Birmingham What's On October 2023

Your FREE essential entertainment guide for the Midlands

What’sOn

inside:

LAUGHS APLENTY

Birmingham Comedy Festival makes a welcome return

ROMAIN

Jewellery Quarter gig for ‘lovers rock’ specialist...

SPOOK-TACULAR Halloween events to keep the kids entertained this month

FILM I COMEDY I THEATRE I GIGS I VISUAL ARTS I EVENTS I FOOD

VIRGO

ORE ODUBA TALKS PRETTY WOMAN: FEATURE INSIDE...

News from around the region

Festive magic at The Rep

Birmingham Rep is inviting audiences to pay a visit to Narnia this Christmas.

The Centenary Square theatre is presenting the smash-hit West End production of CS Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe. The show roars into Birmingham next month, showing at the venue from Tuesday 14 November to Sunday 28 January.

And that’s not all... The Rep has another treat in store for families this Christmas, in the shape of a brand-new stage adaptation of classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood. The production will play in the venue’s studio theatre, The Door, from Thursday 7 December to Saturday 6 January.

To book tickets visit birmingham-rep.co.uk

New wellbeing cafe opens

Two of the city’s leading mental health organisations - Living Well UK and Birmingham Mind - have joined forces to launch a wellbeing café, backed by investment from NHS England.

Open Monday to Friday, the first-of-its-kind café in Selly Oak hosts a range of community events, workshops and therapies. To find out more, visit groundedcafe.co.uk

Dinosaurs in concert...

The 30th anniversary of blockbuster movie Jurassic Park is being celebrated this autumn with a special tour.

Jurassic Park In Concert sees the film being screened while the Hallé Orchestra present a live rendition of its classic John Williams score. The production stops off at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on Saturday 21 October. To find out more and book tickets, visit resortsworldarena.co.uk

Casey Bailey to host Voices Of The City event

Casey Bailey and NeOne the Wonderer are hosting a special event showcasing local musicians whose sound has been inspired by hip-hop and R&B. Voices Of The City, featuring Sanity, Indigo Marshall and Jordvn Emanuel, takes place in Birmingham’s Elgar Concert Hall in Bramall Music Building on Saturday 28 October.

For more information, visit barber.org.uk

The Barber to close for essential improvements

An essential building improvement programme begins at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham this month. The first phase of the £10million programme will include a refit of the Lady Barber Gallery. The gallery - along with the four principal collection galleries, print bays and coin gallery - will shut on Monday 2 October and stay closed for five months. The Lady Barber Gallery refit will include the installation of new walls, floors, glass doors and state-ofthe-art lighting. The air-handling system will also be completely replaced. For more information about what’s happening and when, visit barber.org.uk

Tasty fun as BBC Good Food Show Winter returns

The BBC Good Food Show Winter returns to Birmingham’s NEC for ‘four fabulous foodfilled days’ next month.

Running from Thursday 23 to Sunday 26 November, the show’s line-up of entertainment includes appearances by celebrity chefs James Martin, Nadiya Hussain, Michel Roux and Jane Dunn of Jane’s Patisserie. Further information about the event is available by visiting bbcgoodfoodshow.com/winter, where you can also purchase tickets.

Paul hoping to reel ’em in!

Comedian and fishing enthusiast

Marking 80 years of the Birmingham Philharmonic

Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra is this month celebrating its 80th birthday with a special anniversary concert at the city’s Town Hall. Taking place on Sunday 22 October (at 3pm), the concert features performances of Elgar’s The Music Makers and Beethoven’s 9th (Choral) Symphony. Visit bmusic.co.uk for further details.

Paul Whitehouse will be hoping to reel ’em inaudience members, that is - when he visits Birmingham next month with a brand-new show.

Paul, who appears alongside fellow comedian and fisherman Bob Mortimer in the BBC’s popular angling programme, Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, will stop off at Birmingham Town Hall on Sunday 12 November with How We Fish, a show he’s presenting alongside John Bailey, a consultant on Gone Fishing. For more information and to book tickets, visit bmusic.co.uk

From Strictly to Madagascar!

Hit family show Madagascar

The Musical is visiting Birmingham theatre The Alexandra next spring. Showing at the venue from Thursday 14 to Sunday 17 March, the touring production will see television presenter and Strictly finalist Karim Zeroual take on the role of King Julien... For further information and to book tickets, visit atgtickets.com

Simply Barbra...

A Barbra Streisand tribute show which has been earning rave reviews across the globe for the last quarter of a century is coming to Birmingham’s Old Joint Stock Theatre this month.

Steven Brinberg’s Simply Barbra visits the venue on Wednesday 25 & Thursday 26 October. To find out more, visit oldjointstock.co.uk

Aladdin to bring Disney magic to Birmingham in 2024

West End & Broadway hit Aladdin is coming to Birmingham Hippodrome in 2024 as part of its first-ever UK & Ireland tour.

Based on Disney’s classic 1992 animated film, the show stops off at the venue from Wednesday 9 October to Sunday 3 November.

As well as featuring the movie’s original songs, the production also includes new music by eight-time Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken.

Cinema access project at MAC

Midlands Arts Centre (MAC) has announced a three-year project which aims to significantly improve access to cinema for disabled audiences in the West Midlands.

Supported by Film Hub Midlands, Expanding The Frame will pilot new programmes and events, ensuring that disabled people with longstanding physical and/or mental conditions and those identifying as D/deaf or neurodivergent can experience film in an accessible environment.

The hugely popular show continues its recordbreaking run on Broadway. Since opening there in 2014, nine subsequent productions have launched around the world, including the West End version, which has racked up in excess of 1,200 performances.

To find out more about Aladdin’s autumn 2024 visit to Birmingham, and to book tickets, go to birminghamhippodrome.com

Award-winning theatre company to present a show with chicken legs!

A show about a young girl whose house moves on chicken legs is coming to Birmingham’s Crescent Theatre next month.

Performed by award-winning theatre company Les Enfants Terribles, The House With Chicken Legs is based on Sophie Anderson’s same-named bestselling book and shows at the venue from Tuesday 7 to Friday 10 November... For more information and to book tickets, visit crescent-theatre.co.uk

News from around the region

Asian literature festival to champion new writers

A special event showcasing emerging British Asian writers takes place at Birmingham venue The Exchange on Wednesday 25 October.

DESIblitz - ‘the UK’s leading South Asian literature festival’ - will provide selected authors with the opportunity to present their work to a live audience. For more information, visit birmingham.ac.uk

Cheltenham Literature Festival is back

The Times and Sunday Times

Cheltenham

Literature Festival makes a welcome return this month.

Featuring more than 500 events based around subjects including art & design, classic literature, current affairs, faith & philosophy, fiction, poetry & spoken word and food & drink, the festival runs from Friday 6 to Sunday 15 October.

Guest speakers this year include Brian Cox, Chris Packham (pictured), Bernie Taupin, David Mitchell, Adrian Edmondson, Michael Palin, David Walliams, Sebastian Faulks and David Baddiel.

For more information and to book tickets, visit cheltenhamfestivals.com

Bakers’ delight as cake event returns to the NEC

Global cake-decorating showcase Cake International returns to Birmingham’s NEC next month.

Running at the venue from Friday 3 to Sunday 5 November, the show features competition pieces, lifesize installations and live demonstrations by cake artists from around the world. To find out more, visit cakeinternational.co.uk

New epic-scale drone show set to light up the sky

An ‘epic scale’ theatrical event for all the family to enjoy will light up the sky above Wolverhampton on Thursday 14 December. Taking place at Wolverhampton Racecourse, Dunstall Park, new drone light show Evolution will provide its audience with the

Opera scenes return to the Conservatoire

Birmingham Conservatoire is once again presenting its hugely popular Opera Scenes showcase project this autumn.

Taking place at the venue from Thursday 16 to Saturday 18 November, the event sees the Conservatoire’s vocal students and repetiteurs present scenes from a selection of both well-loved and lesser-known operas. For further information and to book tickets, visit bcu.ac.uk

Roald Dahl event set to inspire young audiences

A new show aimed at developing children’s creative and literacy skills, via an exploration of the stories of Roald Dahl, is being presented in Symphony Hall’s Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space on Sunday 29 October.

To find out more about the production, which is titled Roald Dahl And The Imagination Seekers, visit bmusic.co.uk

chance to ‘watch the universe unfold, from the humble beginnings of single-cell organisms to the awe-inspiring reign of the dinosaurs’.

To find out more about the event, visit the website yuup.co/evolution

History in the making...

Midlands theatre-goers are this month being invited to take a trip ‘down the Black history timeline’, courtesy of a family-friendly production entitled History In The Making (Birmingham Hippodrome, Tuesday 17 & Wednesday 18 October).

Presented through drama, spoken word, dance and music performances, the show highlights ‘notable historical figures, traditional African culture, Caribbean influences and Black British impacts on society, past, present and future’. For further information and to book tickets, visit birminghamhippodrome.com

Fawlty Towers mayhem at the Council House

An immersive show paying tribute to classic 1970s TV comedy series Fawlty Towers is visiting Birmingham this month.

Faulty Towers The Dining Experience takes place in the Council House’s Banqueting Suite from Thursday 26 October to Sunday 5 November. The hit interactive experience sees audience members become diners in the ‘Faulty Towers’ restaurant, where they will be served a three-course meal alongside a ‘banquet of comedy’ recalling the muchloved John Cleese sitcom.

Tickets for the show are now on sale via the website: faultytowersdining.com

EMPIRE OF THE SON

Mark Thomas’ new one-man play comes to Midlands Arts Centre

by Steve Adams

Comedian and political activist Mark Thomas has promised to stay alert during our interview but admits it won’t be long before he enters the dreamlike state that kicks in once the adrenaline of performing has worn off.

“I finished the show about half an hour ago, and I’ve managed to clean myself and wipe the sweat from my body,” he says, rather more graphically than I was prepared for. “What happens is the adrenaline lasts for about an hour and then just goes, and you’re in this post-dreamland state.”

We’re talking just after a performance of England & Son, a play written specifically for him by award-winning playwright Ed Edwards, a former circus performer who also spent three years in jail for drugs offences in the 1990s. Since his release, Ed has published a novel, worked on TV dramas including Holby City, Brookside and The Bill, and earned critical acclaim for The Political History Of Smack And Crack, a 2018 play that chronicled the damage inflicted on UK communities by the heroin epidemic at the height of Thatcherism.

One of the play’s most vocal admirers was Mark Thomas, who was waxing lyrical as he left the theatre, not knowing its writer was within earshot.

“I came out and said to my partner ‘That’s brilliant, that’s the best thing I’ve seen,’ and this voice behind me said ‘I wrote that.’ We started chatting, and that was how I met Ed. It was great - we got on like a house on fire. Ed would come and see gigs, and we’d hang out and go for late-night Chinese and curries wherever I was performing. We’d talk long into the morning about ideas and stuff we’d like to do.”

One of those ideas turned into England & Son. Based on characters from Mark’s own childhood, as well as Ed’s experiences in prison, the one-man play is described as merging disaster capitalism, empire, stolen youth and stolen wealth into the simple tale of a working-class boy ‘who just wants his dad to smile at him’.

Mark couldn’t be happier with how the show has panned out.

“Ed’s a genius at how he unpicks false memories on stage; just a genius. I’m a really lucky man to have him writing for me.”

The play also makes use of Mark’s intense performance style. But while the similarity to his standup work makes it tempting to go offscript, the comic admits he has to maintain

his discipline… most of the time.

“As we like to say, each performance has a jazz element! There’ll always be a bit where something happens. Somebody’s phone went off the other day and I’m like ‘Don’t worry, these things happen - turn it off.’ Then I’ll take the show back two lines and we’ll start again.

“Or when people come in late, you can stop and go ‘That’s alright, here’s what you’ve missed,’ and give them a little preçis. You can do that, you know what I mean?”

So it’s not onerously prescriptive?

“It is, but there are bits when I can break out of it, which is lovely. But you have to stick to the script - there are sound cues, lighting cues and a whole range of things. I have to be in the right place at the right time or the light goes on the other side of the stage and people are like ‘Why is Mark in the dark?’

“So there is a huge discipline to it, but I bring a certain amount of chaos, and that’s fine.”

It’s more than fine based on the glowing reviews the play garnered at this year’s Edinburgh Festival, winning a Fringe First award into the bargain. It’s Mark’s fifth overall, but one he’s especially proud of.

