Thrilling Theatre
Arena Access
Hello and welcome to another thrilling season of quality theatre at the Arena. We think you’ll find this brochure easy to read. If you want any more information about our shows please visit www.arenatheatre.info. We look forward to seeing you at the Arena soon.
The Arena Theatre is committed to being as accessible as possible for everyone. However, to optimize your experience please advise the Box Office of your individual requirements in advance. For more information please visit www.arenatheatre.info.
How to book: in Person: The Box Office is open between 10am and 5pm Monday to Friday and 1 hour before each show. By telephone: Call (01902) 321 321. Unfortunately, we are unable to reserve seats without a payment to guarantee the booking. Book online: Safely and securely, 24 hours-a-day at www.arenatheatre.info schools and Groups: Please contact us for details of group booking discounts on (01902) 321 321 or e-mail boxoffice@arenatheatre.info For more information about concessions, conditions and booking policies please visit www.arenathatre.info or call (01902) 321 321. Your feedback and comments are welcome please contact us via our website, Facebook page or by e-mailing boxoffice@arenatheatre.info.
Access features include: • Complimentary companion tickets (for customers who need to be accompanied). • Lift access to all levels. • Sennheiser Infra Red Enhanced Hearing system headsets can be worn with or without a hearing aid (Please reserve your headset at the Box Office when you book your ticket). • For Minicom bookings and enquires please call (01902) 321 327. • Assistance Dogs are welcome. • All areas and rooms signed in grade 2 Braille. • Audio
CD and Large Print Brochures are available on request from the Box Office.
th Friday 16 16th September Septemberat at8pm 8pm
showstopper! the improvised Musical Back by popular demand A brand new musical is created from scratch at each at each performance performance of this of this award-winning award-winning production. Audience suggestions help to create a show on on thethe spot, spot, as the as the all-singing, all-singing, all-dancing all-dancing cast cast improvise with unpredictable and frequently hilarious results. Showstopper! leaves delighted audiences singing all the way home.
tickets £10 Full Price and £12 £10 £8 Concessions Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Tuesday 20th September at 7.30pm
the Fitzrovia Radio Hour Retro microphones and ripping yarns Absolutely spiffing show that recreates the innocent, clipped, Bulldog Drummond spirit of 40s live radio drama. It brilliantly evokes a dinner-jacketed age of casual imperialism, mild chauvinism and stiff upper lips interjected with sharp contemporary humour. Women, know your limits! “Jolly good show, chaps!” The Guardian
tickets £10 Full Price and £8 Concessions 4
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
Saturday 17th September at 7.30pm
Wednesday 21st September at 7.30pm
Surdhwani presents
Kathakbox
sitar & tabla sangam Roopa Panesar and sukhwinder singh namdhari Roopa Panesar is regarded as one of the finest sitar players to emerge on the Indian music scene in the UK. Her soulful and unique style of playing has enthralled her listeners all over the UK and beyond. sukhwinder singh namdhari, AKA Pinky is one of the UK’s most sought after tabla players. In 1994, he won a Grammy Award with Ry Cooder for the composition A meeting by the River.
Sonia Sabri Dance Company
A new piece from one of the uK’s most dynamic dance companies Celebrate the unique, diverse energy of modern Britain through a brand new dance style: Urban Kathak. Kathakbox brings together Indian Kathak dance’s grace and vigour and the rhythms and rhymes of Hip Hop culture.
In association with Arena Theatre and Sampad.
tickets £9 Full Price and £6 Concessions
tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Thursday 22nd September at 7.30pm
Friday 23rd September at 8pm
two Halves of Guinness
when will i Be Famous?
sir Alec Guinness, the voice and a master spy
How easy is it to become famous?
Mark Burgess’ funny and insightful play sees Trevor Littledale as Sir Alec Guinness reflecting on acting, faith, family and his shattering insecurity. We join Sir Alec in the late 70s, as Star Wars is set to become one of the biggest films of all time. But will he be remembered only as a Jedi Knight?
In 1994 Mark Whiteley left drama school, confident that within the year he would be a global celebrity. 17 years later, with a string of bit parts in several TV shows, he is still waiting. This is his hilarious story so far and his plans for how he’s going to become famous in the future: a BAFTA award winning performance as a Chicken on Channel 4 perhaps?
