Theatres - Still Showing - October 13 onwards

Oct 10 2011 by Michael Green, Chester Chronicle

STILL SHOWING

ALL THE WAY HOME (The Lowry, Salford Quays, September 29-October 15)

MANCHESTER’S Library Theatre Company, in association with The Lowry, Salford Quays, presents the world premiere of Salford-born Ayub Khan-Din’s new work. The East is East writer has produced a gritty, modern-day tale about a disparate group of warring siblings who gather at their former family home, under the shadow of impending loss. Visit www.librarytheatre.com or call 0843 208 6005.

BLOOD BROTHERS (Floral Pavilion, New Brighton, Wirral, October 10-15)

WRITTEN by Willy Russell, the legendary show tells the captivating and moving tale of twins who, separated at birth, grow up on opposite sides of the tracks, only to meet again with tragic consequences. The superb score includes Bright New Day, Marilyn Monroe and the emotionally charged hit Tell Me It’s Not True. The cast is headed by Niki Evans as Mrs Johnstone. Call 0151 666 0000 or visit www.floralpavilion.com.

THE GLASS MENAGERIE (New Vic Theatre, Etruria Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme, September 30-October 15)

THE play that made Tennessee Williams a star of American theatre is a funny heartbreaking portrait of a 1930s family in crisis. Ageing Southern belle Amanda has fallen on hard times but now longs to find an eligible bachelor for her painfully shy and fragile daughter Laura. Call 01782 717962 or visit www.newvictheatre.org.uk.

GOOD (Royal Exchange Theatre, St Ann’s Square, Manchester, October 12-November 5)

1930S GERMANY. Professor Halder is struggling with an elderly mother, a needy wife and the increasing tendency to hear beautiful music in unexpected places. A good man, he finds himself increasingly caught up in the Nazi propaganda machine. CP Taylor’s play is a shifting, moving exploration of how personal morality can be twisted, and drawn to a sinister and diabolical cause. Ring 0161 833 9833 or visit www.royalexchange.co.uk.

ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS (The Lowry, Salford Quays, October 11-15)

JAMES Corden plays Francis Henshall in this new English version of the classic Italian comedy – where sex, food and money are high on the agenda. Fired from his skiffle band, Francis becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6,000 from his fiancee’s dad. But Roscoe is really his sister Rachel posing as her own dead brother, who's been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers. Holed up at The Cricketers' Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police and waiting to be re-united with Rachel. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Corden is reunited with National Theatre director Nicholas Hytner for the first time since The History Boys. Call 0843 208 6000 or visit www.thelowry.com.

THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTURO UI (Playhouse Theatre, Williamson Square, Liverpool, September 30-October 22)

IT’S 1930s Chicago and as the Great Depression hits the city’s fortunes, small time boss Arturo strikes a deal and makes a killing. Soon his shadow looms from the markets to the docks. But whether you’re with him or against him, you can’t ignore the resistible rise of Arturo Ui. Liverpool playwright Stephen Sharkey has produced a potent new translation of Bertolt Brecht’s shocking 1941 satire. Visit www.everymanplayhouse.com or call 0151 709 4776.

SISTER ACT (Opera House, Quay Street, Manchester, September 29-October 15)

FROM producers Whoopi Goldberg and Stage Entertainment (Hairspray, High School Musical) the smash hit musical comedy based on the classic film comes to the Opera House direct from its record-breaking run at the London Palladium. Ring 0844 372 7272 or visit www.manchesterpalace.org.uk.

TAKING STEPS (Emlyn Williams Theatre, Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold, September 22-October 15)

HARD-drinking bucket tycoon Roland Crabbe is about to buy a house - a reputedly haunted former brothel - from devious builder Leslie Bainbridge. But with his wife Elizabeth planning to walk out on him, his brother’s fiancee hiding in the attic and befuddled solicitor Tristram getting into all the wrong beds, mayhem reigns. Set on three floors of a draughty manor house over the course of a frantic 24 hours, this is a riotous comedy from one of the UK’s finest writers, Alan Ayckbourn. Call 0845 330 3565 or visit www.clwyd-theatr-cymru.co.uk.

WELSH NATIONAL OPERA (Empire Theatre in Lime Street, Liverpool, October 12-15)

WELSH National Opera returns to the Liverpool Empire with three productions: Don Giovanni on October 12, The Barber of Seville on October 13 and 15 and Katya Kabanova on October 14. Call 0844 847 2525 or visit www.liverpoolempire.org.uk.

THE WOMAN IN WHITE (Lyceum Theatre, Heath Street, Crewe, October 11-15)

THE classic Wilkie Collins mystery novel is brought to the stage by Nicola Boyce with a cast of familiar faces including Colin Baker, Peter Amory, Neil Stacy and Karen Ford. When art teacher Walter Hartright has a midnight encounter with the Woman in White in Victorian England, it sends in motion a sequence of events that will change and destroy lives. Call 01270 537333 or visit www.lyceumtheatre.net.