Theatre Royal Brighton
Spring 2023
Theatre Royal Brighton’s brand new What’s On Guide is out now! Packed with top quality entertainment, there’s a fabulous choice of shows this season from Mother Goose starring Ian McKellen and John Bishop this December, to Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons starring Aidan Turner and Jenna Coleman next March. There are gripping dramas, dazzling musicals and family favourites, as well as dance, music, opera and comedy. Audiences will be spoilt for choice with something for all ages and tastes.
MOTHER GOOSE
SAT 3 – SUN 11 DEC 2022
Starring Ian McKellen as Mother Goose, John Bishop as Vic Goose and Anna-Jane Casey as the Cilla The Goose. This very special pantomime is written by Jonathan Harvey (Coronation Street, Gimme Gimme Gimme) and directed by award-winning director Cal McCrystal. Set and Costume design is by Liz Ascroft, Choreography by Lizzi Gee, Lighting design by Prema Mehta, Sound design by Ben Harrison and Puppet Design and Creation by Chris Barlow. Casting is by Anne Vosser and the Production Manager is Ben Arkell.
DEATH DROP – BACK IN THE HABIT
TUE 13 – SAT 24 DEC 2022
Legendary drag queens and stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Willam* (A Star Is Born, Nip/Tuck), Cheryl Hole (Celebrity Juice, The Only Way is Essex) lead an all-drag cast including River Medway, Victoria Scone and Drag King superstar LoUis CYfer (Winner – Drag Idol, Death Drop) in this murder mystery comedy. The Sound of Music meets Scary Movie in this jam packed, riotous comedy. Death Drop – Back In The Habit is the hilarious thriller which pays homage to all your favourite horror films – from IT to Scream and everything in-between.
*Willam will be performing from 19 – 24 Dec only.
SUGAR AND SPICE AND ALL THINGS MICE
SUN 18 – SAT 24 DEC 2022
Generations of theatre mice have been a part of the Theatre’s day to day life for over 200 years. Their stories have been added to the Theatre’s store of tales written and told, about the people (and mice!) who have worked in and visited our beautiful palace of entertainment. Every Christmas our Keeper of the Stories chooses one of these tales to tell the children and families who follow the trail and seek her out. Rumour has it that this year’s story is all about one particular mouse who describes himself as ‘the luckiest mouse in the world’! With things to look at, things to make, things to listen to and things to take home, Sugar and Spice and all things MICE! is an intimate and joyful experience for younger children and their grown-ups.
JURASSIC LIVE
TUE 27 – FRI 30 DEC 2022
Join Jurassic Live for a roar-some adventure. This educational stage show features mind-blowing special effects, professional puppeteers and the UK’s most realistic dinosaurs. Aimed at the whole family, from 2 to 102, this comedic and thrilling new family-fun stage adventure follows a team of dino rangers on the hunt for a missing baby dinosaur.
THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW
TUE 3 – SAT 7 JAN 2023
Ready to thrill you with fun and naughty moments, Richard O’Brien’s legendary rock ‘n’ roll musical, Rocky Horror Show returns as part of a sell out worldwide tour. Directed by Christopher Luscombe and featuring timeless classics, including Sweet Transvestite, Damn it Janet, and of course, the pelvic-thrusting Time Warp. Age 12+ “Still the sexiest & funniest show in town” – Evening Standard
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
MON 23 – SAT 28 JAN 2023
Andy Dufresne is handed a double life sentence for the brutal murder of his wife and her lover. Incarcerated at the notorious Shawshank facility, he quickly learns that no one can survive alone. Andy strikes up an unlikely friendship with the prison fixer Red, and things take a slight turn for the better. However, when Warden Stammas decides to bully Andy into subservience and exploit his talents for accountancy, a desperate plan is quietly hatched…
HEY DUGGEE THE LIVE THEATRE SHOW
TUE 7 & WED 8 FEB 2023
Squirrels, get ready! Everyone’s favourite big, lovable dog, Hey Duggee is touring for the first time ever and here’s your chance to see him! Hey Duggee The Live Theatre Show is going to be huge and will feature Duggee, the Squirrels, plus many more of your favourite characters!
VARNA INTERNATIONAL BALLET
MON 13 – WED 15 FEB 2023
Founded in 1947 and currently celebrating their 75th anniversary, the critically acclaimed Varna International Ballet comes to the UK for the very first time with Giselle, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. Renowned for its award-winning soloists and magnificent corps de ballet, the company has been delighting audiences for decades at home and abroad with its performances of the highest quality.
NOUGHTS & CROSSES
TUE 21 – SAT 25 FEB 2023
Sephy and Callum sit together on a beach. They are in love. It is forbidden. Sephy is a Cross and Callum is a Nought. Between Noughts & Crosses, there are racial and social divides. A segregated society teeters on a volatile knife edge. This gripping Romeo and Juliet story by acclaimed writer Malorie Blackman is adapted by Sabrina Mahfouz and presented by Pilot Theatre. Noughts & Crosses is a captivating drama of love, revolution and what it means to grow up in a divided world.