“It was lovely. Awards are really useful for all sorts of reasons. One of them is that when you do a bad gig and you come home, you can look at your award and go ‘No, I’m not sh*t.’ So that’s useful, and the other thing is that it helps get more people in to see the show - and I want as many people to see the show as possible, as I’m really proud of it.” Since the play is little more than an hour long, the touring version - which stops off in Birmingham next month - won’t be expanded but will instead see Mark becoming his own opening act.

“Because Ed and I - Ed primarily - do workshops with addicts in recovery, we are writing a 20-minute piece about some of those addicts and sharing their stories - and that’ll be an opener before the play.”

Mark also explains that the personal nature of England & Son makes it more suited to intimate spaces, which is why he’s playing multiple dates at smaller venues rather than one-nighters in bigger theatres.

“In Edinburgh we performed ‘in the round’ in this beautiful purpose-built theatre tent [Summerhall], which was just amazing. The great thing is that if you put an emotion out, you can watch it go through the audience. It’s brilliant; just so exciting. This play is ideally

suited to smaller venues - once you get over two or three hundred people, you change the dynamic and it’s harder to reach everyone.” He also admits his delight when he sees people visibly moved by the material.

“I love the fact that people come out and are shocked; that it has an emotional impact on them. I love that. I was chatting with a couple of people who were visibly moved by the show, and we were talking about their experiences with trauma, and there’s something really exciting about that.

“Even if you’ve reacted really emotionally to something, that’s a really valid and important thing. Steven Spielberg would be considered one of the world’s greatest entertainers, and the idea that you’re supposed to just sit there and chuckle along gently is ludicrous. You’re supposed to go with the emotions.”

Mark’s enthusiasm for England & Sonwhich pulls strands of his activism, comedy and acting career into one piece - and collaborating with Ed (another project is already underway) has certainly put a spring in his step.

“It feels really good because I’m 60 and still trying out new stuff, seeing how far I can push things.”

He’s also hugely enthusiastic about the current state of comedy - “there’s some amazingly good performers… I really love doing circuit shows with them” - and despite his grumpy left-wing persona, admits he’s actually an optimist.

“I’m optimistic that human beings have always got an ability to challenge and invent things and to change things. Things can improve, but it’s not guaranteed - you have to get out and fight for it. There’s a lovely quote from Studs Terkel, an American left-wing broadcaster, and the title of his book is Hope Dies Last - I love that.

“The notion that we know everything, we’ve got everything and that we’re all sorted... what a sh*tty old notion that is. I like the idea that the world is still full of adventure, and that life is still there to be explored and exploded upon.”

Mark Thomas: England & Son shows at Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, on Monday 6 & Tuesday 7 November

Veteran standup comic Mark Thomas, who usually writes his own material, is touring a show written by somebody else for the very first time. That ‘somebody’ is award-winning playwright Ed Edwards, who created England & Son especially for Mark - as the London-born comedian & political activist explains to What’s On...

MORE SQUARE EYES...

The Square Eyes TV Festival has been commissioned for a third season and this year's broadcast schedule - spread across the Midlands Arts Centre and Mockingbird Cinema - features another mouthwatering mix of archive rarities, classic series and recent favourites. Here’s a small selection of what’s on offer. Check out the full programme at macbirmingham.co.uk/squareeyesfestival

Writers’ Room: Succession

Fri 3 Nov at 8pm 15 | 90 mins | £17/£11 seating

Join award-winning Executive Producer Lucy Prebble and story editor/staff writer Jamie Carragher for this special Writers’ Room event. In between clips from Succession, they’ll be discussing the series’ roots in the darker side of British comedy, the many twists and turns of the Roys’ battle for capitalist supremacy across four seasons, and the reaction to this year’s devastating finale.

Brum On The Box with Chris Beanland & Shazia Mirza

Fresh off Celebrity Masterchef, comedian Shazia Mirza and Chris Beanland delve into the best, worst and most cringe-inducing examples of Midlands television from across the decades... Step back into the world of the BBC’s Pebble Mill, a time when regional broadcasters like ATV ruled the roost, and when Birmingham was somehow deemed to be the best place to film a TV series about, er, yachting (1980s drama Howard’s Way)!

Doctor Who: The Five Doctors

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, a show which has routinely captivated different generations and become one of the BBC’s most popular global exports.

Square Eyes revisits 20th-anniversary special The Five Doctors, which reunited all but one of the incarnations of the Time Lord. This new version features updated effects and a 5.1 sound mix.

Colour Box: The Spongebob Squarepants Movie

Few characters made the leap from small screen to big screen more effortlessly than everyone’s favourite porous sponge. Now, courtesy of Colour Box, follow SpongeBob and his best pal Patrick as they set out on a treacherous mission to reclaim King Neptune’s crown and save their pennypinching boss Mr Krabs’ life.

Before the screening, join the Colour Box team for an hour-long drop-in workshop.

The Quatermass Experiment: 70th Anniversary

Seventy years after it first wowed and terrified audiences, Nigel Kneale’s The Quatermass Experiment is still very much in the cultural conversation.

Only two episodes of this landmark series still exist, and both will be shown as part of this special event.

The episodes will be introduced by Quatermass experts Jon Dear and Toby Hadoke, who will host a panel afterwards.

Has there ever been a film more ahead of the curve than Sidney Lumet’s Network (1976)? As relevant today as it ever was, the Oscarwinning movie is a satirical exposé of the men and women behind television news. You might expect Network to have dated in the age of streaming and YouTube, but it’s more prescient than ever. Death and misery sells just as well online, and Lumet’s film was a warning to us all. Too bad we didn’t listen.

by David Baldwin

Television/Death

Wed 8 Nov at 7pm 15 | 120 mins | £9

How are death and dying represented on television, and how can television ‘bring back the dead’? Film & TV studies expert Helen Wheatley discusses how television can provide us with emotionally realistic representations of grief, bereavement and death-related trauma. This unique event will also include a screening of the 2011 BBC documentary Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die.

Death To

Dark comedies don’t come much darker than Death To Smoochy, Danny DeVito’s utterly insane 2002 feature about a children’s TV presenter who plots the murder of his replacement. Robin Williams stars as Randolph Smiley, the alcoholic host of a popular kids’ show, who finds himself replaced by squeaky-clean Sheldon Mopes (Edward Norton), a do-gooder who dresses as a lovable purple rhino called Smoochy.

20 Days In

After nearly a decade covering international conflicts, Mstyslav Chernov has made his first feature: 20 Days In Mariupol. The film follows a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol as they struggle to continue their work documenting the atrocities of the Russian invasion... A fascinating insight into what it’s like to report from a conflict zone, and the impact of such journalism around the globe.

Sophie von Halseberg stars as multi-talented performer Sissy St Claire - a Bette Midler lookalike who is given her own Saturday night TV special, one full of disco balls, glitter outfits and commercial breaks beamed straight from a shimmery analogue video world.

But who’s that shadowy figure lurking behind the scenes? Is it a stalker? Or is it all in the actress’ imagination?

TV archivists Kaleidoscope dig up a collection of rarities and obscurities that saw Carry On and members of its cast plastered across the gogglebox. The featured gems include a Carry On Laughing Christmas special from 1983 and the final on-screen appearance of Carry On legend Hattie Jacques in ITV’s Play It Again.

Carry On historians will be on hand to wax lyrical about the much-loved franchise.

In 1968, Granada Television converted a former railway building in Manchester into a fringe theatre, with the idea that the Stables Theatre Company would put together a programme of plays for broadcast.

Kaleidoscope editor Simon Coward has reconstructed tapes of an untransmitted version of Romeo & Juliet, featuring what at that time was the rare sight of an Indian actor (Saam Dastor) playing the part of Romeo.

Classical music from across the region...

Classical

Ex Cathedra: Rachmaninoff 150: Vespers

Birmingham Town Hall, Sun 15 October

Ex Cathedra’s 53rd season is awash with celebrations and commemorations, beginning with this concert to mark the 150th anniversary of Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff’s birth.

Other occasions being acknowledged by the ensemble during the coming weeks and months include the 300th anniversary of Bach’s St John Passion, the 400th anniversary of William Byrd’s death, and the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John F Kennedy.

Lang Lang plays the Goldberg Variations

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Fri 27 October

Familiar to television viewers from hit Channel Four series The Piano, Chinese pianist Lang Lang is widely considered to be one of the greatest classical musicians of modern times - a view supported by the impressive who’s who of people for whom he has performed. Famous names to have enjoyed his talent include President Barack

Jess Gillam Ensemble

Elgar Concert Hall, University of Birmingham, Fri 6 October

Jess Gillam has been described as a musical force of nature, and it’s easy to understand why. Routinely blending electrifying performances with eclectic programming, the 25-year-old musician shot to stardom when she became the first saxophonist to reach the finals of the BBC Young Musician contest and the youngest-ever soloist to perform at the Last Night of the Proms. Visiting Birmingham with her newly formed ensemble, she will be presenting a programme of music that includes compositions by, among others, CPE Bach, Claude Debussy and Leonard Bernstein.

Obama, Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III and Vladimir Putin.

“I’ve moved into new terrain with the Goldberg Variations and really immersed myself fully in this project,” says Lang of his forthcoming concert. “I’ve been studying this piece for more than 20 years, and recording it has been a lifelong dream.”

Ludovico Einaudi

Resorts World Arena, Birmingham, Wed 18 October

“There is something in it that comes from classical,” says Ludovico Einaudi of his own music, “but I have influences from different music I’ve experienced in my life; from African music to folk and rock.”

Ludovico’s sound certainly defies easy classification. Commentators have ‘tried on for size’ all manner of descriptions; from ‘beautifully haunting’ and ‘evocative’, to ‘minimalist’, ‘alt-classical’, ‘ambient’ and ‘contemporary’. None of these quite say enough, however, about the stylish soundscape created by a man who has quietly become one of the most successful musicians in the world - he is, in fact, the most-streamed classical artist of all time... Ludovico returns to Birmingham on the back of Underwater, his first new solo piano album in 20 years.

The choir will also be paying tribute to legendary composer Burt Bacharach, who died earlier this year.

“Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil is his most-loved work,” says Ex Cathedra founder & conductor Jeffrey Skidmore (pictured) in talking about this opening concert. “Recent discoveries from the original 1915 poster inform our performance, and bells - so dear to Rachmaninoff and Russian Christian culture - will sound the chants between movements.”

Timothy Ridout: Solo Viola Recital

Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Wed 25 October

One of the most sought-after violists of his generation, Timothy Ridout earlier this year received the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist award and was named by BBC Music Magazine as one of the 12 greatest violists of all time - a list that also included no less a luminary than Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Former BBC New Generation Artist Timothy here performs a programme featuring work by, among other composers, Caroline Shaw, Georg Philipp Telemann, Sally Beamish, Benjamin Britten and Johann Sebastian Bach.

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Birmingham Town Hall, Sat 21 October

Taking in influences as diverse as thrash metal, flamenco-jazz, funk, acoustic rock and salsa, Rodrigo y Gabriela are one of those rare live acts whose mind-bending guitar technique and masterful songwriting ability seem somehow to transcend conventional barriers of age, nationality and taste. Virtuoso guitar playing at its very best, Rodrigo’s nimble fretwork synthesises perfectly with the hypnotic base rhythms of Gabriela’s guitar-based percussion.

Amy Montgomery

The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham, Sat 28 October

Boasting a voice that’s been described as channelling the spirit of Janis Joplin and Grace Slick - while also acknowledging her all-time favourite artist, Alanis MorissetteAmy Montgomery dons war paint, slips into her flamboyantly designed stage outfit, and goes down an absolute storm live on stage. Nominated as Northern Ireland Music Prize Artist of the Year, the alternative rocker combines powerful vocals with intense guitar and keyboard playing, in the process generating a raw, uninhibited sound that serves as the perfect foil to her emotiondriven lyrics... Canadian singer-songwriter Ché Aimee Dorval is the support act.

Romain Virgo

Jam House, Birmingham, Tues 24 October Jamaica-born ‘lovers rock’ specialist Romain Virgo is widely admired for his slick and polished brand of live reggae. Finding his place in the sun via Jamaican television talent show Rising Stars, Romain produces

Electric Callboy

O2 Academy, Birmingham, Sat 28 October Hailed for their relaxed approach to musicmaking and a penchant for comedic songs, Germany’s electronic metalcore band Electric Callboy - until last year performing under the name Eskimo Callboy - steer clear of the hardcore music scene in favour of simply having fun.

Their Birmingham visit comes in support of sixth studio album Tekkno, a release which they say takes their fans back to the 1990s courtesy of ‘the most diverse sound’ they’ve ever presented.