“I don't know what else I could do but pretend to be an actor.” Alec Guinness
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tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
Wednesday 28th September at 7.30pm
Guy Masterson in
shylock
Villain or Victim - or is shylock someone even more intriguing? A delightfully comic, yet deeply moving performance celebrating the richness of Shakespeare’s language and conjuring up a host of characters including Portia, Pontius Pilate, Antonio the Merchant, Barabas - The Jew of Malta, Charles Macklin, Edmund Kean and Henry Irving. Guy Masterson, confronts and confounds the stereotypes of fiction’s most famous Jew in a fascinating exploration of Shylock, Shakespeare and Judaism through the ages. "Innovative, delightful, exceptional!” The Independent tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Tuesday 27th September at 7.30pm
Friday 30th September at 8pm
Madame Blavatsky Lives
Roll out the Beryl
A Foreseeable fortune-telling funny fable Have you ever wanted to know about the future? Do you dream of wealth and happiness? What happens when 3 women visit Madame Blavatsky - an all-knowing spiritualist and what effect does it have on their lives as 2 of them are suddenly faced with dreadful futures and the other receives very good news? tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions 8
Chaos, comedy, clowning and catering: Celebrating Beryl Reid We welcome some of Beryl’s best loved characters including Marlene from the Midlands, Monica the Naughty School Girl, Conception the Spanish waitress and a few extras on the side in this celebration of a British comedy legend. Chaos, comedy, clowning and shoes are on the menu as she cooks a meal live on stage and for afters, something naughty but nice: memories of meals shared with some of her theatrical friends and some of her favourite things. tickets in association with Makin Projects, Leicester Comedy £9 Full Price and Festival and Cheltenham Comedy Festival. £7 Concessions
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
Tuesday 4th October at 7.30pm
Wednesday 5th October at 7.30pm
stalag Happy the true story of artists sir terry Frost and Adrian Heath
Captain Murderer and the Morecambe Mermaid
A real-life tale of the human spirit’s ability to find art and beauty in the most unlikely of conditions.
disturbing escapism - pitch-black musical comedy
The chronicles of Sir Terry Frost and Adrian Heath whilst interned in the WWII Prisoner of War Camp Stalag 383 are brought to life through sharp, comic, touching dialogue; imaginative and inventive design, and a suitably nostalgic 1940s soundtrack.
tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
A sinister visual feast, with puppets and masks, illusions and projections, it tells 2 conjoined stories of addiction, sexual exploitation, immigration and kiss-me-quick cheekiness. With Burlesque queens and Freak Show geeks it’s fast-moving, funny and provocative entertainment with original songs. tickets Recommended for Ages 15+ £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Thursday 6th and Friday 7th October at 7.30pm
iCE
ACE Dance and Music
Powerful contemporary dance 6 performers explore how we use machines as an extension of our bodies and how natural and man-made processes merge together to create new life. Expect to see powerful contemporary dance with an African and Japanese flavour and futuristic style film projections. This show is opened with a curtain-raiser performance by Wolverhampton Youth Services. “Style and discipline... Technical ability & sheer physicality... Exhilarating to watch.” Birmingham Post tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions 10
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
Tuesday 11th October at 1.30pm and 7.30pm
the Haunted Bride Rumpus Theatre Company spine-chilling, spooky and seriously good A new play by John Goodrum based on the delectably eerie tale To Be Read At Dusk by Charles Dickens. Amid the shadowy rooms and moonstruck gardens of a peeling, overgrown Italian palazzo, the dreams that haunt a young bride’s sleep reach their terrifying climax. Let the haunting begin!
tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Wednesday 12th October at 7.30pm
Thursday 13th October at 1.30pm
Kupenga Kwa Hamlet
Postcards from Blackpool About Face Theatre Company
2 actors, 2 props and 2 cultures In the twilight of a pre-colonial Zimbabwe, 2 young men co-exist. Hamlet, a tribal prince, returns to find his father murdered and that a new dangerous chief has taken over.
From the ultimate seaside holiday destination comes a rollercoaster tale where dreams can be dreamt, broken or fulfilled. Under the shadow of Blackpool’s Tower, or amidst the glittering lights of the ballroom, showmen compete for your attention, your soul, your money.
Laertes falls victim to the new ruler as he must avenge the death of his father and that of his sister.
About Face Theatre Company produces theatre by professional actors with learning disabilities.
