Alan Ayckbourn News

Eclipse Theatre Company announces 2019 season will feature the comedic works of playwright Christopher Durang

Tickets for the Canadian premiere of Sting's acclaimed musical The Last Ship will go on public sale Monday November 12. Presented by David Mirvish and produced by Karl Sydow and Kathryn Schenker, the limited six-week engagement runs February 9 through March 24, 2019 at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre.

The Queen's Theatre Hornchurch has today announced the cast for its revival of Alan Ayckbourn's chilling ghost story, Haunting Julia, which runs from 1 - 17 November.

Galleon Theatre Group celebrated its 50th Anniversary this year.

A lost world of seaside entertainment, piers and promenades are brought to life when seasoned Pantomime Dame Ronald Roy Humphrey returns to his Northern roots for the Christmas season. As the curtain falls on the last show of the day, Roy is in a wistful, melancholic mood, but as the years fall away, ghosts and memories from the past confront him with what he has spent his whole life trying to forget.

The Queen's Theatre Hornchurch has today announced the cast for its revival of Alan Ayckbourn's chilling ghost story, Haunting Julia, which runs from 1 - 17 November.

Eastender's Rita Simmons is to join the previously announced Joe McFadden in the world premiere production of Peter James' spine-chilling The House on Cold Hill which is to run at Theatre Royal, Glasgow next spring.

As previously announced, the thrilling work of multi-million selling author Peter James returns to theatres in January 2019 with the world premiere production of the spine-chilling stage play The House on Cold Hill - Adapted from his best-selling 2015 novel and based on the author's own real-life experience in a haunted house, the play will star the previously announced, BAFTA nominated actor and winner of BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing 2017, Joe McFadden (The Crow Road, Heartbeat, Holby City) as 'Ollie Harcourt' and joining him, as his wife 'Caro Harcourt', will be award winning actress Rita Simons, (who played the iconic Roxy Mitchell in Eastenders), as well as award winning actors, Charlie Clements ('Bradley' in EastEnders) as 'Chris', and Persephone Swales-Dawson (villainess 'Nico Blake' in Hollyoaks) as 'Jade', making her professional stage debut.

Following their successful April season, and the return of repertory theatre to its home at the old Thorndike, Hordern Ciani are back at The Leatherhead Theatre this November with three brand new plays. To celebrate, the company will be holding open auditions to find two young local people to play roles in the season's family show, The Railway Children.

Alan Ayckbourn's brilliant award-winning trilogy THE NORMAN CONQUESTS will open at Ensemble Theatre in October with a dream cast and, says Mark Kilmurry, Artistic Director, Ensemble Theatre, it is one of the most loved comic masterpieces ever written. There's usually a performance of THE NORMAN CONQUESTS somewhere in the world.

Hero's Welcome weaves a twisted and darkly comedic tale of relationships shaped by love, redemption, jealously, and deceit. When Murray, a war hero, returns to his home town after 17 years away he hopes to settle down with his new wife and refurbish his family's old hotel

There's nothing quite like a British dark comedy to usher in the unofficial start of autumn. The poignant regional premiere of HERO'S WELCOME at 1st Stage in Tysons fits the bill, with its undercurrent of personal drama that quickly rises to the surface, engulfing a town in figurative flames that could turn literal at any moment.

Alan Ayckbourn's 82nd play Better Off Dead completes the summer season at Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre, in a production directed by the author.

As previously announced, the thrilling work of multi-million selling author Peter James returns to theatres in January 2019 with the world premiere production of the spine-chilling stage play The House on Cold Hill - Adapted from his best-selling 2015 novel and based on the author's own real-life experience in a haunted house, the play will star TV favourite Joe McFadden.

If you need a good laugh, you'll find some in this production.

Cleveland Play House (CPH) kicks off its 2018-2019 Season with the spine tingling tale of Susan Hill's The Woman in Black.  Hill's gothic ghost story, adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt, will star Bradley Armacost as Arthur Kipps and Adam Wesley Brown as the Actor in the show that Daily Mail called, "A nerve-shredding experience."  Director Robin Herford will recreate his original staging from the London West End.  The American premiere of the West End Production is produced by PW Productions and Pemberley Productions.  Previews begin on September 15th, with press opening on September 21st at the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square. 

Main Street Theater (MST) will open its 43rd Season with the Regional Premiere of Lauren Gunderson's The Book of Will.  This beautiful play tells the tale of how Shakespeare's First Folio came into existence thanks to the loyalty and love of his dear friends.  Gunderson "has peopled the stage with lively, historically based characters... She paints a vivid portrait of the times in language sometimes formal, sometimes poetic and often...contemporary... [THE BOOK OF WILL] serves as homage to those who sacrificed to make the first folio happen and to Shakespeare's magnificent words." - Westword (Denver, CO). 

Scripps Ranch Theatre, located on the campus of Alliant Int'l University in Scripps Ranch kicks off their 40th Season - Season 2018/2019 with Communicating Doors, by by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by Jacquelyn Ritz. The production runs on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm from September 7 - October 7.

Ever wondered what goes into creating your favourite productions? Those moments of magic (or macabre) where you go 'How did they do that?!' In our new Special Effects series, we'll be discovering how the worlds on stage come to life by exploring the worlds off stage, talking to the creatives and crews from some of the UK's biggest shows and theatre companies. This month, we're looking at stage blood and effects in two infamously bloody shows. We spoke to the Company Stage Manager on Michael Grandage's The Lieutenant of Inishmore and the Designer of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Tamburlaine, who shared their practices (and a few secrets).

Alan Ayckbourn's 82nd play Better Off Dead completes the summer season at Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre, in a production directed by the author.