STEEL MAGNOLIAS
TUE 28 FEB – SAT 4 MAR 2023
Steel Magnolias is the hilarious and heart-warming true story that inspired the hit film starring Dolly Parton and Julia Roberts. The beloved film is now beautifully brought to life on stage and will feature an all-star cast including Laura Main (Call the Midwife) and Lucy Speed (The Archers, The Bill) and Diana Vickers (Dial M For Murder, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice).
FISHERMAN’S FRIENDS – THE MUSICAL
TUE 7 – SAT 11 MAR 2023
The true story of the world’s most unlikely buoy-band. When a group of Cornish fisherman come together to sing the traditional sea shanties they’d sung for generations, they hoped to raise a few quid for charity. Nobody, least of all them, expected the story to end on the Pyramid stage of Glastonbury… Fisherman’s Friends is a brand-new musical based on the true story of the Cornish singing sensations, and the hit 2019 film. A star cast includes James Gaddas (Coronation Street, Billy Elliot the Musical), Parisa Shahmir (Mamma Mia!), Robert Duncan (Drop the Dead Donkey), Anton Stephans (The X Factor) and Susan Penhaligon (Bouquet of Barbed Wire).
HEATHERS THE MUSICAL
TUE 14 – SAT 18 MAR 2023
Following two smash hit West End seasons, a record-breaking run at The Other Palace and winning the WhatsOnStage award for BEST NEW MUSICAL, Heathers The Musical, the black comedy rock musical based on the eponymous 1988 film, embarks on a new national tour. Westerberg High’s Veronica Sawyer is just another nobody dreaming of a better day. But when she joins the beautiful and impossibly cruel Heathers and her dreams of popularity may finally come true, mysterious teen rebel JD teaches her that it might kill to be a nobody, but it is murder being a somebody.
WISH YOU WERE DEAD
MON 20 – SAT 25 MAR 2023
An all star cast includes George Rainsford, who returns to the stage after eight years as Ethan Hardy in BBC One’s Casualty, Clive Mantle, much loved for many roles including Casualty, Game of Thrones and the iconic ‘puddle’ scene in Vicar of Dibley and the multi talented actress, novelist, podcaster and winner of I’m A Celebrity, Giovanna Fletcher.
When Detective Superintendent Roy Grace and Cleo Morey take their first holiday together, they hope for a few days away from their dark worlds of murder and the mortuary. But their dream escape turns out to be the holiday from hell.
LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS
TUE 28 MAR – SAT 1 APR 2023
Direct from the West End, Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons is a tender and funny rom-com about what we say, how we say it, and what happens when we can’t say anything anymore. ‘Let’s just talk until it goes.’ Starring Jenna Coleman (The Serpent, All My Sons) and Aidan Turner (Poldark, The Lieutenant of Inishmore), this bold and brilliant play from Sam Steiner (Fingernails, You Stupid Darkness!) is directed by Josie Rourke (Mary Queen of Scots, As You Like It).
HOME, I’M DARLING
TUE 11 – SAT 15 APR 2023
BAFTA-winner Jessica Ransom (Doc Martin, Armstrong and Miller, Horrible Histories), Diane Keen (Doctors, Rings on Their Fingers, The Cuckoo Waltz) and Neil McDermott (EastEnders, The Royal) lead the cast in this thought-provoking new comedy by Laura Wade (Posh/The Riot Club) about one woman’s quest to be the perfect 1950s housewife.
ELLEN KENT – LA BOHEME & MADAMA BUTTERFLY
TUE 25 & WED 26 APR 2023
Senbla presents Opera International’s award-winning Ellen Kent Production featuring the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv, with international soloists, highly-praised chorus and full orchestra. La Bohème is one of the most romantic operas ever written. It tells the tragic tale of the doomed, consumptive Mimi and her love for a penniless writer. One of the world’s most popular operas, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly tells the heart-breaking story of the beautiful young Japanese girl who falls in love with an American naval lieutenant – with dramatic results.
THE WAY OLD FRIENDS DO
TUE 2 – SAT 6 MAY 2023
A new comedy about devotion, desire and dancing queens. In the late 1980s, two Birmingham school friends tentatively come out: one as gay, the other – more shockingly – as an ABBA fan. Thirty years later, they reunite to form the world’s first ABBA tribute band – in drag. Can their friendship survive the tribulations of a life on the road; one full of platform boots, fake beards and a distractingly attractive stranger?
Written by and starring Ian Hallard (The Boys In The Band), this world premiere is directed by Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Dracula, Doctor Who, The League of Gentlemen). Cast includes Donna Berlin (Doctors) James Bradshaw (Endeavour), Sara Crowe (Olivier Award winner for Private Lives), Andrew Horton (Jupiter’s Legacy) and Rose Shalloo (Malory Towers). Featuring the voices of Miriam Margolyes and Paul O’Grady.
WINNIE THE POOH
FRI 23 – SUN 25 JUNE 2023
Disney’s iconic Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin and their best friends Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, and Owl (oh… and don’t forget Tigger too!) have come to life in a beautifully crafted musical stage adaptation. Featuring the Sherman Brothers’ classic Grammy Award-winning music with further songs by A.A. Milne, this beautiful fresh stage adaptation is told with stunning life-sized puppetry through the eyes of the characters we all know and love, in a new story from the Hundred Acre Wood. Created by renowned family entertainment creator Jonathan Rockefeller, this new adventure heads to the U.K. following a record-breaking New York premiere in 2021.