As the corpses mount, who buries whom, and what danger is lurking in this small kingdom? 12
stimulating and original theatre
tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
tickets All Tickets £5
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
Friday 14th October at 8pm
Saturday 15th October at 7.30pm
Confessions of Honour
Henceforward
Opus Theatre
A futuristic farce from the mind of Alan Ayckbourn Love. Connection. Hope. What makes us Human?
what really happened on the Battlefield? Frederick Salisbury VC is to present his medal to the Staffordshire Regiment in which he served. Among the specially invited guests is Wolfgang Meissler, a one-time combatant in the Wehrmacht. Soon Frederick realises that Wolfgang’s presence could upset the entire celebrations. tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
With his family and his inspiration gone Jerome Watkins is a desperate man. In a futuristic world devoid of human contact, all this lonely composer has for company is a malfunctioning android housekeeper and some very strange ideas... Can he regain what matters the most?
tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Tuesday 18th October at 7.30pm Wednesday 19th October at 1.30pm and 7.30pm
Much Ado about wenlock Vamos Theatre
olympic wheelbarrow Races, un-plucked Pheasants and outstanding maskwork In 1850 Much Wenlock hosted its very own ‘Olympian Games’. But behind this seemingly mild-mannered event lay a struggle for equality in the changing world of the Industrial Revolution. Much Ado About wenlock is a captivatingly comic full mask show with original music. Experience the true spirit of the Olympics in this creative and hugely inventive visual and physical adventure. Is that the postman using parcels to perfect his discus? Vamos Theatre, in association with The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham.
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tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
Thursday 20th October at 7.30pm
Friday 21st October at 8pm
Penny dreadful’s Etherdrome
welcome to... Afghanistan (and other bits)
disaster-comedy where carnival-sideshows meet live bluegrass… and dentistry! Frankenstein’s alive and about to extract your wisdom teeth! Roll up, roll up! Take your seats for a true tale of 1850s America. It’s the start of the Scientific Age, but the only anaesthetic is a stiff bourbon. In a fairground tent, an amazing discovery is made and the quest for pain relief takes a detour via a duck pond! tickets Trust us... this won’t hurt a bit! £10 Full Price and £8 Concessions
A triple-bill of potent poetry 3 shows shoe-horned into 1 evening – value-packed for wallet-tight times. Emma Purshouse, a lively performance poet and slam winner presents the thrilling character-based piece who does she think she is? Monkey Poet brings his 2 critically acclaimed sets welcome to Afghanistan and welcome to the uK.
tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Saturday 22nd October at 7pm
Friday 28th October at 8pm
Sampad presents
the Country wife
diwali sabha
Jadis Shadows
dance, theatre and spoken word
the most infamous of the restoration comedies
Join Sampad for a special evening to celebrate Diwali. Enjoy breathtaking Bollywood dance and uplifting Indian music.
London playboy Horner has a cunning plan to enable him to continue any affair he wishes without the unpleasant business of a husband’s suspicions or jealousy.
Sabha is Sampad’s popular showcase for local and emerging talent in music, dance, theatre and spoken word.
tickets £6 Full Price and £4 Concessions 16
Packed full of elaborate characterisation and high farce this is a fast paced piece designed to delight and entertain.
tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
Tuesday 1st November at 7.30pm Wednesday 2nd November at 1.30pm and 7.30pm
Mind The Gap presents
stig of the dump An enchanting tale of a unique friendship Stig wears rabbit-skins, has his own language and uses empty tin cans for a chimney. Barney has scuffed shoes, grazed knees and dirty fingernails. Join them on their magical adventure as puppetry and performance turn a rubbish dump into the backdrop for extraordinary, accessible theatre. Mind the Gap is an award-winning theatre company that works with learning disabled and non-disabled actors as equals. Recommended for Ages 8+
tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions All matinee tickets £5 Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Thursday 3rd November at 1.30pm and 7.30pm
Friday 4th November at 8pm
Rivers to Cross
inspector drake and the Black widow
Gazebo Theatre Company
A powerful new play starring sylvester williams Rivers to Cross takes audiences on a 174 year roller coaster of a multimedia journey through Imperialism, Segregation, the Civil Rights Movement, the “Windrush” era and the Black Consciousness Movement. It tells the true stories of great accomplishments in the face of adversity in an examination of the black male experience since emancipation.
tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions All Matinee Tickets £5
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A baffling and outrageously farcical whodunit When oil tycoon John Johnson is found with a huge sword in his back, it looks like a straightforward case of dying illegally. But things are not quite as they seem. Why was Johnson disguised as his own wife? Why had he eaten a tortoise? And why do all the women in the house look similar? tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
Saturday 5th November at 7.30pm
Tuesday 8th November at 7.30pm
the Pomedy show with Yasus Afari
Very Hard times
direct from a national tour of Jamaica
In their over-eagerness to be zeitgeisty, a trio of performers present the topical story of a broke couple’s downfall at the hands of a loan-shark.