City And Colour

O2 Institute, Birmingham, Sun 29 October Dallas Green selected City And Colour as the name of his alter-ego for obvious reasons: His Christian name, Dallas, is a city; his surname, Green... well, further explanation is hardly required.

A multi-award-winning artist, the Canadian singer-songwriter released his debut album, Sometimes, back in 2006 (achieving platinum certification), since which time he’s released a further six albums. His latest is this year’s The Love Still Held

Gigs

music that has been described as similar to Marvin Gaye’s but with a reggae and dancehall vibe.

He’s stopping off in Birmingham this month with a show that features ‘all the hits’, included among which are Stay With Me, Soul Provider, Can’t Sleep and Good Woman.

Me Near, a record he produced in response to losing two people to whom he felt emotionally close.

“I love creating,” Dallas told American Songwriter in talking about the album. “I love writing myself out of whatever I’m going through. So I really just leaned into the process of making the music as an escape for myself.”

Blink-182

Utilita Arena Birmingham, Sat 14 October Punk-pop favourites

Blink-182 came to prominence in the 1990s, releasing breakthrough album Enema Of The State in the dying days of the last millennium. Although perhaps as well known for their irreverent toilet humour as for their highenergy live shows, they’ve worked hard at developing their act across the years, nowadays taking a more mature approach to their material while nevertheless retaining that trademark sense of fun.

Support on the night comes from five-piece US punk rock band The Story So Far.

Live music from across the region...

Credit: Ebru Yildiz

IN THE PINK!

The award-winning Birmingham Comedy Festival returns this month, with a host of big names and new acts appearing at various venues across the city.

Local comedian Lindsey Santoro, the face of this year’s event in more ways than one, talks to What’s On about bringing her first full-length show to the city...

by Steve Adams

Birmingham Comedy Festival, the second longest-running event of its kind in the UK, takes place at multiple venues across the city this month. Founded by Dave Freak in 2001, it has become a mainstay of the West Midlands arts calendar, earning five What’s On Readers’ Awards for Best Festival along the way - an achievement made even more remarkable when you realise that it’s run by volunteers and receives no funding. This year’s star attractions include Calendar Girls The Musical, Jason Byrne, Tom Davis, Seann Walsh, Paul Foot and Jenny Eclair, the annual Breaking Talent Award for new acts and a triple bill of Laurel & Hardy movies. There’s also the hugely popular ‘free halfdayers’, eight shows by various performers that take place on successive Sunday afternoons at The Victoria and Cherry Reds in Birmingham city centre.

One of the acts appearing is local comedian Lindsey Santoro, currently basking in the glow of a hugely successful debut run at the Edinburgh Festival. The show she presented there, Pink Tinge, earned rave reviews, was shortlisted for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards and scooped NextUp’s Biggest Award In Comedy.

Lindsey’s recent success has effectively made her one of the big draws of this year’s comedy festival, but she’s been the face of the event - appearing on its programme cover and website home page - since long before her Edinburgh stint and subsequent accolades.

“Dave [Freak] asked me if they could use one of my pictures,” she says in a glorious Brummie accent. “I said fine. And then he sent it over, and it’s my face right on the front page and my name’s not even on the cover! People will be like ‘Who is this mad woman?’ He could at least have put me name on there!”

Of course, Mr Freak wasn’t expecting her to come back from Edinburgh a star, but then neither was Lindsey! The NextUp award took her totally by surprise.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to bits! As a daft commoner, I’m so elated that others find me funny rather than unhinged - it’s a fine line, and it’s good to know I’m just about on the right side of it!”

Lindsey will be performing her awardwinning Edinburgh show in its entirety during the free half-dayer at the Victoria on Sunday 15 October.

“I’m really happy to be doing the show here because there’s a lot of people who want to

see it who couldn’t be bothered to go to Edinburgh! My mom is one of them - she won’t leave the dog. She could get a dog sitter but she loves that dog more than she loves her kids, honest to God.”

Speaking of kids, Lindsey took her toddler to Edinburgh, and came up with a cunning ploy when planning her accommodation.

“We got a flat with an extra room so that people could come up and stay and go to the festival, but they also had to offer childcare,” she laughs, joking that she thought she’d have to leave her daughter behind to fit the NextUp award - a two-metre inflatable trophy - in the car for the journey back to the Midlands.

Pink Tinge - “demented stories from my life essentially” - marks the first time Lindsey has written a full-length comedy show, albeit one that contains elements culled from her shorter club sets. The challenge was not only stringing it all together but having to give it a personal angle.

“A club set is almost for everybody - you’ve got to be a bit generic - but when you’re doing a [full] show, you can tailor it to whatever you want, because it’s yours.

“It’s been a bit difficult for me to shift my mindset, to understand that people actually want to have a bit of background, rather than me just talking or telling jokes. So that’s been quite, not difficult... just trying to reprogramme my brain. I just wanna do a show that makes people laugh, that’s all.”

Lindsey has been doing exactly that for a few years now, having caught the bug after a friend encouraged her to accompany him to a comedy course run by Birmingham comedian James Cook.

“At the end of the course, they put a showcase on. Everybody does five minutes and you can invite your friends and family. Also, at the end of every session we had, you could get up and do your five minutes to the class. I never did this - I was the only person who never, ever did it, because I thought, what do these people know? And also, more importantly, I hadn’t written anything!”

Expectation levels suitably lowered, when Lindsey performed at the showcase she wowed her tutor and classmates alike.

“I think James was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t dreadful because he hadn’t seen anything. The other people in the class weren’t expecting it either, but it’s always nice in this game to surprise people.”

After that, she “plodded along and did open-

mic nights” before being helped to get “proper gigs” by Maureen Younger, primarily at the comedy nights she ran at the Kitchen Garden Café in Kings Heath. Lindsey then went on to earn support slots with the likes of Russell Kane, Angela Barnes and Joe Lycett.

“James Cook and Maureen Younger are the reason I’m doing comedy. If it all goes wrong and they don’t like my show, blame them!”

As much as she’s looking forward to performing at Birmingham Comedy Festival, the annual event is always marked on her calendar whether she’s appearing on the bill or not.

“I won’t book holiday or gigs when I know the festival is gonna be. I did the first Breaking Talent award, and since then I’ve tried to be involved with it every year if I can. I just think it’s beautiful - and it’s right by my house.”

Is there anyone she’s especially looking forward to seeing this year?

“I’m really looking forward to seeing Hanna Weetman - and Josh Pugh’s got a work-inprogress at the Glee. I’ve got a list somewhere - where’s me list?

“Oh yeah… Tom Little, James Cook, Jay Handley and Mary Flanigan. Oh, and Tal Davies - you better put her in or she’ll go mental.”

So Lindsey knows most of the acts?

“Oh yeah, they’re all from the half-dayersand the Birmingham comedy scene’s quite small anyway. Basically, when the halfdayers are on, I’ll just go and waft between the venues. It’s really good because you can’t book tickets, so you have to get there early. I’ve done shows, and been to shows, where they’ve had to stop letting people in, so it encourages people to get there early and support the comedy. It’s annoying if you don’t get in, but you feel very exclusive if you do.”

And the half-dayers are all free, of course, so there’s really no excuse…

“Yeah, that’s right, it’s free! But the thing is, they trick you, right. They get you in, and then, when you’re leaving, they go ‘Hang on, there’s a bucket here…’ And then if you don’t have any cash, there’s a card reader! But it really is worth it; honest.”

Birmingham Comedy Festival runs from Friday 6 to Sunday 15 October. For further information, visit: bhamcomfest.co.uk

Comedy previews from across the region...

Ed Byrne

Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, Fri 6 October; Lichfield Garrick, Wed 11 October; Regal, Evesham, Thurs 12 October; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Fri 13 October; Walsall Arena, Sat 14 October; Palace Theatre, Redditch, Wed 18 October; Huntingdon Hall, Worcester, Thurs 19 October; Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, Wed 15 November; Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Thurs 14 December

A highly regarded master of observational comedy, Ed Byrne admits to being a little uncomfortable about some of the ‘more laddish’ material he used in the early days of his standup career.

“My comedy reflected my life at that timesingle and enjoying myself. Most of it was fairly harmless, but some of the stuff about an ex-girlfriend I can see was a bit angry, and I wouldn’t do it now.”

Ed is bringing his latest standup offering, Tragedy Plus Time - which sees him ‘mining the most tragic event in his life for laughs’to numerous Midlands venues in the final few months of the year. So does he enjoy touring the country?

“Apart from the travel involved, which no comic likes, I love it. You have people responding to something that you’ve written alone in your office, and the work comes alive in a roomful of people. I like the TV things I do, but nothing can beat a live comedy audience.”

Sophie McCartney

Crewe Lyceum Theatre, Thurs 12 October; Birmingham Town Hall, Thurs 19 October

Award-winning comedian Sophie McCartney has entered the perilous world of parenting and thinks it’s high time she told her audience all about it.

“Why did no one tell me what to really expect after I was expecting?” she questions. “Will my belly button ever go back to ‘normal’?

Jenny Eclair

Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Sun 1 October; Old Rep, Birmingham, Sat 14 October; Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, Sat 21 October

Compared to some of her peers, Jenny Eclair’s ascent up the greasy comedy pole to the ‘promised land’ of celebrity status was relatively slow.

Queer As Joke

The Loft, Birmingham, Mon 9 October

The city’s only LGBTQIA+ comedy night makes a welcome return as part of this year’s Birmingham Comedy Festival. Featuring a winning mix of new comedians and veteran acts, the show is hosted by Cycki Brokat, Ellen Degenerate and Gareth Williams. The ‘trio of misfits’ are promising that they’ll be ready, steady and raring to go with ‘charming stories, absolute nonsense and a skittle bomb or three’...

“I think I’ve made more public mistakes than most people, and suffered for them,” she observes. “Like being crap on stage. I was 22 when I started, and there are still producers working now who saw me then and wrote me off. It took years to change their minds.”

As Jenny has matured - she’s now 63 - she’s developed an appreciation of her womanhood that’s proved to be of real benefit to her comedy routine: “I think women get dirtier as they get older. The more your body lets you down, the more you have to find it funny. I just think bumholes and fannies are hilarious...

“The first joke my father told me was a fart gag, and I still find it funny.”

Why do you need a degree in collapsing travel cots? And do I have what it takes to stop my current cereal eaters from becoming future serial killers?”

These and many more questions will hopefully be answered in latest show Tired & Tested, during which Sophie makes her way through subjects including mating, birthing, body changes, school WhatsApp groups, overbearing nutjob love, and still not being able to handle her booze on a night out...

Angela Barnes

Old Rep, Birmingham, Sat 28 October

When Angela Barnes’ inspirational father died, it proved to be the catalyst for her to follow his advice - finally - and hurl herself into the rough, tough world of standup comedy...

And if her success so far is anything to go by, she certainly made the right decision. A BBC New Comedy Awards winner and selfconfessed BBC Radio Four nerd, Angela is this month visiting Birmingham with latest stream of consciousness Hot Mess, a show that’s garnered its fair share of plaudits both in Edinburgh and on tour.

Comedy previews from across the region...

Nabil Abdulrashid

Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton, Thurs 26 October; Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Sat 2 December

In 2010 and at the age of 25, Nabil Abdulrashid became the youngest-ever black comedian to perform standup at London’s Hammersmith Apollo when he entered the Which Religion Is Funniest? competition. He came out joint winner and was chosen to perform at the premiere of the Omid Djalili film The Infidel.

More recent times have seen him finishing fourth in the 2020 series of Britain’s Got Talent and appearing as a contestant on Celebrity Masterchef.

The London-born 38-year-old visits the Midlands this month with The Purple Pill, ‘a show about trying to be a good person while staying a badman’.

Davis

Birmingham Town Hall, Fri 6 October; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Fri 20 October; Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Thurs 26 October; Victoria Hall, Stoke, Sat 2 March, 2024; Malvern Theatres, Sat 23 March; Birmingham Town Hall, Sat 11 May “I’ve always thought of myself as an underdog,” reveals Murder In Successville’s Tom Davis to beyondthejoke.com, “though not necessarily in a negative way. I think

Dan Nightingale

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Fri 27 October

There’s precious little not to like about Dan Nightingale. At turns, he manages to be a bit of a tragic figure, a hugely endearing top chum, and a fella whose switched-on observations can be exceedingly funny and sometimes even a little bit profound. Sure, his choice of material could maybe be braver, but he’s nevertheless good value for money, and very much the kind of comedian you’d happily catch up with again and again.

