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Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds

What’s On in March 2015

Please see below a brief digest of upcoming events. For detailed press information please contact Nicki Dixon, Press and Communications Officer on [email protected] or 01284 829947. Thank you.

To book tickets, visit www.theatreroyal.org or contact the box office at 01284 769505.

 The-Business-of-Murder

MARCH

Mon 2 – Sat 7 March

DRAMA/MIDDLEGROUND THEATRE COMPANY LTD

The Business of Murder 

by Richard Harris

(A Touch of Frost, The Avengers, The Sweeney and The Last Detective)

directed by Michael Lunney

Stone, a humourless and dour man, invites Dee, a television playwright, over to his flat on the premise of discussing a script. Once there, she is surprised when superintendent Hallett, the man with whom she is having an affair, also arrives for an entirely different reason.

But nothing is as it seems, and as the plot twists and turns the motive of their host Stone gradually becomes clear. They are all, it would seem, in the same business… The Business of Murder.

The Business of Murder enjoyed a successful 9-year run in the West End. Starring Robert Gwilym, known by millions for his role as Dr Max Gallagher in Casualty, alongside Paul Opacic (a regular as Steve Marchant in Emmerdale, Mark Waddle in Bad Girls and Carl Costello in Hollyoaks), and Joanna Higson, who played Maxine Donnelly for two series of Shameless and is currently appearing as Vicky Hall in BBC TV’s WPC56.

HOW-THE-KOALA-LEARNT-TO-HUG

Sun 8 – Mon 9 March

KIDS/THE PEOPLE’S THEATRE COMPANY

HOW THE KOALA LEARNT TO HUG

by Steven Lee

Based on the best-selling book by Steven Lee and written especially for parents to enjoy with their children, How The Koala Learnt To Hug is a charming tale about the magic of family and the importance of a nice, warm hug. So join Steven and a host of wild characters including Natascha the

Witch, the Reggae Beavers and Karen the Koala for some great stories, sing along songs, superb games and first class hugging. All you need are your ears. (And your arms!)

Running time: 60 min

 –

Tues 10 March

COMEDY

ONE-MAN BREAKING BAD

Sixty Awesome Episodes. One Awesome Show. Yo!

Join us on a rip roaring ride through the greatest television show ever made.

LA actor Miles Allen smacks the senses with his super-charged, hilariously accurate renditions of all the iconic characters.

With over a million hits on YouTube, and sell-out runs at comedy festivals in Melbourne and Edinburgh, Allen’s incredible impersonations break all five seasons down into one, exhilarating, uproarious tour-de-force parody performance.

The-Honey-Man

Wed 11 March

Judy Owen LTD and Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company 

The Honey Man 

by Tyrone Huggins

“Maybe colony collapse and credit crunch and climate change is all one and the same thing!”

Honey Man, an ageing West Indian recluse, is trying to save his dying bees in a derelict cottage in rural England when fiery teenager Misty bursts into his world and a painting reveals a secret connecting their past, present and future.

Birmingham writer and actor Tyrone Huggins plays the title role in this compelling contemporary staging featuring sparkling dialogue, an atmospheric sounds cape, and a visually imaginative design.

 ‘There’s a buzz about this’**** The Guardian

Wed 11 7.30pm £8.50 – £16.50

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Thu 12 Mar

Young Theatre Makers partnership between Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, The Rep Birmingham and The New Wolsey Ipswich.

Half Baked

By Alex Joynes

at King Edward VI School

“Whoever heard of a cake changing the world?”

When local bakery Renée’s is bought out by Starbucks, six teenagers are forced to prepare for life beyond the walls of their beloved workplace. Iced buns, Eccles cakes and ham sandwiches are replaced by university applications, rejection letters and train tickets to London.

Half-Baked is a funny, moving, and bittersweet new play about unemployment, uncertain futures, and unreliable ovens.

The New Wolsey Theatre, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse are in partnership to create new productions using young theatre makers.

They will become the writers, devisors, actors and producers of theatre for young people by young people.

Follow their journey at facebook.com/youthemakers and twitter @YouTheMakers

 BOUNCERS

Thurs 12 – Sat 14 March

DRAMA / THE JOHN GODBER COMPANY

& THEATRE ROYAL WAKEFIELD

BOUNCERS

by John Godber

The international smash hit comedy returns! Lucky Eric, Judd, Les and Ralph are the original men in black as they tell the tale of one night in a Yorkshire disco in the 80s in this outrageous parody of Saturday Night Fever!