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Jamaican Independence. Bringing together Poetry and Comedy with incisive social commentary and music, Yasus Afari engages with local poets and comedians to bring an evening of laughter and learning.
tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
surreal, dark, melodramatic and very, very funny
But with personal differences getting in the way, what was nearly a rip-roaring tale of good versus evil gradually morphs into a study of theatrical incompetence. “Startlingly original and utterly preposterous.” Bristol Culture tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Wednesday 9th November at 7.30pm
oscar wilde’s Lord Arthur savile’s Crime An hilariously funny black comedy Rocket Theatre has created a wicked black comedy that positively fizzes with fun. This hilarious retelling of the classic Oscar Wilde story is a gripping tale of love, honour, duty, fortune-telling and murder! Join Lord Arthur Savile in his new home for an evening of ludicrous indulgence.
tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions 20
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
Thursday 10th November at 7.30pm
Friday 11th November at 8pm
Phoenix Rising: d. H. Lawrence son & Lover
Fighting the Cuts
A totally absorbing portrayal of d.H. Lawrence A complex and self-contradictory character, often out of step with his background and education, Lawrence is revealed as a man of song with a gift for mimicry as well as profound story-telling. Phoenix Rising is a colourful portrait of an extraordinary artist at full throttle! “A totally absorbing performance in this tickets moving and skilfully scripted piece.” £9 Full Price and Sir Derek Jacobi £7 Concessions
Banner Theatre
A Cabaret of Resistance The Con-Dem government have launched a major attack on Britain’s welfare state, threatening the jobs and living standards of millions of working people. Banner Theatre demonstrate that the cuts are neither inevitable nor necessary in this multimedia cabaret of songs, music, comedy and video; laying bare the real story behind the crisis, and supporting the campaign to defend our welfare state. Supported by Wolverhampton Local Government General Branch and University of tickets Wolverhampton Branch of Unison. Standard Tickets £6 Trades’ Union Members £4
Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Tuesday 15th to Saturday 19th November Performances at 7.30pm (except Friday 18th at 8pm) Matinees on Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th at 2.30pm
oh what A Lovely war Joan Littlewood’s Musical Entertainment Over 90 years on from the Armistice, oh what A Lovely war remains a classic of the modern theatre and a powerful reminder of the atrocities of a war that cost twenty million lives. Told through the songs and documents of the period, it’s a satirical attack on the military incompetence and inconceivable disregard for human life the First World War has come to represent, and a chilling reminder of man’s inhumanity to man. Blackeyed Theatre, in association with South Hill Park Arts Centre. The Courtyard Centre for the Arts and Arena Theatre.
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For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
“Magnificent...Extraordinary...As haunting as it is harrowing...Astonishing power.” The Stage
tickets £12 Full Price and £10 Concessions and £8 Under 16s Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd November at 7.30pm
Volcano Theatre Company presents
A Clockwork orange
“what's it going to be then, eh?” You choose A nasty little shocker or a serious exploration of state power and free will? Volcano Theatre sidestep the cult movie and recapture the shock of the original novella. Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork orange may be fifty years old but its description of a corrupt state and bankrupt civil society have never seemed more familiar. And in this context how are the nation's youth to behave? To survive you have to be feral: violent, drunk, drugged and debauched. . Recommended for ages 15+
tickets £10 Full Price and £8 Concessions 24
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
Thursday 24th November at 7.30pm
Folie à deux Green Eyed Zero
outstanding Physical theatre A journey through the minds of 2 very unique individuals: 1 who believes he is dead, the other who has forgotten her past. Folie à deux will whisk you away into the theatre of their minds where their imagination is unleashed. Green Eyed Zero integrate contemporary circus, physical theatre, and digital media to challenge and inspire audiences.