Paul Foot

The Glee Club, Birmingham, Fri 13 October; Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, Sat 14 October; Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton, Wed 15 May

Paul Foot’s routines involve him sharing with his audience the seemingly random and intriguingly surreal thoughts that make their way through his ever-busy mind...

By way of example, he told comedy.co.uk: “I’d like to do a TV show in which I enter an unsuspecting family’s house at dinner time, violently upturn tables, hurl all the crockery and food at the walls and scream ‘Oh how the tables have turned!’”

On that particular subject of television shows, Paul admits he doesn’t appear on anywhere near as many as some other comedians. “People know when a TV show needs me and the phone will ring. Quite often I’m in the bath, though, or smashing specially purchased greenhouses with a golf club in the garden.”

Comedy

that’s what has made me. The bulk of my humour comes from constantly feeling like someone who’s had a little bit of a kicking.” Having left school with no qualifications, Tom’s road to comedy success proved to be a long and winding one: “I’d been working on building sites for 20-odd years. I just wanted to do something for myself. I tried standup, and straight away I just thought “Wow! I feel like I’m actually quite good at something: making other people laugh.”

Victoria Melody

Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, Fri 6 October

Performance artist Victoria Melody’s decision to quit theatre in favour of becoming a standup comedian steered her down an interesting path. In an effort to become better at being funny, she took the unusual step of enlisting the assistance of speech & language specialists. It was a move which not only led to her discovering that she’s neurodivergent, but also provided her with plenty of material for currently touring standup show Head Set, the critically acclaimed 65-minute offering she’s bringing to Birmingham early this month.

Tom

JAMIE’S WORLD

by Hugh Montgomery

Hit musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie tells the story of 16-year-old Jamie New, who dreams of becoming a drag queen.

Inspired by a real-life television documentary and garnering great critical acclaim since premiering in 2017, the show returns to the Midlands this month, with Ivano Turco taking the title role, John Partridge playing Hugo/Loco Chanelle and Hayley Tamaddon starring as Miss Hedge... What’s On recently caught up with the trio to find out more...

“It’s very freeing in that sense, in that I can put a lot of my natural movement into it.” One of the other aspects of the role that really resonates with Ivano is Jamie’s close relationship with his mother. “For the most part I grew up in a single-parent household with my mother, so we really had that kind of connection. [Like Jamie] I know what it felt like to have a dream that was different from everyone else’s.”

Since it premiered in 2017, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie has been a huge international hit. Ivano believes its success has a lot to do with the pioneering nature of the character of Jamie himself. “He’s just a boy who happens to be gay and wants to be a drag queen. I think that’s a refreshing lens to look through - [someone] who’s not burdened by their queerness. I know I really felt empowered by that, watching it.”

In his short career so far, super-talented musical theatre star Ivano Turco has already demonstrated formidable range. Having made his professional debut playing Prince Sebastian in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella in the West End, he then transformed into reggae icon Bob Marley in bio-musical Get Up, Stand Up!. But his latest role, as Jamie in the new touring production of heartwarming British musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, is particularly fulfilling because “it’s the closest character to my actual character that I’ve played.” That’s partly because, in playing a gay teenage hero and aspiring drag queen, Ivano is getting to embrace his queerness in a way that his previous theatre roles haven’t allowed. “I really wanted to be able to experience playing within those realms and not having to put on several layers to try and be somebody else.”

What this means in practice, Ivano explains, is that in the rehearsal process, he doesn’t “have to do as much” in terms of trying to figure out his character’s mannerisms and nuances.

Ivano thinks another of the show’s key draws is its music. “The music is really easy to digest. It’s a lot like what we listen to nowadays, so it’s much more realistic [than most musical theatre].”

If Jamie has had a remarkable run over the last few years, then so has its new star. From an early age, Ivano set his sights on performing. Growing up in Milton Keynes, he graduated from drama school in 2020 and found himself personally chosen by Lord Lloyd Webber to be the male lead in his hotly anticipated new show, Cinderella. The experience proved to be wonderful for Ivano, if somewhat nerve-wracking: “To have a multimillion pound musical resting on your shoulders was hard to navigate for me. I found at times it was hard to really [appreciate my achievement] because there was just so much work to be done. But then somewhere about halfway [through the run], because I really knew the show and what I wanted to do as an actor, it became perfect.”

To top that challenge, Ivano then took the

lead role of Bob Marley in the musical Get Up, Stand Up! - and did so on the back of only two weeks’ rehearsal! “The first Bob had a year to prepare … so for me to try and get all that work done in two weeks was… well, a challenge!”

As for the future, Ivano really isn’t thinking too far beyond Jamie, “dream show” that it is. “[This role] is my chance to put into overdrive all the techniques that I've learned, as the character is so much closer to me. I feel like there's a lot more power with it that I’ve been afforded.”

Getting to dress up must be one of the most enjoyable elements of an actor’s life - and in that respect, John Partridge is certainly relishing playing Hugo - aka frustrated drag artiste Loco Chanelle - in the new tour of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. “I’ve tried on Loco’s undergarb so far,” he says, “the padding and the corset, and I’m looking forward to it. I always like characters that are transformative.”

John’s only costume concern is Loco’s vertiginous heels. “I have worn heels, but

Ivano Turco Jamie

John Partridge Loco Chanelle

these are extraordinary. So I’ve been teetering around in them at home - I answered the door to the builders in them this morning!”

For John, who became a household name playing Christian Clarke in EastEnders, the show is a perfect entrée back into musical theatre after having major surgery on his vocal cords.

“My role [in Jamie] is small and perfectly formed,” he says of Hugo, the dress shop owner who, in the process of becoming a mentor to the show’s titular hero as he takes his first steps in drag, rediscovers his own passion for performing.

“There’s something very comforting about stepping into this Jamie juggernaut,” says John, who adds that the production already feels very ‘family’.

“I know that’s a word that’s thrown around all the time, and actually it’s often a lie - it’s something we say simply to give that impression - but this really is like that. It’s to do with the feeling of the piece; there’s something very grounding about it.”

As for his character, John says he’s really connected on a personal level with Hugo and his poignant journey. “There aren’t that many parts written for a mid-50s gay man. [Like Hugo] I’m at the moment in my life where I’m fully aware of what’s behind me as opposed to what’s in front of me - of my fleeting successes and my failures and disappointments.”

It has to be said, though, that John is being pretty hard on himself, given the amount of success he’s had. On stage, he’s been dazzling audiences ever since appearing in the original UK tour of Cats, aged just 16. His impressive CV also includes showstopping performances in, among other musicals, Cabaret and La Cage Aux Folles.

In 2008 he landed the part of the out-andproud Christian in EastEnders, quickly becoming a fan favourite.

Indeed, he thinks Everybody’s Talking About Jamie has been such a success because it has the mass appeal of a TV soap opera. “It’s a story about Jamie, but it’s also got this really wide breadth of very well-crafted characters that you see in your daily life. You live with them in your own homes, on your own streets.”

What’s more, he says, he couldn’t be prouder to be involved in a show that, in telling the story of a gay teenager, flies the flag for the LGBTQIA+ community. “We see this massive push against LGBTQIA+ hard-won freedomsand they are hard-won freedoms … and that’s why it’s really important for us right now to be able to get out there and tell this story.

And the fact that people *love* this show gives me hope. It shows me there is a way through.”

“I did have one teacher, Mrs Crossley, who was ace - she used to tell me ‘Be whatever you want to be, go dance, go sing.’ But a lot of teachers said ‘You’ll never make it, Hayley - it’s too difficult, don’t try and do it.’ That just made me want to do it even more.” Indeed, from baby ballet classes onwards, Hayley never looked back. After graduating from drama school, she went straight into a West End musical, landing a role that would change everything for her: the lead in a Sheffield revival of A Chorus Line. In the audience for that show was Emmerdale’s casting director - and so it was that she landed the part of the irrepressible Del Dingle.

Whether starring as much-loved characters in Emmerdale and Coronation Street, or appearing as herself in shows such as Dancing On Ice, Hayley Tamaddon has always lit up the screen with her natural warmth and charm. So she’s performing quite the switch-up with her role in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, for once playing someone relatively cold and unsympathetic: cynical teacher Miss Hedge, who is out to quash poor Jamie’s showbiz dreams. “I am not cold,” Hayley says, confirming what a leap the character is for her. “I am huggy and warm and want to cuddle everybody - whereas she’s just a bit over life.”

Actually, Hayley has already played Miss Hedge - in the West End production of Jamie back in 2019 - and this new tour is proving a joyful return to the role. “Even though I’m a few years older, I’ve apparently still got the moves! I’m dancing around on tables, and I get to rap, which brings out that inner Vanilla Ice in me.”

Hayley doesn’t see Miss Hedge as a villain, but rather as someone who’s been beaten down by disappointment - and who has more in common with Jamie than might seem to be the case...

“The way I see her, she’s a really frustrated club singer. That’s all she wanted to do, but she couldn’t because there was no money, and she ended up going into teaching to make a living. She looks at Jamie as this kid she kind of sees herself in a little bit, but she can’t let that side out.”

Miss Hedge also reminds Hayley of teachers she encountered as a youngster growing up in Blackpool.

Alongside her successful telly career, Hayley has continued to tread the boards, appearing in shows including Chicago and Thoroughly Modern Millie. She thinks Jamie is something special, though - not least because of the sheer passion of its fans. “It has the biggest fanbase that I’ve ever known in any show. They hold parties for the cast and they’re very prominent on social media, so if anybody in our company was getting grilled by anybody, that fanbase would step in. So we’re very lucky to have that.”

Hayley is looking forward to the show picking up new fans as it travels around the UK - particularly because of the powerful statements the musical makes about tolerance and self-expression. “The more towns we can get this show into, the more parents are educated, the more kids that watch and go ‘I did bully that other kid at school, I should stop that’ – the more we can get the word out there, the better.”

So what else does Hayley have in the pipeline? Well, she’s currently writing a TV comedy, inspired by her own life. Meanwhile, she says she’d be interested in going into the jungle with I’m A Celebrity. “In terms of reality shows, that would be the funniest, because I’m scared of everything!”

When it comes to Jamie, however, she has no qualms about what lies ahead: “Of course I get stage nerves on opening night, and for the first few nights, but you turn over the energy and they become exciting nerves. It feels wonderful - you should never stop feeling like that.”

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie shows at Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 10 to Saturday 14 October and Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from Tuesday 23 to Saturday 27 January

Hayley Tamaddon Miss Hedge

Theatre

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory - The Musical

Birmingham Hippodrome, Tues 17 October - Sun 5 November

Roald Dahl’s famous 1964 story follows the fortunes of 11-year-old Charlie Bucket, a young boy living in poverty who finds one of five golden tickets to Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. But there’s plenty more to candy-creating Willie’s magical world than Everlasting Gobstoppers and a Chocolate River - as Charlie and the

Annie

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Tues 10 - Sat 14 October

Craig Revel Horwood is the latest high-profile performer to take on the coveted role of Miss Hannigan in this oft-touring musical. A heart-warming rags-to-riches story of a little girl who finds herself transported from a New York orphanage to the luxurious world of a millionaire, the show features plenty of memorable songs, including It’s The Hard Knock Life, I Don’t Need Anything But You, Easy Street, and the legendary Tomorrow. The role of Miss Hannigan will be taken by Jodie Prenger on Saturday the 14th.

Theatre previews from around the region

other golden ticket holders soon find out...

Combining memorable songs - The Candy Man, Pure Imaginationfrom the 1971 film version with all-new numbers from the multiaward-winning songwriters of Hairspray, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory visits Birmingham as part of its first-ever UK & Ireland tour.

of samba, salsa, and a flourish of tango. So this show is going to be a party for everyone!”

Sinatra The Musical

La Bamba!

Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Tues 3 - Sat 7 October

A new musical inspired by the life and legacy of rock & roll legend Ritchie Valens, La Bamba! follows the journey of 17-year-old Sofia as she looks to fulfill her dream of becoming a huge musical star.

The show sees dancer Pasha Kovalev make his musical theatre debut, with Siva Kaneswaran, from boyband The Wanted, also starring.

Pasha’s Strictly co-star, Graziano Di Prima, is responsible for the choreography.

“The dance in La Bamba! is a bit of everything,” says Graziano, “with the flavour

The Rep, Birmingham, until Sat 28 October Coming 25 years after Frank Sinatra’s death, Sinatra The Musical is the first production of its kind to explore the singer’s life both on and off stage. Produced by the Rep with an award-winning creative team and featuring more than 25 of Frank’s best-loved songs, the show focuses on his 1940s rise and fall, as his skyrocketing popularity is dramatically undermined by his headline-making affair with actress Ava Gardner...