All the gang are out on the town, the boys, the girls, the cheesy DJ, the late night kebab man and the taxi home, all under the watchful eyes of the Bouncers.

Multi award-winning play written and directed by John Godber featuring a frightening array of northern talent.

The John Godber company recently visited the Theatre Royal with On The Piste and The Debt 

Collectors. 

THE-MIST-IN-THE-MIRROR

Tues 17 – Sat 21 March

THE D

DRAMA /OLDHAM COLISEUM AND IMITATING THE DOG

THE MIST IN THE MIRROR

A World Premiere

adapted by Ian Kershaw from the novel by Susan Hill

directed by Kevin Shaw

designed by Barney George

video design by Simon Wainwright, ‘imitating the dog’

Adapted from the novel by Susan Hill, author of the smash-hit thriller The Woman In Black, this gothic fireside story is a tense and atmospheric otherworldly mystery, that will leave a terrifying eeriness suspended in the air.

Visual theatre innovators ‘imitating the dog’ will once again be on hand to create an unnerving ethereal atmosphere before the show even begins and an unsettling feeling that might just follow you home at the end of the night too…

Oldham Coliseum Theatre and ‘imitating the dog’ last visited the Theatre Royal in 2012 with Hound Of The Baskervilles. 

Age guidance: 10+

 THE-WIND-IN-THE-WILLOWS

FAMILY / iMMERSION THEATRE & CAMBRIDGE TOURINGTHEATRE

Mon 30 – Tues 31 March

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS

by Kenneth Grahame

Award-nominated Immersion Theatre and the critically-acclaimed Cambridge Touring Theatre join forces to present a spectacular musical adaptation of the classic,The Wind in the Willows.

Join the boat-loving Ratty, the sensible yet curious Mole, wise old Badger and the fantastically irrepressible Toad as they embark on the adventure of a lifetime to save Toad Hall! Eye-catchingly elaborate costumes and toe-tapping music.

The perfect treat for all the family!

APRIL

Wed 1 April 

Iolo Williams: Welsh Rarebit 

Iolo Williams (BBC 2’s SpringWatch & AutumnWatch) takes us on a wildlife tour of his Welsh homeland from mountain tops to seashore. On the way we meet the disco-dancing black grouse, the Lamborghini of the bird world, Britain’s largest spider and a sex-changing fish. Iolo is Wales’ best-known naturalist and his witty, enthusiastic and friendly style is sure to please budding naturalists of all ages.

Tickets £8.50-£16.50

Sat 4 April 

Cody Pennington 

featuring Nik Lowe & Cathedral and Cars 

Selected as ‘Best Male Solo Artist 2014’ by the NMG Awards, Cody Pennington is steadily raising the bar for local musicians. Since releasing his second EP, To Be Me, in August 2014, he has seen nothing but growth and has no plans of stopping soon.

Come enjoy his signature pop-rock folk for yourself.

Bouncy tracks with his acoustic style and flawless, clean cut vocals’ Booze and Reviews

Sat 4 7pm £10 (advance) / £12 (on the door)

 –

Tues 7 – Wed 8 April 

Scamp Theatre

Stick Man 

from the book by Julia Donaldson, 

illustrated by Axel Scheffler 

creators of The Gruffalo

A fantastick show for all branches of the family tree! Touching, funny and utterly original, this delightful adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s hugely popular children’s book Stick Man features a trio of top actors and is packed full of puppetry, songs, live music and funky moves.

**** What’s on Stage and Sunday Express

Zesty and delightful… a clever compelling treat. ’ **** The Independent

Tickets £8.50 – £13

For everyone aged 3 and over.

 –

Thurs 9 April

Sing-A-Long Productions

Sing-A-Long-A Frozen  

A full screening of Disney’s Frozen with lyrics on screen to help you sing-along during the film.

Introduced by a live host who will show you how to use your free prop bag and warm up your singing voices before you sit back and ‘Let It Go’. YOU the audience are the stars.

Age recommendation 5+

3pm

Tickets £8.50 – £16.50

 –

Thurs 9 April

Sing-A-Long Productions

Sing-A-Long-A Grease  

This fully interactive screening of the classic film with on-screen subtitles is ‘the one that you want’. The host will lead a vocal warm up, judge a fancy dress competition and show you how to use your magic moments fun packs, then just sit back and sing along.