tickets £10 Full Price and £8 Concessions Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Saturday 26th November at 7pm
Bollywood nights Gunjan
A spectacular feast of Bollywood Classics Enjoy Bollywood songs spanning all decades, from the old, immortal Hindi melodies, to the latest foot-tapping numbers. Gunjan are a versatile Indian music group. They have entertained audiences across the UK, performing semi-classical and Sufi songs with a variety of timeless, romantic Bollywood classics. In association with Sampad and Arena Theatre.
tickets ÂŁ8 Full Price and ÂŁ6 Concessions 26
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
Tuesday 29th November at 7.30pm
Matthew Booth in John Godber’s
Beef
Matthew Booth (Emmerdale) stars in John Godber’s Modern Classic Dave was a nobody. Tormented by schoolyard bullies and ridiculed by everyone else. His only escape was the homemade gym in his dad’s garage. Trouble was, although he’s got the weights and the gear, his muscle fantasy, to be like Arnold Schwarzenegger, is just a weedy dream. But Dave’s life is changed forever. Now he’s 17 stone of rippling muscle. It’s not only Dave’s body that’s changed; so has his mind and he’s struggling to control both.
Matthew Booth
tickets £10 Full Price and £8 Concessions
Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Thursday 1st December at 7.30pm
Kim Noble presents
You Are not Alone Award-winning surrealist funnyman Kim Noble returns to the stage in a show that mixes art, comedy and video. This is an intimate tale of 5 other people that live on this planet. It’s a work in progress so it might be rubbish - but Kim Noble is a Perrier Award-winning and BAFTAnominated comedian, so it should at least be a bit funny. “Sublimely talented.” Time Out
tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Friday 2nd December at 8pm
Wednesday 7th December at 7.30pm
John Edgar presents
Housebound
Breton tales After dark - A selection spooky stories for cold winter nights Translated from a range of 19th Century Breton collections, and retold in John’s unique style. It’s a collection of John’s favourite dark, eccentric and often bleakly funny stories of Breton life and death in a land where the daytime is for the living but night is the exclusive province of the dead. With support from Black Country folk duo, Billy and Lozz.
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tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
by Nick Lane
what’s that moaning in the cellar? Jim is fat, 58, fed-up and will moan at anything and everything. So much so, he makes Victor Meldrew look like an amateur. And doesn’t his wife Lucy know it? She’s been stuck at home with him rabbiting on every day since his early retirement. That is until Lucy sees an opportunity to change things for good that will give Jim something to really moan about! tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
Thursday 8th December at 7.30pm
Friday 9th December at 8pm
Christmas Circus Double Bill
Bouncers
Full twist & Pang on!
MiG Theatre
PanGottic Circus-Theatre
one of the 20th Century’s most popular plays Physical theatre, Clowning, Mask work and lots of fun Enjoy a festive feast of Circus and Clowning in this thrilling double bill from PanGottic Theatre. This show has everything from mulled wine tasting and smashing glass to heart-stopping (and controversial) baby juggling. An eclectic family friendly mix of fancy feats and top tricks rarely performed today. “Physical comedy at its finest...This rip-roaring, laugh-out-loud, clowning caper was tickets marvellous.” £9 Full Price and London Evening Standard £7 Concessions
It's Friday night and the party’s about to begin. The club’s hot but out in the cold the Bouncers are ready. With one eye on the trouble and the other on the girls, they’ll take you on a screamingly funny ride through one of those nights that everyone’s had - but most would like to forget. tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concessions
Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Tuesday 13th December at 7.30pm Wednesday 14th December at 1.30pm and 7.30pm
Oddsocks present
the Merry wives of windsor An exciting evening of infectious frivolity There’s a right raucous rumbustious romp going on in jolly old Windsor town and no mistake! Hold on to your 1950s style hats Oddsocks fans, as 2 merry wives give that lovable “naughty knight” Fatty Falstaff, a shock he’ll never forget, in return for his unwanted amorous attentions. Laughter, surprises and fun for all the family guaranteed.
tickets £12 Full Price and £10 Concessions 32
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
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independent and Amateur Promotions: standard concessions may vary
Tuesday 6th to Saturday 10th September at 7.30pm
Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th September at 7.30pm
Just so
Pyramid of truth
wolverhampton Youth Musical theatre return to the Arena
A sudden discovery turns the mundane into a mystery
Come with us on a magical musical journey that starts in a dusty old loft and ends on the banks of the Limpopo River. Magic and mystery abound in this hilarious retelling of Rudyard Kipling’s Just so stories. Meet a Kolokolo bird, a curious elephant and so many other characters, including a rhino with a personal hygiene problem!
