Entertainment writer Wayne Savage looks at what’s on the stages of the region’s theatres
NEW WOLSEY THEATRE/STUDIO, IPSWICH
Act One - The Cave, Unscene Suffolk, to July 20: The first public performance of a ground-breaking new community theatre company for adults with visual impairment.
Les Misérables - School Edition, Children’s Theatre Company, July 18-20: Based on the Victor Hugo novel, ex-convict Jean Valjean fights to care for adopted daughter Cosette while being hunted by ruthless policeman Javert in 19th Century France. I saw it earlier this week and it’s magnificent. Read my review online.
Big Ideas 5 Moby Dick, Slung Low, July 27: The story of a man driven mad, the critically acclaimed theatre makers will work with young artists from the New Wolsey Young Company to develop the script and staging ideas of the piece before it premieres in Leeds.
SIR JOHN MILLS THEATRE, IPSWICH
S.K.I.P, Young Blood Theatre Company Ipswich, July 22-23: A school playground is the setting for this play which lays bare the day to day life in an inner city school where innocence can be destroyed in the blink of an eye.
IPSWICH TOWN HALL
The Witchfinder Project, Co.Here Arts, July 27-28: Inspired by Matthew Hopkins who made money from his witchhunting skills across East Anglia during the 1700s. Live musicians, improvised drama, dance and visual art will be combined in a new musical in which the audience find themselves part of the drama.
JERWOOD DANCEHOUSE, IPSWICH
DanceEast Centre for Advanced Training End of Year Show, July 27: Students show off their talents to friends, family and the wider public in newly commissioned work by some of the best national and international choreographers.
LAVENHAM HALL GARDENS, LAVENHAM
Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare, Lavenham Players, July 25-27: One of his most popular, witty comedies, this version is set in Lavenham towards the end of the Second World War. The plot revolves around the fortunes of two pairs of lovers with evil villains, incompetent constables, furious fathers and saucy servants.
THEATRE ROYAL, NORWICH
Evita, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, to July 27: Marti Pellow takes on the iconic stage role of Che Guevara in this smash musical which brings the larger-than-life persona of Eva Peron, wife of former Argentine dictator Juan Peron, to life. Features the classic songs Don’t Cry For Me Argentina and Oh What A Circus.
HEADGATE THEATRE, COLCHESTER
The Downfall of the School, by Robert Gathercole, Mad Hatter Productions, July 24-27: It’s a new term at Plainham Comprehensive, the only school where the teacher drop-out rate is higher than the student one. But nothing can prepare them for new headteacher Mr Kane in this musical comedy.
COGGESHALL GRANGE BARN, COLCHESTER
Lady Windermere’s Fan, Dot Productions, July 20: Lady Windermere seems to have it all, until she’s visited by one of London society’s most notorious gossips who suggests her husband is having an affair with the mysterious Mrs Erlynne and that this woman is about to turn up to Lady Windermere’s 21st birthday ball. Soon nothing is as it seems. Dot visit and Gooderstone Water Gardens, King’s Lynne, on July 28.
MERCURY THEATRE, COLCHESTER
Hotbed 2013, to July 21: The Cambridge New Writing Theatre Festival now in Colchester. Four days of the best new writing for the stage including world premieres, international award-winning shows, masterclasses talks and debates.
CIVIC THEATRE, CHELMSFORD
Miss Saigon (school edition), Tomorrow’s Talent, to July 20: Set during the Vietnam War, an American soldier and Vietnamese girl fall in love, only to be separated during the fall of Saigon and their struggle to find each other bound for tragedy.
MASTER’S GARDEN, CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
King Lear, Shakespeare’s Globe on Tour, to July 27: Outdoor performance of Shakespeare’s ultimate tragedy which sees ild King Lear, weary of royal duties, plan on breaking up his kingdom and dividing it among his three daughters. But this rash generosity is cruelly repaid. Playing Lear is Joseph Marcell, known to many as Geoffrey in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
FISHER THEATRE, BUNGAY
Hippolyte et Aricie by Rameau, Glyndebourne Festival 2013, July 26: Glyndebourne’s first opera by Rameau, who drew on ancient Greek tragedy and 17th Century classical French drama to create a version of the story of Theseus, Phaedra and Hippolytus.
Staging a show? Email event@archant.co.uk
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