7pm

Tickets £8.50 – £16.50

 –

Fri 10 April

Derek Grant

Hits From The Blitz 

with Five Star Swing 

Come and enjoy this unique feel-good 1940s show, as featured at Dame Vera Lynn’s Charity

Gala Nights. Famous war-time tunes & sing-a-long songs are brought to life by the singers and multi-

instrumentalists of the Five Star Swing band.

Featuring Simone from the Ivy Benson Orchestra plus Chris Smith Jnr composer and arranger for Glenn Miller’s brother Herb and the BBC Radio Big Band, this is great entertainment for everyone who remembers the war, and those who don’t!

Superb, they swing like crazy!’ Sheila Tracy, BBC

7.30pm

Tickets £8.50-£20.50

 –

Sat 11 April 

Be Bop A Lula 

Four giants of the Rock ‘n’ Roll world come together for the first time in Be Bop A Lula! A great show which will take your breath away from the first chord to the explosive finale!

Join us for the biggest rock n roll party in town with a live band, as we celebrate the music of Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Billy Fury and Roy Orbison.

Backed by some of the UK’s finest musicians, Gavin Stanley and Lars Young recreate these legends with passion and a very real ‘feel’ of the artists and their music.

8pm

Tickets £8.50 – £21

Shakespeares-Macbeth

14-18 APRIL

Tara Arts In Association With Queen’s Hall Arts & Black Theatre Live

Shakespeare’s Macbeth 

directed by Jatinder Verma 

design by Claudia Mayer 

look like th’ innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t…’ Lady Macbeth

Three outrageously weird sisters cook up an explosive brew of treachery, ambition and passion, setting a modern Asian family off on a path of bloody self-destruction.

Tara Arts brings Indian movement and live music to Shakespeare’s classic text, offering a powerful contemporary take on his darkest play.

Starring Robert Mountford (Much Ado, RSC, Silent Witness) as Macbeth, with Shaheen Khan (Rafta

Rafta, NT, Bend it Like Beckham) as Lady Macbeth.

Tickets £8.50-£20.50

Nursing-Lives-2015

Tues 28 April 

Vamos Theatre

Nursing Lives 

A heart-warming wartime tale of bravery and love from the UK’s leading full mask theatre company.

When Flo, a feisty seventy-something, learns that the hospital she worked at during the Second World War is being demolished, she decides she needs to take one last look. Her illicit visit becomes a personal celebration – of friendship, courage, adventure and romance.

Nursing Lives is wordless, telling its story through physical communication, a strong visual design and an original soundtrack. Set in the hard-working heart-breaking, swing-dancing world of Britain’s wartime hospitals, and the cassette-loving early 1980s of Thatcher’s Britain.

Age guidance: 12+

Tickets £8.50 – £16.50

 –

Wed 29 April 

Stacey Kent

American Grammy-nominated singer, Stacey Kent, brings her album The Changing Lights as part of a very limited number of 2015 UK concert dates.

The Changing Lights places Kent’s love for Brazilian music centre-stage, featuring Bossa Nova classics like How Insensitivealongside originals by the songwriting team of Jim Tomlinson and acclaimed novelist, Kazuo Ishiguro.

Stacey’s repertoire and audience have expanded with every album. Her platinum-selling album Breakfast On the Morning Tram(Blue Note, EMI 2007) was nominated for a Grammy Award. Whilst her follow-up albums Raconte-Moi and Dreamer in Concert have been released in more than 37 different countries worldwide.

Tickets £8.50 – £20.50

7.30pm.

30 April

Sex In Suburbia 

written by Claire Sweeney and Mandy Muden

from the producers of Hot Flush! 

Real Stories, Real Women, A Great Night Out.

Claire Sweeney stars in and co-writes this brand new comedy about dating, men and finding Mr Right.

Penny Crowe is the host of a late-night radio phone-in. As Britain’s leading Agony Aunt, she takes calls about every date from hell and the occasional one from heaven. She is more than happy to dish out relationship advice, but is she as happy to take it…?

Packed full of sensational songs including I’m Every Woman, I Want to Break Free and Somebody Else’s Guy, it will make you laugh, cry and dance in the aisles.

Age guidance: 16+

Supported by Ann Summers

Tickets £8.50 – £26

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