Aswan High Dam, 1963 AD. As an ill-matched archaeological team complete their survey, glory and judgement await them as they grapple with the secrets of the Pyramid of truth. Ancient Egypt meets Indiana Jones in this action-packed modern musical adventure accompanied by a live band.
A storm! A shipwreck! An enchanted island! All under the magical spell of one man - Prospero, the former Duke of Milan. When a powerful sea-tempest shipwrecks his former adversaries, they are tricked and tormented by Prospero’s magic.
tickets from £5 to £12
tickets £8.50 Full Price and £6.50 Concs
tickets £5 Full Price and £3 Concs
WYMT
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Coppice Performing Arts School
Monday 19th September at 7pm
the tempest
Pool Hayes Performing Arts School A tale of magic, trickery and love Pool Hayes Arts and Community School present their Summer School performance of Shakespeare’s the tempest.
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
independent and Amateur Promotions: standard concessions may vary
Saturday 29th October at 2.30pm and 6.30pm
Sunday 27th November at 2.30pm and 7pm
Tuesday 6th December at 1pm and 7.30pm
Let’s Get Loud
Gleek out!
Award winning dancers come to the Arena
All things Glee
Another Good night out
Brookes Academy of Dance
The students have had an extremely busy year with many of them winning awards and performing all over the country. Let’s Get Loud is a testimony of that on-going dedication and hard work including ballet, tap, acrobatics, modern, jazz, contemporary and musical theatre dance. tickets £9 Full Price and £7 Concs
Reach Musical Theatre
Are you a bit of a Gleek? If you know what that means then this is the show for you! Reach Musical Theatre is proud to present this celebration of classic pop with a modern twist and make sure that you leave smiling and humming your favourite tune.
tickets £8 Full Price and £6 Concs
A showcase of work by three local theatre groups the discoverers, nononsense and wow three of Wolverhampton’s most popular and entertaining theatre groups return to the Arena Theatre to celebrate International Day of Disabled People with three new short pieces.
tickets Matinee £1 and Evening £5
Book Online at www.arenatheatre.info | Box Office: Telephone (01902) 321 321 | Minicom (01902) 321 327
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Tuesday 6th to Saturday 10th September at 7.30pm
Just so Page 34
wolverhampton Youth Musical theatre
An independent Promotion
Thursday 22nd September at 7.30pm
two Halves of Guinness Page 6
Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th September at 7.30pm
Pyramid of truth Page 34
A sudden discovery turns the mundane into a mystery
An independent Promotion
Friday 23rd September at 8pm
when will i Be Famous? Page 6
Friday 16th September at 8pm
Page 3
showstopper! the improvised Musical
Madame Blavatsky Lives Page 8
Roopa Panesar and sukhwinder singh namdhari
shylock Villain or Victim - or is shylock someone Page 7
Monday 19th September at 7pm
Page 34
A tale of magic, trickery and love.
An independent Promotion
Roll out the Beryl Page 8
stalag Happy Page 9
Wednesday 21st September at 7.30pm sonia sabri dance Company
the true story of artists sir terry Frost and Adrian Heath
Wednesday 5th October at 7.30pm
Kathakbox Page 5
Celebrating Beryl Reid
Tuesday 4th October at 7.30pm
the Fitzrovia Radio Hour
Page 4
even more intriguing? Friday 30th September at 8pm
Tuesday 20th September at 7.30pm
Retro microphones and ripping yarns
A Foreseeable fortune-telling funny fable
Wednesday 28th September at 7.30pm
sitar & tabla sangam
the tempest
How easy is it to become famous?
Tuesday 27th September at 7.30pm
Saturday 17th September at 7.30pm
Page 5
sir Alec Guinness, the voice and a master spy
Page 9
Captain Murderer and the Morecambe Mermaid
Thursday 6th and Friday 7th October at 7.30pm
Thursday 20th October at 7.30pm
iCE Page 10
Powerful contemporary dance
Page 15
Tuesday 11th October at 1.30pm and 7.30pm
Friday 21st October at 8pm
the Haunted Bride Page 11
spine-chilling, spooky and seriously good
Page 15
Wednesday 12th October at 7.30pm
2 actors, 2 props and 2 cultures
diwali sabha Page 16
Thursday 13th October at 1.30pm
stimulating and original theatre
the Country wife Page 16
Saturday 29th October at 2.30pm and 6.30pm
what really happened on the Battlefield?
