What's on in the Midlands

Published: 14 May 2022
Reporter: Steve Orme

Matt Willis (Dr Pomatter) and Chelsea Halfpenny (Jenna) in Waitress at Birmingham Hippodrome Credit: Johan Persson
Gwyneth Strong in Ladies of Letters at Derby Theatre Credit: Craig Fuller
Raphael Akuwudike (Clayton, lying) and Arthur Wilson (coach Lafferty) in First Touch at Nottingham Playhouse Credit: Manuel Harlan

The Cornley Drama Society is putting on a 1920s murder mystery but everything that can go wrong does in Mischief Theatre’s comedy The Play That Goes Wrong which returns to the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham from Monday until Saturday.

Chelsea Halfpenny plays Jenna and Matt Willis is Dr Pomatter in Waitress, with a book by Jessie Nelson from the Adrienne Shelly film, and music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, at Birmingham Hippodrome from Monday until Saturday.

Jake Quickenden and Darren Day appear in Footloose the Musical at Malvern Theatres from Monday until Saturday.

Six “extraordinary” young dancers perform Deluxe which features work by “some of the world’s most exciting artists” when BalletBoyz visit Northampton’s Royal and Derngate on Tuesday.

Tessa Peake-Jones and Gwyneth Strong team up for Jonathan Harvey’s adaptation of Lou Wakefield and Carole Hayman’s radio and TV sitcom Ladies of Letters at Derby Theatre from Tuesday until Saturday.

Simon Reade’s adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s Private Peaceful takes to the main stage at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry from Tuesday until Saturday while in the B2 auditorium the final production in the Belgrade’s programme of work for Coventry UK City of Culture 2021, the world première of Nothello, written and devised by Mojisola Adebayo, William Shakespeare and Justine Themen, continues until Saturday.

Herefordshire-based X-Entricity presents Shrek the Musical, with songs by Jeanine Tesori and book by David Lindsay, at The Courtyard, Hereford from Tuesday until Saturday.

Direct from the West End, Dreamgirls, in which “three young singers in the turbulent 1960s embark on a musical rollercoaster ride through a world of fame, fortune and the ruthless realities of show business”, visits the Theatre Royal, Nottingham from Tuesday until Saturday 28 May while in the Royal Concert Hall Oti Mabuse stages her I Am Here Tour on Friday and Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals makes a return visit on Sunday.

Based on Chris Nickson’s novel about a carpenter’s search for a killer during the building of Chesterfield’s spire, The Crooked Spire—A Medieval, Murder-Mystery Musical is presented by Ashgate Heritage Arts at the Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield from Thursday until Saturday.

Marking the 40th anniversary of Aston Villa’s becoming European Cup winners, Birmingham Rep’s associate company Told by an Idiot stages the world première of Would You Bet Against Us?, written by Brummie and life-time Aston Villa fan Paul Hunter, in The Door at the Rep from Thursday until Saturday 4 June.

Inspired by football abuse scandals, a new play by Nathaniel Price, First Touch, continues at Nottingham Playhouse until Saturday.

Apollo Theatre Company says stop messing about and go to see Cult Figure: Kenneth Williams, written and performed by Colin Elmer, in the Studio at Lichfield Garrick on Saturday and the Studio at Key Theatre, Peterborough on Sunday.

A “witty and fleet-footed version of the tale that updates the literary masterpiece while remaining true to the original’s revolutionary spirit”, Chris Bush’s adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, a co-production between Newcastle-under-Lyme’s New Vic Theatre and the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough continues at the New Vic until Saturday 28 May.

Henry VI: Rebellion which “hurtles through one of the most turbulent periods in English history” continues in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford until Saturday 28 May while Wars of the Roses, a “thrilling climax to Shakespeare’s three-part Henry VI saga of nationhood and power”, continues until Saturday 4 June.

*Some links, including Amazon, Stageplays.com, ATG Tickets, LOVEtheatre, BTG Tickets, Ticketmaster, The Ticket Factory, LW Theatres and QuayTickets, are affiliate links for which BTG may earn a small fee at no extra cost to the purchaser.

Are you sure?