NEW YEAR, NEW SEASON AND THERE’S PLENTY TO SEE AT HARROGATE THEATRE

Boo-sucks is what we say to the doom and gloom forecast for regional theatre. At Harrogate Theatre, we’re continuing to swim against the tide with less dark nights and more shows of real imagination.

In the forthcoming, and pretty darn exciting, spring season (February–July) we’ve got: a wealth of acclaimed companies, including the National Theatre, 1927, Red Ladder, Northern Ballet and Les Enfants Terribles; a host of co-productions, including shows with Oldham Coliseum, The Lowry, Reform Theatre and Thunder Road Theatre; within the next three months another three associate companies – Lunabug, Flying Cloud and Northern Creative – are coming onboard, taking our tally to five; and of course, there’s a whole load of top-notch comedy and quality music to boot.

ACCLAIMED COMPANIES

Fans of Tim Burton, silent movies and/or graphic novels will be delighted by 1927’s wickedly twisted tale of social paranoia, The Animals And Children Took To The Streets (Harrogate Theatre, Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 March), which blends live performance and animation to thrilling effect.

Northern Ballet makes its debut at Harrogate Theatre on Saturday 6 April with its first ever production especially for little ones, Ugly Duckling. Taglined ‘a ballet for children’, this retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale is a smart introduction to ballet for kids of all ages.

A Leeds-based national touring company with a socio-political agenda, Red Ladder has been making people sit up and take notice for 44 years now. Its latest production, The Thing About Psychopaths (Harrogate Theatre, Wednesday 10 April), asks vital questions about power and empathy in Britain today. More innovative and exciting theatre comes from Les Enfants Terribles, courtesy of The Trench, its tale of a man trapped in a collapsed tunnel beneath the battlefields of France during World War I (Harrogate Theatre, Thursday 25 to Saturday 27 April).

Gilded Balloon brings much-discussed Edinburgh Fringe hit The Agony And The Ecstasy Of Steve Jobs to Harrogate Theatre on Tuesday 14 May. Penned by Mike Daisey, this one-man show shines a light on our love affair with expensive devices, and the real cost of creating them.

A sneak peek at summer reveals two massive hitters making their mark in Harrogate, courtesy of Bill Kenwright. First up, The Official Agatha Christie Theatre Company presents the queen of crime’s classic Go Back For Murder (Harrogate Theatre, Monday 17 to Saturday 22 June). Suspects, secrets, red herrings and a yet-to-be-confirmed stellar cast abound in this thrilling new production. The National Theatre and Live Theatre’s huge hit The Pitmen Painters spends a week at Harrogate Theatre in July (Monday 15 to Saturday 20 July). Written by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot), this award-winning look at art, class and politics follows a group of Ashington miners who take up art to great success.

CO-PRODUCTIONS AND UP-CLOSE EXPERIENCES

Remarkable talent Laura Mugridge first began work on her latest theatrical tale, The Watery Journey Of Nereus Pike, at Harrogate Theatre in January. A regime of workshopping and a baby later, Mugridge brings her charming and curious tale fully-formed back to Harrogate Theatre Studio (Thursday 21 to Saturday 23 February).

Following on the huge success of this year’s The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Harrogate Theatre once again teams up with Oldham Coliseum for a revival of one of Alan Ayckbourn’s most challenging plays, Sugar Daddies (Harrogate Theatre, Thursday 28 February to Saturday 9 March). Directing doyen Robin Herford (The Woman In Black) takes the reigns for this exploration of self-delusion, which is also being revived by Ayckbourn himself, who directs a version in the US later in 2013.

Reform Theatre Company (an associate company) pay two visits to Harrogate Theatre Studio this season, first with Robert Farquhar’s take on faith and football, God’s Official (Tuesday 5 to Saturday 16 March), then with Nick Lane’s gorgeous look at father-son relationships, Me & Me Dad (Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 April).

A smashing young duo tackling classic texts, and one of our associate companies, Thunder Road Theatre Company made a great impression with its debut, Hyde, based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde, and is back with another strip-backed, story-focused, multi-role production, The Count Of Monte Cristo (Harrogate Studio Theatre, Wednesday 1 to Saturday 11 May).

June sees the return of ‘Harrogate’s perfectly formed festival of small’ (Lyn Gardner, The Guardian), Two’s Company (Thursday 6 to Saturday 8 June, various Harrogate Theatre venues), a cherry-picked selection of outstanding shows that challenge the audience to indulge its curiosity, dive in and get involved. Expect slapstick puppetry (Invisible Thread’s Les Hommes Vides), performance animation (J. Fergus Evans’ My Heart Is Hitchhiking Down Peach St), a chance to fly through the air with the greatest of ease as one of The Great Spavaldos (Il Pixel Rosso) and a guide to apologising (Chris Thorpe’s This Is Just To Say).

Our Studio Theatre also plays host to a range of exciting and unusual performances, including Gramophones Theatre Company’s adventure End To End (Thursday 23 May), based on the trio’s real journey from Land’s End to John O’Groats, made possible only by resourcefulness and the kindness of strangers. Fringe hit Daniel Bye presents his performance lecture about value, The Price Of Everything (Friday 24 May), and Show And Tell warms the cockles with its exploration of love and fear, My Robot Heart (Saturday 25 May).

BIG NAMES, BIG LAUGHS AND BIG TUNES

Woody Guthrie is the first big name, coming to Harrogate Theatre courtesy of Woody Sez (Monday 11 to Wednesday 13 February), a heartfelt biopic of the dustbowl troubadour’s life told through 25 of his songs.

Blues legend Robert Cray and his band get the Royal Hall rocking on Saturday 2 March, and rock’n’roll heroes The Hollies look set to continue his good work on Saturday 16 March. Take a nose behind the music in two very special events in May: on Sunday 19 May, Noddy Holder is in conversation with Mark Radcliffe at Harrogate Theatre, spilling the Slade beans and charting his rise from shouty skinhead stomper to international glam-rock star, and on Monday 20 May, Madness frontman Suggs shares tales from his personal back catalogue in Suggs: My Life Story (Harrogate Theatre).

Russell Kane and Al Murray provide belly laughs with Posturing Delivery (Harrogate Theatre, Friday 15 February) and Al Murray: The Only Way Is Epic (Royal Hall, Tuesday 19 February) respectively. More spring season laughs come courtesy of Richard Herring (Talking Cock at Harrogate Theatre on Monday 11 March), one-liner whiz Milton Jones (Royal Hall, Thursday 21 March), Irish gem Roisin Conaty (Harrogate Studio Theatre, Friday 22 March), titillating Everyman Dave Spikey (Harrogate Theatre, Thursday 28 March), smart young buck Chris Ramsey (Harrogate Theatre, Monday 13 May), brilliantly dour Yorkshireman Alun Cochrane (Harrogate Studio Theatre, Tuesday 14 May) and tip-top Yorkshire double-act Peacock & Gamble (Harrogate Studio Theatre, Friday 17 May). All that before the monthly Hyena Comedy Club gets in on the act.

VISIT www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk NOW FOR MORE DETAILS OF WHAT’S ON AND MORE IMPORTANTLY YOUR TICKETS TO SOME OF THE ABOVE!!!!

By Andy on December 11, 2012