Award winning dancers come to the Arena
Let’s Get Loud Page 35
Henceforward
A futuristic farce from the mind of Alan Ayckbourn
Page 17
Tuesday 18th October at 7.30pm Wednesday 19th October at 1.30pm and 7.30pm Page 14
Much Ado about wenlock
An independent Promotion
Tuesday 1st November at 7.30pm Wednesday 2nd November at 1.30pm and 7.30pm
Saturday 15th October at 7.30pm
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the most infamous of the restoration comedies
Friday 14th October at 8pm
Confessions of Honour Page13
dance, theatre and spoken word
Friday 28th October at 8pm
Postcards from Blackpool Page 12
welcome to... Afghanistan (and other bits) Saturday 22nd October at 7pm
Kupenga Kwa Hamlet Page 12
Penny dreadful’s Etherdrome
stig of the dump
Thursday 3rd November at 1.30pm and 7.30pm
Rivers to Cross Page 18
A powerful new play starring sylvester williams
Friday 4th November at 8pm
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inspector drake and the Black widow
Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd November at 7.30pm
A Clockwork orange Page 24
Thursday 24th November at 7.30pm
Saturday 5th November at 7.30pm
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the Pomedy show with Yasus Afari
Folie à deux Page 25
Tuesday 8th November at 7.30pm
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Bollywood nights Page 26
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Gleek out! Page 35
Thursday 10th November at 7.30pm
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Phoenix Rising: d. H. Lawrence - son & Lover
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Page 22-23
starring Matthew Booth (Emmerdale)
Thursday 1st December at 7.30pm
You Are not Alone Page 29
Award-winning surrealist funnyman
Tuesday 15th to Saturday 19th November
Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd December
oh what A Lovely war
defying definitions
Joan Littlewood’s Musical Entertainment
An independent Promotion
Beef
Fighting the Cuts Page 21
All things Glee
Tuesday 29th November at 7.30pm
Friday 11th November at 8pm A Cabaret of Resistance
A spectacular feast of Bollywood Classics Sunday 27th November at 2.30pm and 7pm
Wednesday 9th November at 7.30pm
oscar wilde’s Lord Arthur savile’s Crime
outstanding Physical theatre
Saturday 26th November at 7pm
Very Hard times
surreal, dark, melodramatic and very, very funny!
“what's it going to be then, eh?” You choose.
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disability Arts in Mainstream Galleries symposium
Friday 2nd December at 8pm
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Friday 9th December at 8pm
Breton tales After dark A selection
Bouncers Page 31
Tuesday 6th December at 1pm and 7.30pm
Another Good night out Page 35
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A showcase by the discoverers, nononsense and wow.
Tuesday 13th December at 7.30pm Wednesday 14th December at 1.30pm and 7.30pm An independent Promotion
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the Merry wives of windsor
Wednesday 7th December at 7.30pm
Thursday 15th - Sunday 18th December
Housebound
8 Pantos in 80 Minutes the quickest Christmas show in town!
what’s that moaning in the cellar?
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Thursday 8th December at 7.30pm
Full twist & Pang on! Page 31
one of the 20th Century’s most popular plays
Physical theatre,Clowning, Mask work and lots of fun
LoVE tHEAtRE?
For more information, video previews, production images and reviews go to www.arenatheatre.info
BuY tiCKEts for 2 or more shows at the same time and get all your tickets for £5 each* *must be the same number of tickets for each show. offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other
see More & Pay Less.
shows the multi-booking offer ticket costs £8 each.
Because GREAt tHEAtRE doesn’t have to be expensive.
Please contact the Box office for more information.
discount. other restrictions may apply. For certain
£5 EACH
*
How to Find us The Arena Theatre is easily accessible and situated right in the heart of the City Centre on Wulfruna Street.
Car Parking Street parking is available near the theatre. The Civic Centre car park (150 metres from the Theatre) is usually open until 10.30pm however please check closing times on arrival.
Public transport The Arena Theatre is a 5-minute walk from the Railway, Bus and Metro stations.
Arena Theatre
| Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1SE. Box Office 01902 321 321 (Mon - Fri 10am - 5pm) Facsimile 01902 322 599 | Minicom 01902 321 327 E-mail arena@wlv.ac.uk | Website www.arenatheatre.info