Tess of the d'Urbervilles Revival

There was a wonderful response to The Silver Gull Play Award competition this year, with over 40 plays submitted for the chance to share in a total prize pool of $5000 courtesy of sponsor The Buzz From Sydney.

London Classic Theatre today announces that Carole Dance will now play the role of Doris Partington in the UK tour of Charlotte Keatley's My Mother Said I Never Should. Dance steps into the role as Fiz Marcus has had to withdraw due to unforeseen health issues. The full company is completed by Felicity Houlbrooke (Rosie Metcalfe), Kathryn Ritchie (Jackie Metcalfe) and Connie Walker (Margaret Bradley). Artistic Director of LCT, Michael Cabot, directs the production, which tours to 14 venues, opening at Theatre Royal Windsor on 25 September with performances at Queen's Hall Arts Centre, Hexham, Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds and Gala Theatre, Durham from 11 September.

London Classic Theatre today announces the full company for their UK tour of Charlotte Keatley's My Mother Said I Never Should. Artistic Director of LCT, Michael Cabot, directs Felicity Houlbrooke (Rosie Metcalfe), Fiz Marcus (Doris Partington), Kathryn Ritchie (Jackie Metcalfe) and Connie Walker (Margaret Bradley). The production tours to 14 venues, opening at Theatre Royal Windsor on 25 September with performances at Queen's Hall Arts Centre, Hexham, Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds and Gala Theatre, Durham from 11 September.

Rose Theatre Kingston today announces its 2018 Christmas show, a festive new version with original music of the Brothers' Grimm classic Hansel & Gretel written by Ciaran McConville, who returns to the theatre following last year's successful adaptation of Alice in Winterland. Rosie Jones will direct a cast of local young actors from Rose Youth Theatre led by a team of professional actors. The production opens on Friday 14 December, with previews from Thursday 6 December, and runs until Sunday 6 January 2019.

3Women, the debut play by the award-winning comedian and writer Katy Brand, will premiere at Trafalgar Studios 2, starring the celebrated screen and stage actress Anita Dobson (Eleanor), alongside Debbie Chazen (Suzanne), Maisie Richardson-Sellers (Laurie), and Oliver Greenall (Waiter). Running from 15 May to 9 June 2018, with press night on 18 May, 3Women explores the relationships between three generations of the same family, brought together in one hotel room, in a darkly comic and pertinent exploration of what it means to be a woman.

The UK Premiere of There or Here, from the producers of the 2013 hit Yellow Face (Park Theatre/National Theatre transfer), will open the PARK90 2018 season. With a cast that includes Rakhee Thakrar (EastEnders), Jennifer Maisel's dramatic comedy follows the journey of an inter-racial American couple who return to the country of his roots to outsource their pregnancy. The official press night will be on Thursday 25 January at 7pm.

The full cast are now announced for David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers and Take That's UK Tour of Tim Firth's new musical, THE BAND, with the music of Take That.  The tour will begin at Manchester Opera House on 8 September, with a national press night on Tuesday 26 September 2017.  The advance box office for the tour has now topped a record-breaking £10million.

Following the huge success of last year's festive hit The Wind in the Willows, Rose Theatre Kingston's most successful Christmas production to date, the theatre today announces its 2017 Christmas show Alice in Winterland. The play, based on Lewis Carroll's much loved Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, is adapted and directed by Ciaran McConville, following his acclaimed productions of The Wind in the Willows, A Christmas Carol and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, with music and lyrics by Eamonn O'Dwyer, and featuring a professional cast alongside a group of Rose Youth Theatre actors.