Julie Walters News

Queen's Theatre Hornchurch will open its Spring 2022 season with a stunning revival from Director Douglas Rintoul of Arthur Miller's moving and powerful landmark drama All My Sons 10 February – 5 March, before playing at the New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich 8 – 12 March.

It's good to hear collective laughter again in a theatre, but the dated characters grate rather than charm, and fewer jokes land in 2020s than in the 1970s.

Following the celebratory reopening of Birmingham Rep this autumn with critically acclaimed productions of East is East, the brand new musical What’s New Pussycat? and the presentation of Grenfell: Value Engineering, Artistic Director Sean Foley announces a new collection of work to follow his own production of the classic comedy The Play What I Wrote.

The musical will be choreographed by Lucy Hind (Girl From the North Country, The Last Ship) with full casting to be announced in due course.

Bill Kenwright's legendary production of the international smash hit musical Blood Brothers returns to the stage. The much-loved musical, which performed to sell-out houses and standing ovations on its most recent UK tour in 2019-2020, returns with gusto to Birmingham Hippodrome this November.

Fairfield Center Stage will present an outdoor production of the hit musical MAMMA MIA! in Fairfield this October.

Kimberley Hart Simpson (Coronation Street; Hollyoaks) will take on the role that made Julie Walters a breakthrough star as she steps into the titular role of Educating Rita. She will be joined by Keith Hill (Les Enfants Terribles’ Vaudevillains; The Curse of Edgar) in this witty and heartwarming classic at Mowlem Theatre this September.

In celebration of the musicals' relaunch, Lyn Paul returns for her farewell tour in the iconic role of Mrs Johnstone, which she first made her own in London's West End. 

  Lucy Black, Kulvinder Ghir, Adam James, Lizzy McInnerny, Carolina Main and Laura Rogers will perform in this poignant and painfully funny comedy about conflicting memories, life and loss, which received its world premiere at the theatre in 1996. 

Shelagh Stephenson's Olivier Award-winning play The Memory of Water will run from 3 September until 16 October 2021. The World Premiere of Malindadzimu by Mufaro Makubika will also run from 17 September until 30 October 2021 at Hampstead Downstairs. 

Sky Studios and Birmingham Repertory Theatre today announce the launch of 'Sky Comedy REP', a new partnership that aims to discover and develop new regional comedy writing talent from across the UK, particularly from communities that have traditionally been under-represented in the Arts. 

Check out Glenda's interview with Josh O'Connor and watch highlights from her career!

Rose Theatre has announced it is reopening its doors once again on 27 June 2021. Following three national lockdowns, the Rose is reopening to the public with a series of summer shows and events, including The International Youth Arts Festival by Creative Youth from 1 July 2021 and more.

EDUCATING RITA tells the story of married hairdresser Rita, who enrols on an Open University course to expand her horizons, and her encounters with university tutor Frank. Frank is a frustrated poet, brilliant academic and dedicated drinker, who is less than enthusiastic about teaching Rita.

No death of course is easy to absorb, especially one as premature and shocking as that of Helen McCrory, whose surrender to cancer late last week, age 52, came like the most brutal and sudden of thunderclaps. The announcement was made via Twitter on Friday by her husband, Damian Lewis, and I doubt I’m the only one who reacted with moist-eyed disbelief.

Craymer has always thought of 'Mamma Mia!' as a trilogy, she said, and she's excited about the possibility of the entire original cast - including Cher, Streep, Lily James, Christine Baranski, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, and more - returning for a third film. 

Whether you do it in-person with your 'quarantine bubble', or online using a service like Netflix Party or Discord's video screening feature, here are some theatre movies and pro-shots to add to your Friday night plans.

A group of stars are speaking out against new visa rules for British artists, actors, and theatre workers in an open letter.

It's not clear as of this writing quite when live theatre will return in force, so in the interest of casting as wide a net as possible, what follows are five performances to whet the appetite, culled from offerings both online and, in due course, inside an actual playhouse.

When and where can you find Mary Poppins Returns streaming? We have your answer here!