Theatre previews from around the region

Peter Pan Goes Wrong

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Mon 30 October - Sat 4 November; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Mon 18 - Sat 23 March

A play about a play that goes wrong isn’t a new idea by any means, but it’s certainly a winning one, as the plaudits garnered by this cheeky little hit ably illustrate. Indeed, one reviewer laughed so much that he feared he was going to hyperventilate; another admitted his funny bone had been well and truly struck by the piece; a third laughed and laughed until ‘tears ran down’. Having first introduced audiences to the Cornley Drama Society in the Olivier Awardwinning The Play That Goes Wrong, Mischief Theatre Company here let loose those selfsame comic creations on a production of JM Barrie’s children’s classic. The only trouble is, the bumbling thesps are more than a little accident-prone. So much so, in fact, that they’re not even sure they’ll manage to reach the curtain call, let alone Neverland...

Alan Turing: A Musical Biography

Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham, Thurs 5 - Sat 7 October

Alan Turing is nowadays considered to be a World War Two hero, having helped Britain defeat the Nazis by cracking the German’s now-famous Enigma code.

But Turing wasn’t always viewed in such a positive light. Indeed, in the aftermath of the war, he was persecuted for his homosexuality by the British government. He took his own life in 1954...

Using dialogue directly taken from historical letters that Alan wrote to his friends, colleagues and mother, this inventive dramatisation of his life played the Edinburgh Fringe to great critical acclaim.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

Birmingham Hippodrome, Tues 10 - Sat 14 October; Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Tues 23 - Sat 27 January

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie may have come from humble beginnings - it was inspired by a television documentary and premiered in Sheffield - but after only a matter of months it had transferred to the West End. Since then, the musical - which

follows a young man’s quest for acceptance on his journey to becoming a drag queenhas enjoyed blockbusting success, with numerous Olivier nominations and a wellreceived feature film testifying to its incredible popularity.

This latest tour sees Ivano Turco starring as Jamie and EastEnders actor John Partridge taking the role of Hugo/Loco Chanelle.

Calendar Girls

The Alexandra, Birmingham, Tues 3 - Sat 7 October; Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Tues 14 - Sat 18 November

Based on a true story originally dramatised in a star-studded 2003 film, Calendar Girls tells the terrific tale of a group of women who spark a global phenomenon when they decide to pose nude for a charity calendar. Tim Firth & Gary Barlow’s award-winning stage version of the hit movie stars Tanya Franks, Maureen Nolan, Lyn Paul, Amy Robbins, Paula Tappenden, Marti Webb and Honeysuckle Weeks.

Constant Companions

New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Tues 24 October - Sat 4 November

Mention Alan Ayckbourn and a list of brilliant observational comedies springs readily to mind, the most famous among which - think Relatively Speaking, Absurd Person Singular, The Norman Conquests, Bedroom Farce - were penned way back in the 1970s. But the 84-year-old has written plenty more plays besides, including this latest - and 89th - offering.

Premiering only last month, it contemplates the subject of true love in a world in which humans have turned to artificial friends for the experience of ‘companionship without compromise’.

As is often the case with his plays, Ayckbourn also takes the directorial reins.

Murder On The Nile

Prince of Wales Theatre, Cannock, Wed 11 & Thurs 12 October

Kay Ridgeway has led a charmed life. Blessed with beauty, enormous wealth and a brandnew husband, she embarks on a honeymoon voyage down the Nile, little knowing that she is sailing towards shocking and brutal murder.

Under scrutiny are a multitude of passengers, all with good reason to kill. As the tension and sense of claustrophobia builds, a shocking and audacious conspiracy is laid bare...

Theatre previews from around the region

Twelve Angry Men

The Alexandra, Birmingham, Mon 30 October - Sat 4 November

Hollywood star Patrick Duffy heads the cast in this brand-new touring version of Reginald Rose’s gripping courtroom drama.

Best known from the 1957 film starring Henry Fonda, Twelve Angry Men tells the story of one juror’s battle to save the life of a man on trial for the murder of his father.

Initially a lone voice in the wilderness, Juror Eight is faced with the monumental challenge of persuading his eleven fellow jurors to spare the defendant’s life - a task made all the more difficult by the other men’s prejudices and preconceptions about the trial.

The production also stars Gray O’Brien (Coronation Street), Tristan Gemmill (Casualty, Coronation Street), Michael Greco (EastEnders), Ben Nealon (Soldier Soldier) and Gary Webster (Minder).

Sh!t-faced Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing

Lichfield Garrick, Tues 17 October; Old Rep, Birmingham, Wed 18 October; Crewe Lyceum Theatre, Sat 21 October

Taking one of the bard’s classic comedies and attempting to increase its laughter count, Sh!t-faced Shakespeare is, as the performers themselves describe it, a classic combination of a hacked-to-bits Shakespeare script, half a dozen professional actors and a bucketload of booze.

The Sh!t-faced crew have been plying their trade to excellent effect since 2010, enjoying worldwide success with their winning combination of high-brow Elizabethan drama and no-holds-barred drunken antics and ‘rude stuff’. What’s more, they make the impressive promise that, ‘with a genuinely inebriated cast member each night, no two shows are ever the same’…

Cheeky Little Brown

Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Tues 24 - Sat 28 October

Papatango Prize-winning playwright Nkenna Akunna is the immense talent behind this

thought-provoking story about two Black women on diverging paths of self-love and acceptance.

“Cheeky Little Brown is an ode to your early 20s,” explains Nkenna, “a second coming of age, an aesthetically pleasing panic attack. It’s a story about a young woman’s resistance to change and ultimately her journey toward a new beginning.”

The play has been co-produced by the Belgrade with the Bristol Old Vic and British African heritage contemporary theatre company Tiata Fahodzi.

A Box Of Delights

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-uponAvon, Tues 31 October - Sun 7 January

Opening on Halloween, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) festive family treat for 2023 is based on Poet Laureate John Masefield’s fantasy novel of the same name, first published in 1935.

The Box Of Delights follows the adventures of schoolboy Kay Harker, who, returning home for Christmas, finds himself unexpectedly entrusted with a small wooden box that has magical powers beyond his wildest dreams. But a ne’er-do-well wizard is after the box and will stop at nothing to get it, even threatening to cancel Christmas...

The RSC is promising theatre-goers a ‘fantastically festive’ production, with Justin Audibert taking the director’s chair. Justin’s previous work for the Company includes a critically acclaimed version of The Taming Of The Shrew back in 2019. The Box Of Delights is suitable for children aged seven-plus.

The Merchant Of Venice 1936

Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until Sat 10 February

Undoubtedly one of Shakespeare’s most difficult, complex and controversial works, The Merchant Of Venice follows the fortunes of the antisemitic Antonio, who bets on a venture that fails to repay and finds himself forced to borrow cash from Shylock, a Jewish money-lender whom he detests...

Relocated in time and place, the play is here set against a backdrop of London in 1936, as the threat of fascism grows on a daily basis and Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists plan a march through the Jewish East End.

Tracy-Ann Oberman (EastEnders, Doctor Who) stars as Shylock in a production which has garnered widespread critical acclaim.

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Theatre previews from around the region

Astley’s Astounding Adventures

New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, until Sat 21 October

Astley’s Astounding Adventures first delighted audiences five years ago, to mark the 250th anniversary of the circus. It returns in 2023 to celebrate the 850th anniversary of Newcastle-under-Lyme - the location of the New Vic Theatre and the home town of Philip Astley, the international impresario who invented the circus.

This bold, colourful and critically acclaimed show is co-helmed by expert choreographer Vicki Dela Amedume and the New Vic’s artistic director, Theresa Heskins.

Crimes On Centre Court

Albany Theatre, Coventry, Tues 17 & Wed 18

October; Lichfield Garrick, Thurs 19 - Sat 21

October; The Roses, Tewkesbury, Tues 31 October

Poised and polished purveyors of mirth The New Old Friends make a welcome return with a show that serves up murder, mystery, mayhem - and tennis!

The chair of the Whombledun International tennis tournament has died, and his son is suspicious. Enter seriously silly sleuths Perry & Penny Pink, who’re hoping to solve the case with all the speed and efficiency of a Novak Djokovic forehand smash...

Highly regarded for their comic songwriting and happy to employ both puppetry and slapstick routines in the name of comedy, The New Old Friends serve another ace with this latest show.

The Full Monty

Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Mon 2 - Sat 7

October; The Alexandra, Birmingham, Tues 30

January - Sat 3 February

When six men lose their jobs at the local steelworks, they find that dignity, hope and self-belief are suddenly in short supply. Until, that is, they take the plunge and become male strippers...

And Then There Were None

Malvern Theatres, Tues 24 - Sat 28 October

Having been invited to a privately owned remote island off the coast of Devon, a group of strangers find that their eccentric millionaire host has mysteriously disappeared.

Not long afterwards, one of the 10 strangers meets with an untimely demise... National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company director Lucy Bailey takes the helm for this latest version of Agatha Christie’s 1943 adaptation of her own 1939 novel - a book which she admitted had been her most difficult to write.

Cowbois

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-uponAvon, Sat 14 October - Sat 18 November

“Cowbois is co-directed by me and Sean Holmes [associate artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe],” explains playwright Charlie Josephine in talking about Cowbois.

“It’s a big queer cowboy show full of everything you’d expect from a western. But our lone ranger is a gender outlaw who fights patriarchy and inspires a queer revolution.”

The lone ranger mentioned by Charlie is handsome bandit Jack Cannon, whose arrival in a sleepy, isolated, goldrush-era Wild West town bereft of men quickly puts the cat among the pigeons...

“My brain is fizzy and my body likes to move,” says Charlie, whose pronouns are they/them. “I’m proper passionate about making art that’s honest, visceral, sweatyand particularly stories that centre workingclass women and queer people.”

Cowbois is accompanied on Monday 23 October by a pre-show talk by the production’s creative team. A post-show talk takes place on Friday 3 November.

Tickets for these can be booked via rsc.org.uk

This touring stage production, based on the hit 1996 film of the same name, stars Danny Hatchard (EastEnders), Jake Quickenden (X Factor, Dancing On Ice) and Bill Ward (Coronation Street, Emmerdale).

Rehearsal image: credit Andrew Billington

HAPPY CHAPPY

Ore Oduba shares his delight at starring in hit musical Pretty Woman, which tours to the Midlands this month...

by Steve Adams

Fresh from a successful run in London’s West End, an all-new production of Pretty Woman: The Musical kicks off its first-ever UK tour in Birmingham this month. Former TV presenter and Strictly Come Dancing winner Ore Oduba tells What’s On why he’s a very happy man to be joining the cast as, er, Happy Man...

Based on the 1990 blockbuster movie that turned Julia Roberts into a superstar, Pretty Woman: The Musical has become quite a phenomenon in its own right, with recordbreaking runs on Broadway and in the West End, a US tour and performances in cities around the world.

Co-written by the film’s director, Garry Marshall - best-known as the man behind 1970s TV hits Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy - the show features original music and lyrics by pop superstar Bryan Adams and his long-term collaborator, Jim Vallance, and is directed and choreographed by two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell.

The A-listers all bring their A-game to proceedings, according to Garry’s widow, Barbara, who claims the idea of putting the movie on stage was hers.

“I kept saying to him ‘You know, this could be a musical,’” she laughs, “and he’d say ‘Yeah, okay’, but nothing happened.”

It took another 15 years for her husband to start working on the script. Sadly, he died before his dream of having a show on Broadway was fulfilled, but Barbara is convinced he’d love the finished article.

“He loved revisiting the story and transforming it into a musical, adding the songs and changing some of the structure. Had someone told him it would be such a hit around the world, he wouldn’t have believed it. Not only did it make it to Broadway, it’s bringing joy to so many people in so many other places.”

The next one of those places is Birmingham, where the refreshed show kicks off its first UK tour this month. It stars Amber Davies as Vivian Ward (the role made famous by Julia Roberts), Oliver Savile as Edward Lewis (played by Richard Gere in the movie) and Ore Oduba as Happy Man/Mr Thompson. The former TV presenter’s star has been in the ascendancy ever since he won Strictly Come Dancing in 2016, which not only enabled viewers to see him in a new light but gave him the confidence to push his career in a new direction. He happily admits performing in the likes of Grease and The Rocky Horror Show has been a dream come true - a notion that ties in nicely with his latest character. “I can’t believe Strictly was seven years ago,” says Ore. “The memories are still so strong, even though life has carried on and there’s

been all these other roles since then. It’s interesting, because I guess Strictly was all about dreams, and what’s lovely about my role in Pretty Woman is that Happy Man is the narrator of the show and is all about dreams and magic - and if you buy into the magic, your dreams can become reality. I get to sell that every night.

