Mike Akers News

In the words of Cosmo Brown, 'Make 'em laugh' - and how life-affirming to hear waves of laughter ripple through Salisbury Playhouse this week. At times over the past few months, the building has felt like a ghost ship, but now it's awake, buzzing and alive with people having a great night out.

The full cast and creative team has been announced for the world premiere of Pippi Longstocking, Royal & Derngate's 2019 Made in Northampton Christmas show. Pippi Longstocking is adapted for the stage in the UK for the first time by Mike Akers from Astrid Lindgren's much-loved books, 75 years after they were first written, following on from an initial script by the late John Miller. With original music by Stu Barker, this joyful new musical will be directed by The Wardrobe Ensemble's Jesse Jones and Helena Middleton who co-directed Education, Education, Education for Royal & Derngate in 2017. Design is by Katie Sykes, with Sally Ferguson as lighting designer and Dominic Bilkey as sound designer. An ensemble cast is led by Emily-Mae as Pippi.

Rehearsal images have been released for the National Theatre's production of Sally Cookson's magical retelling of Peter Pan, ahead of its limited run at Troubadour White City Theatre, a brand-new venue, just minutes from Westfield in West London.

Today the National Theatre announced the 24 strong cast of Sally Cookson's magical retelling of Peter Pan as rehearsals get underway for its limited run at Troubadour White City Theatre, a brand-new venue, just minutes from Westfield in West London.

The National Theatre has announced 15 productions of new plays and fresh adaptations by leading writers.

Get set for an awfully big adventure as the National Theatre's magical retelling of J M Barrie's PETER PAN, a thrilling story for audiences of all ages devised by the companies and directed by Olivier Award-winner Sally Cookson (Jane Eyre, A Monster Calls), will open at Troubadour White City, a new theatre in West London, this summer.

Royal & Derngate announces another world premiere production, a musical staging of Pippi Longstocking, for the venue's Made in Northampton 2019 Christmas show. Meanwhile, the venue's 2018 Christmas production of The Worst Witch continues to tour the UK. Pippi Longstocking is adapted for the stage for the first time by Mike Akers from Astrid Lindgren's much-loved books, with original music by Stu Barker. It will be directed by The Wardrobe Ensemble's Jesse Jones and Helena Middleton who co-directed Education, Education, Education for Royal & Derngate in 2017.

Bursting with holiday spirit, Boing! is a dance-theater work for kids ages 2-5, co-created by Travelling Light Theatre Company and Bristol Old Vic.

The classic fairytale Snow White is reinvented this Christmas in a joyous and irreverent new adaptation from acclaimed theatre-makers The Wrong Crowd. Set in a surprising 1950s beauty parlour, the production brims with The Wrong Crowd's trademark fusion of imaginative storytelling, stunning design and puppetry, and original music. For everyone and anyone aged six and over, the show is the first Christmas production that Ovalhouse has commissioned and co-produced.

Sally Cookson's past work includes inventive adaptations of Peter Pan, Hetty Feather and La Strada. Her acclaimed version of Jane Eyre, which first appeared at Bristol Old Vic in 2014, completes its 2017 UK tour with an encore run at the National Theatre from 23 September.

Sally Cookson's adaptation of Charlotte Bront 's masterpiece Jane Eyre returns to the NT's Lyttelton Theatre from 26 September - 21 October 2017 following a critically acclaimed season at the National Theatre and a major UK tour. Below, check out an interview with star Nadia Clifford, who plays the title character!

Sally Cookson's adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's masterpiece Jane Eyre returns to the NT's Lyttelton Theatre from 26 September - 21 October 2017 following a critically acclaimed season at the National Theatre and a major UK tour.

National Theatre has announced today the new season for June 2017 - January 2018. Take a look at the shows coming to the theatre!

La Strada is one of Federico Fellini's most memorable films. It won the inaugural Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and a host of other awards at prestigious festivals all over the world in the Fifties. The story of Gelsomina, a poverty-stricken young woman sold by her mother to Zampano, a brutish itinerant street performer, certainly struck a chord with audiences at the time, and the role of Gelsomina made an international star of Fellini's wife Giulietta Masina.

One of the true masterpieces of modern cinema, Federico Fellini's 1957 Oscar-winning film, LA STRADA (The Road), is being brought life on stage in a brand new adaptation directed by Olivier Award nominee Sally Cookson, with music composed by Benji Bower. The production received its world premiere at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, followed by a national tour. The show opened on 30 May in its London premiere at The Other Palace, the newest addition to Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatre Group, where it will run until 8 July 2017. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening festivities below!

Shoreditch Town Hall today announces an additional programme of shows to its 2017 season. 

National Theatre and Bristol Old Vic's co-production of Jane Eyre has just begun a major 21 city tour of the UK and will arrive at Theatre Royal, Glasgow on Monday 5 June.

Sally Cookson's energetic and imaginative new adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's masterpiece - Jane Eyre - has just begun a major, 21-city tour of the UK, culminating in a return to the NT's Lyttelton Theatre from 26 September to 21 October 2017. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

National Theatre has just announced its newest season line-up. Check out what's coming below!