not a lot of literal depiction of location of the show. Instead, we’re asking the audience to take a leap with us. We work with an illusionist to try and do things that seem impossible. So the way we use magic and lighting and shift-of-focus achieves the possible from the seemingly impossible.”

The show’s Midlands stop-offs come as part of a UK-wide tour to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the novel’s publication.

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Tuesday 28 October - Saturday 1 November

---

MURDER SHE DIDN'T WRITE

Improvised shows are seemingly all the rage nowadays - and this one has certainly got plenty to recommend it... 

First and foremost, it was a multiple-sell-out hit at the Edinburgh Fringe... 
Secondly, it’s presented by a critically acclaimed company - Degrees Of Error - who are past masters of the improv genre...

Thirdly, the show is a real hoot. An Agatha Christie-inspired whodunnit, it features a classic murder-mystery which is created ‘on the spot’. Audience members are then encouraged to don their deerstalkers (if they’ve brought them along), grab a magnifying glass and make sure their ‘finger of suspicion’ is ‘at the ready’... The show runs for two hours, including an interval.

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Wednesday 5 November

---