“What was crazy about doing Strictly was that it was beyond my wildest dreams to be doing this professionally, but I remember being in that show and loving being on stage, thinking what an amazing thing it would be to get to do it every day.”

As much as it might seem a strange move for the former TV presenter (he helmed CBBC’s Newsround and regularly appeared on BBC Breakfast, among other programmes), there’s a link between what he does now and what he did as a youngster.

“ I guess the last four years working in musical theatre makes sense to me, even though it still blows my mind. It makes sense because when I was younger, I spent a lot of time on stage - I was in every school production. If I wasn’t playing sport, I was on stage singing or performing somewhere, so it’s wonderful that I’ve been able, 20 years down the track, to unlock something that was always a massive passion.”

It’s just as well it’s a passion, as the Pretty Woman tour lasts over a year. Ore’s only break - if you can call it that - will be to do pantomime over Christmas. At the moment he’s the excited puppy (“it’s such a wonderful experience to be thrown into a brand-new production, because it’s an explosion for the senses”), but he knows it’ll be hard work the longer it goes on, not least because he’s on stage for the bulk of the show.

He’s speaking slowly and choosing his words carefully as he tries not to explain.

“Happy Man is kind of ever-present, and then there’s a lovely moment when he becomes Mr Thompson. So I do play a couple - if not, multiple - roles; my guy pops up regularly. That’s just to give you a bit of a tease and not give too much away. But I’m there quite a lot!”

Ore’s especially excited about fuelling the audience’s imagination as Happy Man (“he’s in the heart of the show, as well as its message about living your dream”). He’s also clearly fired up for the big dance numbers.

“There are so many wonderful messages within the show, and my narrator part as Happy Man gets to relay all of that. But then there are also some fabulous dance numbers and really lovely song & dance momentsthis might be the biggest dance I’ve done since Strictly!”

Ore even has a link to the writer of much of the music, and not just because he’s a big fan of Bryan Adams.

“Funnily enough, I remember interviewing him on BBC One in 2015 because he was doing the New Year’s Eve fireworks show and I was hosting the programme. He was doing all his hits - Summer of 69, Run To You, and the rest. Fast forward eight years and I’m singing his songs!

“I’m really excited because he’s had such a successful career writing incredible songs. I remember watching Pretty Woman in London, and there are some really strong numbers in the show - absolute belters - and I think people are going to love that element of it, too.”

Ore got to see the musical just before the end of its London run earlier this year, but admits he dragged his feet on the original movie. “I’d never seen the film until last year. I have a thing about classic movies, in that I’m always playing catch-up with a lot of iconic titles. My issue is that if you missed it the first time around, everyone else has seen it, so it’s very rare that you can find someone else who’s in your boat. Every time you suggest ‘Maybe we could watch Pretty Woman’, everyone else goes ‘Seen it!’

“So I watched it for the first time quite recently, and then again prior to rehearsals, and it really got the tastebuds sizzling. I think what’s wonderful about the musical is that it’s a really gorgeous tribute to a film that people know and love. But whether you’ve seen the movie or not, it’s a big night out for everybody, and we guarantee you’re going to have a good time!”

Pretty Woman shows at The Alexandra, Birmingham, from Tuesday 17 to Saturday 28 October. The show then returns to the Midlands in 2024 to play the Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, from Monday 15 to Saturday 20 July

Theatre for younger audiences...

The Smeds & The Smoos

Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Tues 31 October & Wed 1 November

Another Tall Stories adaptation of a picture book by award-winning collaborators Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, The Smeds And The Smoos tells the intergalactic tale of a young Smed and a young Smoo who fall hopelessly in love. Problem is... the redcoloured Smeds and the blue-coloured Smoos never mix, causing Romeo & Julietstyle complications for the star-crossed lovers...

Created for children aged three-plus, this theatrical presentation of Donaldson & Scheffler’s delightful space romance comes complete with a powerful but gently conveyed message about difference and tolerance.

Nest

The Rep, Birmingham, Sat 21 October

Taking a bird’s eye view of human beings and telling a tale about ‘discovering what’s important and learning how to fly’, Nest is a highly physical show that uses minimal language and combines imaginative clowning with beautiful shadow play and original song. The company behind the production is M6 Theatre, a well-established Rochdale-based ensemble whose stated aim is to produce stagework that ‘ignites the imagination, nurtures the heart and challenges the mind’. The show is suitable for children aged threeplus.

Thumbelina

Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton, Tues 31 October

Born inside a flower, the ever-so-tiny Thumbelina finds herself living in an oversized world of woodland creatures - some of whom, she soon discovers, pose a significant threat to her safety...

This gentle and playful performance, ‘with the beauty of the natural world at its heart’, is suitable for children aged between three and eight.

The Singing Mermaid

Lichfield Garrick, Tues 31 October & Wed 1 November

Little Angel Theatre’s stage adaptation of the popular children’s book by Julia Donaldson & Lydia Monks visits Lichfield riding high on a wave of positive reviews. The story focuses on the adventures of the eponymous character after she is tempted away from the safety of the ocean to become part of a travelling circus. But although the circus audiences love her singing, it isn’t long before she realises that she’s been tricked by the dastardly circus master... Developed for children aged between three and eight, the show has a running time of 55 minutes.

The Amazing Bubble Man

Lichfield Garrick, Sat 28 October; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Sun 29 October

Square bubbles, bubbles inside bubbles, fogfilled bubbles, giant bubbles, bubble volcanoes and tornados - even people inside bubbles. Whatever kind of bubble floats your boat, it’s likely that the Amazing Bubble Man - aka Louis Pearl - will be able to provide it. Louis has been thrilling audiences worldwide with his mindbending bubble shows for more

than 30 years and is a surefire sellout whenever he appears at the Edinburgh Festival. Expect comedy, artistry, audience participation and more spellbinding bubble tricks than you could, er, blow a bubble at, when he stops off in the Midlands this month.

Tom Thumb

Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, Sun 22 October

The classic story of the terrifically tiny Tom Thumb here gets the always-imaginative Lyngo Theatre treatment - which on this occasion means a show that features feathery spinning birds, a flying house and a portable forest. Oh, and which also takes place entirely on and under a kitchen table!

There’s A Tiger In The Garden

The Brewhouse, Burton-upon-Trent, Sun 15 October

Lizzy Stewart’s award-winning children’s book is brought to life by the highly acclaimed Flock Theatre Makers, whose adaptation brings together puppetry, music and imaginative design. The 45-minute show - suitable for children aged three-plusfollows the adventures of a little girl named Nora as she discovers the wonders that lie beyond the shrubbery in the garden (which may or may not include a big stripey tiger!).

Light entertainment from around the region

Buffy Revamped

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Sat 28 October

Calling to mind the work of ensembles such as the Reduced Shakespeare Company, Buffy Revamped is a fast-paced new production that wings its way through all 144 episodes of hit 1990s television series Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Not only that, but it does so in an admirably concise 70 minutes.

The one-man production is presented by Brendan Murphy, whose central character of Spike is a fella who, as you might imagine, knows a thing or several about the now-cult US TV show... Buffy Revamped scored a big hit in Edinburgh, so if you’re a fan of the series yourself, a fun evening out is pretty much a guarantee.

Reverend Richard Coles

Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, Fri 27 October; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Wed 22 November; Crewe Lyceum Theatre, Sat 2 December

Having concluded that the BBC’s decision to move its production of Radio Four’s Saturday Live to Cardiff meant that it was no longer viable for him to cohost the show, the Reverend Richard Coles is now cutting loose and hitting the road with a brand-new offering. And the former Communards star and onetime Strictly contestant certainly has plenty to chat about in the amusingly titled Borderline National Trinket - from sex and drugs, to pop stardom and religious epiphany...

Expect an evening of engaging storytelling from a witty and talented raconteur.

Showstopper!

The Improvised Musical

The Albany Theatre, Coventry, Sat 7 October

If ever there was a show worth seeing more than once, this is it - and not only because it’s an Olivier Award winner.

Showstopper! is exactly what it says on the tin: a musical that’s improvised - meaning that no two nights are ever the same. The rotating cast of

quick-witted performers take suggestions from the audience and then spin a brandnew comedy musical out of thin air, complete with tunes, lyrics, dances and harmonies. It’s clever stuff, performed by clever people. And if audience reaction is anything to go by, you might even find yourself well and truly gobsmacked by just how good they are.

Sasha Velour: The Big Reveal Live Show

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Tues 31 October

The gender-fluid Sasha Velour - the seasonnine winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race back in 2017 - stops off in Birmingham in support of recently published book The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto Of Drag. Offering an immersive evening of storytelling and live art, the show features ‘iconic new performances’ by Sasha and an appearance by a special guest star.

sensitive about the subjects of ‘divorce, German terrorists and foot trauma’, it might be best to opt for a quiet night in!

An unauthorised parody of classic 1980s Bruce Willis action movie Die Hard, the show is heading out on tour following rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe and in London.

Ru Paul’s Drag Race: Werq The World

Utilita Arena Birmingham, Thurs 12 October

Bimini Bon-Boulash will be the only UK drag queen in Werq The World when the show sashays into Birmingham’s Utilita Arena this month.

Bimini will be appearing alongside US drag queens Jaida Essence Hall, Aquaria, Vanessa Vanjie, Angeria, Bosco, Daya Betty, Kandy Muse and Ginger Minj.

The show is set in a dystopian future and finds the stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race having to choose between the real world and the artificial one they have come to know.

Commenting on the production, Bimini said: “I can’t wait to team up with my drag sisters for five amazing nights on the Werq The World tour. It’s going to be huge, so get ready for the largest drag production in herstory!”

Yippee Ki Yay

Lichfield Garrick, Thurs 12 October; The Rep, Birmingham, Sat 14 October

The award-winning Richard Marsh’s critically acclaimed show comes complete with a content warning - so if you’re particularly

THE DARK SIDE

Tom Chambers on starring in Torben Betts’ psychological thriller

Tom Chambers is a familiar television face, having appeared in Holby City, Casualty, Waterloo Road and Strictly Come Dancing (he won the Glitter Ball in 2008). Following a West End stint in Elf The Musical, he’s now touring the UK in a brand-new production: Torben Betts’ spinechilling ghost story, Murder In The Dark. What’s On caught up with Tom to chat about the show, which is visiting Birmingham’s The Alexandra in November...

What’s Murder In The Dark all about, Tom?

It's a ghost story surrounding a modern, dysfunctional family who are travelling back from a funeral and involved in a car crash on New Year's Eve. They're taken in by what seems like a nice old farmer’s wife. She offers them temporary salvage in her farm cottage, then all sorts of weird things start happening. The line is blurred between what's real and what's surreal, and the consequences of their past catching up with them in this eerie place. Things get scary because it's a psychological thriller, but at the same time you might be laughing because it's also unbearably comedic!

Who do you play in the show?

Danny Sierra, a somewhat washed-up pop star. He’s facing many demons and insecurities, as he fell from the perch and the trappings of fame. He was famous on both sides of the Atlantic some 20 years ago and has since fallen on harder times. His role is to try and make amends with his family, but he fails dramatically, as his efforts are either squashed or mixed up in what some would describe as paranormal activity. I don't want to give too much away, and we’ve been given strict instructions to ask all members of the audience to keep the two big plot twists a secret!

Have you worked with any of your castmates before?

I haven't, no, but that's always part of the fun of starting a new job - getting to know new people and sharing our creative resources. I always find it a fascinating discovery, witnessing what people are capable of. But of course I'm already very familiar with Susie Blake's work from Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV and all the other great things she's done.

Danny is a singer - and you're no stranger to musicals. Do you have any numbers in the show?

Yes, actually. Among the family party is Danny's brother, Will. They originally started out as a double act, playing in pubs and bars, before Danny took off and deserted him to ‘hit the big time’ with a teen pop band. And

so at one point the brothers sing together one of their most popular songs from 20 years ago - but then they’re interrupted by something peculiar!

Why do you think we all love a good murder-mystery?

