23 June 2015
Drama, music, comedy and more – it’s all in the Theatre Royal’s Autumn season
It’s a season that really does have it all – the Autumn offerings from the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds include a huge variety of shows plus the ever-popular pantomime.
Sponsored by Beckett Financial Services, the season features drama, music, comedy and more and with some top names coming to the stage, it’s a season for everyone.
Director of the Theatre Royal, Karen Simpson is directing one of the season’s highlights, the smart, sassy and sexy Miss Nightingale – The Musical(30 September to 3 October) which will take audiences back to the 1940s.
Audiences across Britain have adored this fabulous, feelgood tale of love, loss and hope, performed by a multi-talented cast who not only act, dance and sing but also play all the instruments live on stage!
Director of the Theatre Royal, Karen Simpson, said: “The Theatre Royal is a very special theatre and through our artistic programming we continue to work hard to introduce new generations to its work.
“This is the second part of our 50th anniversary programme and we are barely stopping so you will find there is always something going on for you to enjoy with friends and family whatever the weather.”
BAFTA-nominated Cathy Tyson (Mona Lisa, Band of Gold) stars in another season highlight, She Called Me Mother, about Trinidadian woman, Evangeline, (11-12 November) while funnyman, Patrick Kielty returns to his stand-up roots with a brand new show (8 November).
Others to make you laugh include the irrepressible Jenny Éclair (12 February) and Mark Thomas (3 February) with his usual odd mix of theatre, stand up, journalism, activism and mayhem, Daniel Taylor as showbusiness legend, Tommy Cooper (17 January) and Stephen K Amos (22 January).
That most hilarious of comedy duos, Jeeves and Wooster are in the house in Perfect Nonsense(2 to 5 September) as the West End smash hit which is now on tour and heading this way.
If the 1920s is your thing then The Great Gatsbywill immerse you in the decadence of America’s Jazz Age as seen through the eyes of Nick Carraway in this sizzling new adaption of F Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece.
London Classic Theatre – regular visitors to the Theatre Royal – return with Beckett’s masterpiece, Waiting for Godot (21 to 23 September)and Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party ( 25 to 27 February) while Northern Broadsides also make a welcome return, bringing Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Taleto the Theatre Royal (6 to 10 October).
A double bill in time for Halloween is a must see, coupling Charles Dickens’ The Signalman with Robert Aickman’sThe Waiting Roomfor a truly unnerving theatre experience (27 to 31 October).
Music comes courtesy of The Blues Brothers Experience (12 September), Islands In The Stream which pays homage to the King and Queen of Country Music, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (26 September), Buddy Holly and the Cricketers who have toured this stunning tribute to the great man all over the world for over 20 years (15 November) and Nick Ross who revives the Big Band sound of the Glenn Miller Era (20 February).
And our season of lunchtime concerts, sponsored by Gross and Co, is the perfect way to spend a lunch break.
For younger theatregoers, there’s trouble brewing down on Marty Macdonald’s Farm (25 October) and an exciting musical for the whole family, Rapunzel (14 to 15 February) – not forgetting the theatre’s traditional family pantomime which this year tells the story of Jack and the Beanstalk(27 November to 10 January).
Opera fans will delight in the fact that OperaUpClose return to the Theatre Royal for the third year with their new English version of Carmen, set in a torrid South American landscape of dust and concrete. (23 to 24 February).
And Ballet Theatre UK will perform The Snow Queen (16 to 18 November) in a beautiful re-telling of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairytale.
The Ipswich Town Football Club Legends return for another unmissable evening of stories and anecdotes about their careers (13 September). Bryan Hamilton, Simon Milton and Allan Hunter are joined by Terry Butcher and Russell Osman for an evening of all things football!
Journalist and former MP, Martin Bell is joined by the Suffolk Concert Band for Music and Memories of the Suffolk Regiment(25 September).
For those who enjoy military music, this is the perfect evening, ending of course with the Regimental Quick March, Speed The Plough.
Other season highlights include Clive Francis reprising his role as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (14 November), On The Edge! From Kepow Theatre (13 November), The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha (10 November) and The Count of Monte Cristo (9 September).
The National Youth Music Theatre brings the court of King Arthur to life in Pendragon (26 to 29 August) while Bury Theatre Workshop present The Duchess of Malfi (26 to 30 January) and Bury St Edmunds Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society perform Fiddler on the Roof (13 to 17 October).
The Irving Stage Company perform West Side Story including some of the most memorable songs in musical theatre such as Maria, America and Tonight. (3 to 7 November).
The Theatre Royal Autumn Season 2015 in sponsored by Beckett Financial Services
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For press enquiries please contact Nicki Dixon, Press and Communications Officer via or 01284 829947.
Notes to Editors:
The Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds is the UK’s last surviving working Regency playhouse.
Under the care of the National Trust, it is a Grade I listed building which underwent a £5.3million restoration in 2005 to return it to its original 1819 layout and design.
The Theatre Royal is owned by the Greene King brewery, leased by the Brewery to the National Trust which in turn leased the Theatre to Bury St Edmunds Theatre Management Ltd to run it as a working theatre.