I heard a very clever man on the radio describing how the human brain hasn't evolved over the last 10,000 years. Our bodies and everything around us have, but our brains can’t separate the difference between fact and fiction when it comes to imagination and storytelling and the effects it has on us. We live in a semi-constant state of anxiety... on the edge of adrenaline, while we wait for either something bad to happen or the possibility of being taken by surprise. So I think a good ghost story or murder-mystery exercises the senses that we’ve relied on for thousands of years to keep us alive as a species! And together, subconsciously perhaps, we enjoy problem-solving or raising our awareness. Plus, the moment someone starts telling ghost stories round the dinner table, it either puts the fear of god into you or your brain starts lighting up like rockets on a dark night! Either way, it’s exciting food for your brain!

Do you scare easily yourself?

Yes, I do. I tend not to gravitate towards scary things. Mystery, yes, but I'm certainly not someone who prefers horror movies, although I know millions of people do. It's probably because I've got older siblings who would either make me jump or fill my imagination with doubt! Fear is contagious, and so while it’s thrilling doing this play, it’s also a bit like you're experiencing and feeling it for real!

Was working in theatre always part of the plan?

I sort of grew up with theatre, but I wanted to get into television and film because, well, who wouldn't? But I love doing stage work. The magical thing about theatre is that when you sit there with a whole load of other people, it makes you realise you're not alone; we all share similar feelings and responses. People could be watching the dysfunctional

family in this play and thinking 'Hey, it's not just me,' or they'll look to their family or friends and be thinking 'That's definitely you,' in relation to what's happening on stage. Or it might just be that you enjoy the shared experience of a live performance. Live events are great because we’re a herd species, and it's really fulfilling and nourishing when you're watching something together.

You made your musical theatre debut in Top Hat. How was the experience?

I did shows for the National Youth Music Theatre and Edinburgh Festivals, and when I left drama school I did loads of theatre, but it was all profit-share and fringe stuff. But doing Top Hat after Strictly Come Dancing was my first-ever professional West End musical. It was both incredible and daunting. I was following in Fred Astaire's footsteps, and he's someone who's obviously very hard to replicate, so it was a huge challenge. It was also a great honour, because I was such a fan of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly back in the day. I suddenly had newfound respect for anyone who works in theatre because you have to be physically and mentally fit, like an athlete. You're doing eight shows a week, and it's all about structure and planning and scheduling and keeping yourself 100% ready with a very precise nutrition plan!

Which theatre jobs have you most enjoyed?

I did White Christmas in the West End and played both the Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby roles, which was really, really fun. Playing the grumpy dad in Elf The Musical was also a lot of fun. Doing Dial M For Murder on tour was another highlight. Top Hat was certainly the big one; a huge role and the show that really started my theatre career. I've been lucky because I've really enjoyed everything I've done since. And now with Murder In The Dark, I pray it continues!

Murder In The Dark shows at The Alexandra, Birmingham from Tuesday 7 to Saturday 11 November

Dance previews from across the region

Dance

ACE Dance: Unknown Realms

The Rep, Birmingham, Tues 10 October; The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Thurs 12 October; Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Tues 7 November Committed to the presentation of contemporary dance inspired by the African Diaspora, ACE Dance & Music here collaborate with two internationally acclaimed Black male choreographers - Serge Aime Coulibaly (Burkina Faso) and Vincent Mantsoe (South Africa) - to present a double bill of work which they describe as ‘transcending the past and present’. The Night Before Tomorrow sees people engaging in their last dance ahead of an uncertain future. Mana, The Power Within, meanwhile, aims to ‘trace the journey of past lives by unifying beliefs & cultures’.

Ailey 2

Birmingham Hippodrome, Tues 3 & Wed 4 October

Ground-breaking New York dance company

Ailey 2 visits Birmingham this month with a programme of popular audience favourites and ambitious contemporary pieces.

“What’s so exciting about Ailey 2 is that we are catching the enthusiasm and raw talent of the dancers at the beginning of their careers,” explains the company’s artistic director, Francesca Harper. “Audiences can expect excellence and heart. They can expect innovation, cutting-edge work, and the chance to see these young artists at the height of their expression. They are all so talented, and Ailey 2 provides the opportunity for that talent to flourish.”

The programme for 12 dancers features four works - excerpts from Francesca’s very own Freedom Series and William Forsythe’s Enemy In The Figure, along with Robert Battle’s The Hunt and Alvin Ailey’s Revelations, which is a signature work of all the Ailey companies.

Giselle

Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Fri 20 October; Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Mon 6 November Premiered in Paris in 1841, Giselle tells the story of a peasant girl who takes her own life when she finds out that the man with whom she has fallen in love, a nobleman named Albrecht, is engaged to another woman.

After Giselle’s funeral, Albrecht visits her unconsecrated grave and finds himself in mortal danger: The Wilis, a sisterhood of ghosts who, in life, were jilted by their lovers, have returned to take their terrible revenge... Adolphe Adam’s surreal romantic ballet is here presented by Classical Ballet & Opera House.

mythical land of the Celtic Otherworld from destruction.

The show has been co-written and cochoreographed by Australian tap dancer, Hollywood actor and two-time Olivier Award nominee Adam Garcia. Expect mesmerising moves and lightning footwork aplenty...

An Evening With Anton Du Beke & Friends

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Mon 2 October; Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa, Sun 8 October; Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Sun 29 October; Lichfield Garrick, Mon 29 April; Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Tues 30 April

It’s a busy old time for Anton Du Beke. Not only is he sitting in judgement on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing contestants every weekend, he’s also out on the road with his latest show. This one sees the fleet-of-foot legend team up with his dancers, a live band and guest singer Lance Ellington to present an evening of song, dance and laughter. Behind-the scenes stories from his time on Strictly will also feature...

Seriously, what’s not to like?

Emerald Storm

Swan Theatre, Worcester, Sun 8 October; Tamworth Assembly Rooms, Fri 13 October; The Albany Theatre, Coventry, Sat 14 October

From gentle ballet to fiery salsa, and from Irish dance to modern tap, the critically acclaimed Emerald Storm offers something for dance fans of every persuasion. Along the way it tells a pulsating story of mortals battling against the elements to save the

CELEBRATING THE BARD

Birmingham-born actor Adrian Lester is back in his home city this month to unveil a historic copy of the First Folio - the first collected volume of Shakespeare’s plays, which is this year celebrating its 400th anniversary. Here, Adrian chats to What’s On about the Folio, the Bard, and his own introduction to the works of the world’s greatest-ever playwright...

Actor & director Adrian Lester was a member of Birmingham Youth Theatre when he first discovered Shakespeare - and it opened up a whole new world for him. In plays written centuries ago, he found all of human experience.

Birmingham-born Adrian has since gone on to build a hugely successful career on both stage and screen, from long-running television series Hustle, to Shakespeare’s Henry V and Hamlet. And he’s keen to share this enthusiasm for the Bard with his fellow Brummies.

Adrian is the patron of the ‘Everything To Everybody’ Project, an initiative aiming to raise awareness of Birmingham’s unique Shakespeare Memorial Library, which contains, among thousands of other Bardrelated artefacts, a historic copy of the 1623 First Folio - the first collected volume of Shakespeare’s plays.

“It was Derek Nicholls at Birmingham Youth Theatre who introduced me to Shakespeare,” Adrian recalls. “He knew I wanted to be an actor and that I hadn’t read Shakespeare, so he gave me a copy of Measure For Measure to read - and at the same time he gave me a copy of a Shakespeare glossary.

“He said ‘Start slowly, and when you come to a word you don’t understand, look it up and then come back to the play.’ It took me about a week to read that play, and then I understood what Shakespeare was like. “People say Shakespeare uses too many words, but once people understand how many ideas he’s fitting into one sentence, they realise he’s using too few words! Because in one speech is everything.”

The ‘Everything To Everybody’ Project has toured the First Folio to communities across Birmingham, sharing Shakespeare with people in museums, libraries, shopping centres and even Winson Green Prison. Although the collected volume of plays is this year celebrating its 400th anniversary, Adrian says it very much speaks to today.

“It’s not just about taking this book around to show people; it’s looking at it through the

access to stories, the access to understanding human nature, how the plays were performed.

“It’s understanding the way Shakespeare galvanised people to understand storytelling, and it’s recognising its influence today. I mean, look at The Lion King - it’s a retelling of Hamlet - or some of the best television programmes, like Succession or Breaking Bad. People constantly say a show is ‘Shakespearian’ in character because how Shakespeare presents a character is uniquely Shakespearian.

“When they speak in soliloquy, the character is caught in a moment of time and their character is developed as they speak. And at that moment, you see how a character who you thought was one thing - and they thought they were one thing - suddenly shifts and twists and changes in front of you. And that is Shakespeare’s brilliance. It’s the essence of human nature.”

Adrian will be unveiling the First Folio at a celebration event for Everything To Everybody, taking place at Bullring and Grand Central on Saturday 21 October. People will have the chance to view the book and also take part in a range of activities.

“There’s going to be singing, drummers, music, people speaking Shakespeare in different languages, Stan’s Café theatre company and DESIBlitz. It’s the idea that you start with the words and then it becomes a melting pot of expression, and we’ll see how this or that came from the book. If I was doing an animation, you’d open this book and what flies out of it and comes to life is Hollywood movies, operas, ballets, paintings - in fact, everything.”

The Birmingham First Folio is unique in the world because it was given to the people of Birmingham by George Dawson in 1881 after he founded the Shakespeare Memorial Library. One of only 235 First Folios currently known to exist, it is the only one which belongs to the people of a city.

And that matters, says Adrian.

“The fact that it belongs to everybody, the

people of Birmingham, is so important. The idea that it sits in the library and no one knows about it is what the ‘Everything To Everybody’ Project is aiming to change. Professor Ewan Fernie at the University of Birmingham, who is the project director, and the team at the library just thought ‘We have to do something about it, we have to shout about it,’ and they got me on board.

“It’s a free library. You walk in and you look, and you should have access simply because you were born here; simply because it was prepared for you; simply because someone wrote it and said ‘I want people to read this.’ If you want to own it, then you should pay for it, but if you want to have access to it, to simply exist in the same space as the work, then it should be free. We’re talking about classical work. Talent doesn’t sit behind a paywall.”

That spirit of social philanthropy not only inspires Adrian but changed his life.

“I am the result of an Everything To Everybody ethos. I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the dancefloors at Midlands Arts Centre if they didn’t keep the doors open to a young man who couldn’t afford to get in. The Birmingham Youth Theatre would not have been there if that ethos wasn’t true. There wouldn’t have been access to drama schools, RADA or wherever. The idea that councils saw that you got in and then gave you a grant to go and train wouldn’t have existed. I wouldn’t be where I am today if various structures and various funding bodies did not exist to make sure that the people who walked through the door could be supported. They simply had to have the interest and the talent - and nothing else.”

The ‘Everything To Everybody’ Project celebration takes place at Bullring & Grand Central on Saturday 21 October between 11am and 4pm.

Further information can be found at everythingtoeverybody.bham.ac.uk

Film highlights in October...

Foe CERT 15 (110 mins)

Starring Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, Aaron Pierre, Jordan Chodziesner, William Freeman, Jalen Ong

Directed by Garth Davis

Adapted from the 2018 novel of the same name by Iain Reid (who’s co-written the film script with director Garth Davis), Foe is a haunting exploration of marriage and identity set in an uncertain near-future world. Married couple Hen and Junior farm a secluded piece of land that’s been in Junior’s family for generations. But when a stranger arrives with a startling proposal, their quiet life and relationship is thrown into an unexpected turmoil...

“The point of the movie is that corporate power and environmental decay is literally eating away at the natural world,” says Australian director Davis. “Not just the environment, but from a human point of view, it’s eating away at society and taking away why we’re meant to be here and what connects us.”

Foe is the second of Reid’s novels to be adapted for the cinema screen, following on from the Charlie Kaufmandirected I'm Thinking Of Ending Things, released in 2020.

Released Fri 20 October

Golda CERT 12a

(100 mins)

Starring Helen Mirren, Zed Josef, Claudette Williams, Henry Goodman, Emma Davies, Rotem Keinan Directed by Guy Nattiv Helen Mirren disappears beneath the prosthetics to play Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, who came to power in 1969 and resigned five years later over her administration’s handling of the Yom Kippur War.

And it’s that 19-day conflict - waged in 1973 between Israel and an Arab-state coalition led by Egypt and Syria - that sits at the heart of a film described by its publicity as a ticking-clock thriller. Sadly, it’s anything but, failing to mine the drama of a situation in which the future of a whole country hangs in the balance, and plodding along at a pedestrian pace that stops the audience from ever really managing to give a damn. Mirren is okay as the chain-smoking Golda, but isn’t afforded the opportunity to set the screen alight - a fact which is every bit as disappointing as the film itself.

Released Fri 6 October

The Great Escaper

CERT 12a (96 mins)

Starring Michael Caine, Glenda Jackson, John Standing, Donald Stage Mackay, Danielle Vitlis, Will Fletcher Directed by Oliver Parker

Dalíland CERT 15 (97 mins)

Starring Ben Kingsley, Barbara Sukowa, Ezra Miller, Christopher Briney, Rupert Graves, Andreja Pejic Directed by Mary Harron

Helmed by American Psycho director Mary Harron, Daliland stars Sir Ben Kingsley as legendary surrealist artist Salvador Dali. In 1970s New York, Dali enjoys the latter stage of his career and a lifestyle awash with luxury and extravagant parties. Surrounded by his own decadence and a band of eccentric followers who worship him, he is content with avoiding a fastapproaching art show and the demands of his formidable wife, Gala...

In 2014, at the ripe old age of 89, former naval officer Bernard Jordan sneaked out of his nursing home and made his way to France for the 70th anniversary commemorations of the D-Day Landings. This is his story.

With a script by Made In Dagenham writer William Ivory, The Great Escaper sees Academy Award winners Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson - the latter in her final film role - team up on screen for the first time in almost 50 years (they were last seen together in The Romantic Englishwoman, in 1975). Early reviews of the film have been very positive - and with Caine and Jackson taking the lead roles (Caine as Bernard, Jackson as his wife, Irene), there’s every chance it will prove to be a beautiful story beautifully told.

Released Fri 6 October

The film’s story is told through the eyes of James Linton, a young gallery assistant who’s eager to make a name for himself in the art world. Although initially beguiled by the provocative world of Dali, James soon realises that behind the glitz and glamour lies a fragile genius; a man haunted by the past and unprepared for the changing world around him.

Released Fri 13 October

Killers Of The Flower Moon

CERT 15 (206 mins)

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, John Lithgow

Directed by Martin Scorsese

When it comes to films, Martin Scorsese likes to make epics, but even by his standard his last two movies have been off the scale.

His 2019 film, The Irishman, came in at one minute shy of three-and-a-half hours. At only three minutes shorter, Killers Of The Flower Moon is equally likely to see the average cinema-goer lose all sensation in their backside. However, the payback for a passing numbness in the gluteus maximus region is likely to be significant: Scorsese is quite simply one of Hollywood’s greatest-ever directors - and he looks set to remind everybody of the fact with this based-ona-true-story story.

The film’s focus is a 1920s series of murders which took place in the Osage Nation in Oklahoma, committed after oil was discovered on tribal land.

Scorsese favourites Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro make a welcome return to head a magnificently talented cast.

Released Fri 20 October

Trolls Band Together CERT PG

PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie

CERT U (92 mins)

With the voices of Finn Lee-Epp, Ron Pardo, Mckenna Grace, Christian Convery, Taraji P Henson, Marsai Martin Directed by Cal Brunke Fans of Nickelodeon’s PAW Patrol would have to be barking mad not to catch this latest spin-off film.

When a magical meteor crash-lands in Adventure City, it gives the PAW Patrol pups superpowers.

But things then take a turn for the worse when arch rival Humdinger breaks out of prison and teams up with a mad scientist to steal the superpowers...

For those not in the know, PAW Patrol is a Canadian television series about a young boy named Ryder and his crew of search & rescue dogs. As well as offering plenty of entertainment for youngsters, the show also aims to be educational and enlightening, sharing lessons about subjects including citizenship, social skills and problemsolving.

All in all, then, a film that your kids are quite likely to go, er, absolutely mutts about...

Released Fri 13 October

With the voices of Anna Kendrick, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Timberlake, Kunal Nayyar, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Daveed Diggs Directed by Walt Dohrn and Tim Heitz Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake make a welcome return for this third installment of DreamWorks Animation’s blockbuster musical franchise.

With Poppy and Branch now officially a couple, Poppy discovers that Branch has a secret past. He was once part of her favourite boyband phenomenon, BroZone, along with his four brothers. BroZone disbanded when Branch was still a baby - as did the familyand Branch hasn’t seen his siblings since. But when Branch’s bro, Floyd, is kidnapped for his musical talents by a pair of nefarious pop-star villains, Branch and Poppy embark on a harrowing and emotional journey to reunite the other brothers - and to rescue Floyd from a fate even worse than popculture obscurity...

Released Fri 20 October

Five Nights At Freddy’s

CERT tbc (110 mins)

Starring Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, Elizabeth Lail, Mary Stuart Masterson, Kevin Foster, Kat Conner Sterling Directed by Emma Tammi

The horror game phenomenon of the same name here gets the Hollywood movie treatment. The film follows Mike, a troubled young man caring for his 10-year-old sister Abby and haunted by the unsolved disappearance of his younger brother more than a decade earlier.

Recently fired and desperate for work so that he can keep custody of Abby, Mike agrees to take a position as a night security guard at abandoned theme restaurant Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. But he soon discovers that nothing at Freddy’s is quite what it seems.

With the aid of local police officer Vanessa, Mike’s nights at Freddy’s lead him into unexplainable encounters with the supernatural, in the process dragging him into the dark heart of an unspeakable nightmare...

Released Fri 27 October

Visual Arts previews from around the region

British Ceramics Biennal

Various locations, Stoke-on-Trent, until Sun 5 November

Presented against the backdrop of Stoke-onTrent’s industrial heritage, the free-to-attend British Ceramics Biennal is a celebration of the potential of clay in terms of storytelling, playfulness and risk-taking.

The festival comprises six weeks of exhibitions, installations and events, which not only spotlight the UK’s leading ceramicists but also introduce work by international artists and fresh new talent.

The main venue is the city’s All Saints Church, where visitors can check out several exhibitions & displays. They can also have a go at making ceramics themselves in the Tactile Project Space... Other venues presenting work include Stoke’s Potteries Museum & Art Gallery (showing Embodiments Of Memory by Osman Yousefzada) and AirSpace Gallery (Social Substance by William Cobbing). Further afield, in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Brampton Museum is hosting Obsolescence And Renewal by Neil Brownsword.

Visual Arts

Derek Boshier: Image In Revolt

Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Sat 7 Oct - Sun 21 January

Derek Boshier’s lifelong fascination with the power, use and function of images is much in evidence in this celebration of his 60 years as a restlessly inventive artist.

Taking a rare overview of his career, the exhibition features examples of his artwork from the postwar period - such as Pop paintings tackling nuclear anxieties - right through to the digital age; his more recent work includes expressive paintings and drawings confronting gender, technology and war at the height of the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements.

Wildlife Photographer Of The Year

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry, Fri 27 October - Mon 1 April

“We are facing urgent biodiversity and climate crises, and photography is a powerful catalyst for change.”

So says Dr Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum, which has developed & produced this year’s Wildlife Photographer Of The Year competition. “The exhibition reveals some of nature’s most wondrous sights,” adds Dr Gurr,

History In The Making

Compton Verney, Warwickshire, Sat 21 October - Sun 11 February

The subtitle of this exhibition is ‘stories of materials and making in the collections of Woburn Abbey and the Crafts Council, 700AD to now’ - which does a pretty good job of explaining what the show is all about.

Madge Gill: The Clouds Will Burst The Sun Will Shine Again

Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, until Sun 26 November

Seeking solace from a difficult life, Madge Gill found inspiration in spirituality and nature - a fact reflected in the critically acclaimed artwork she produced during

“whilst also offering hope and achievable actions that visitors can take to help protect the natural world.”

The hugely prestigious show - visiting the Herbert as part of an extensive tourfeatures a host of awe-inspiring images capturing fascinating animal behaviour and breathtaking landscapes.

The photos included in the exhibition have been selected from 49,957 entries, with photographers from no fewer than 95 countries taking part. The 2024 competition opens this month, on Monday the 16th.

Presenting the historic and the contemporary side-by-side, History In The Making explores the changing attitudes towards materials over time. It also investigates craft both in terms of its importance to communities and its environmental impact... The exhibition is accompanied by a programme of talks and practical workshops.

Phantom Sculpture

Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Fri 6 October - Sun 10 March

This brand-new exhibition aims to find links between sculpture’s past, present and future. Featuring work by some of the most important artists from the last century, the show also considers the discipline’s physical relationship to space, and how it embodies lived experiences, notions of place and cultural significance.

Anthony Caro, Richard Deacon, Mona Hatoum, Sarah Lucas and Rachel Whiteread are among the established and upcoming artists whose work is included in the exhibition.

her now-celebrated career.

Born in 1882, Madge was a self-taught and prolific artist, using her drawings, paintings and embroidery to explore the struggles she faced, and also to record her experiences of joy and hope.

To add some meat to the bone in terms of the exhibition, its curator, Sophie Dutton, will be in conversation with MAC’s CEO & artistic director, Deborah Kermode, on Thursday 26 October (6.30pm - 8pm).

BEYOND SUPERVET

Best known from TV’s The Supervet, Professor Noel Fitzpatrick takes to the road with a brand-new stage show in which he explains how caring for animals can help us heal...

by James Rampton

In a tone that brooks no contradiction, Professor Noel Fitzpatrick - known to millions of TV viewers as The Supervetasserts: “Animals make us better people in every conceivable way. I don't think that we can always be our true selves with humans.”

Noel, who is the director and managing clinician at Fitzpatrick Referrals in Surrey, goes on to provide an example of this.

“Imagine you've had a hard day at work, where your boss has been awful to you all day. Then you come home from work, and the neighbour who keeps dumping his grass cuttings on your side of the fence has parked his car right in front of your door. You're pretty narked off.

“You don't like your neighbour - whose name is Bob - anyway, and now he's parked his car right in front of your door for the 14th time; you've been counting. The chances of you forgiving Bob at this moment are exactly zero.

“You open the door of your house and you see your new £100 Nike trainers, torn to pieces, that your new puppy has chewed up, and you forgive him in exactly one nanosecond when he bounds towards you and greets you. And that is what animals teach us about life. They teach us the power of forgiveness and love.

“It's a good example because we all know people we bear a grudge against, for whatever reason, because we're human. But animals unlock unconditional love within us. Even though Freddy has just chewed up your new £100 trainers, you don't care. But if a human did that... Oh, my goodness! You'd be livid, maybe forever.

“So, it is interesting. Animals uncork an ability within us to be ourselves and an ability to look beyond the facade that we put up for society every single day. They allow us to be ourselves, and therefore to be the best we can be.”

This is exactly the sort of story that Noel will be sharing in his live stage show, Beyond Supervet. Visiting the Midlands in November, Noel promises a show full of passion, poignancy and peerless humour; a show that offers loads of fun, as well as profound insights into what one of the world’s most acclaimed and beloved orthopaedic-neuro

veterinary surgeons has gleaned from the thousands of animals he’s treated throughout his career.

Reaching beyond the world of TV’s The Supervet, which has been running for 18 series on Channel Four, Noel examines how caring for animals really can benefit us all, and how modern medicine can have a massive effect on our lives.

Drawing on the vivid narrative of his many books, he will be engrossing audiences with stories, anecdotes, and a visionary look at the future, all recounted to a potent soundtrack which underscores the immense role music plays in his life.

The County Laois-born vet, who exudes charisma on stage thanks to years as a professional actor in shows such as London's Burning, Casualty, The Bill and Heartbeat (where he played - guess what? - a vet), reveals just how excited he is about hitting the road again. “I'm passionate about going on tour because there are so many things, hilariously funny and very sad and very real and very truthful, that I would like to share with everybody.”

In addition, Noel can't wait to engage with his wonderfully devoted fan base. “The main reason to do this is the connection with the audience. You can’t get that connection sitting on your own writing a book, but you can really bring the book to life on stage.”

Among the things Noel will be chatting about is his beloved dog Keira - who passed away in 2021. “She has basically taught me everything I know. I would be an empty vessel if she hadn't been there.

“She's very much responsible for the building of my practice because she was by my side through all 14 years of that dream. She saw me in my truest raw sense. The show is centred around a dozen or so lessons that I've learned along the way from Keira and other animals.”

On what he has learned from Keira, he says, “She has taught me humility, gratitude, and how to dream big. She very much inspired [the book] How Animals Make Us The Best We Can Be, which was about passion and thankfulness and openness and kindness and commitment and authenticity and creativity and, of course, love and hope.

The live show also sees Noel extolling the redemptive joy of his work: “I see love, hope and redemption every single day in my consulting room. For example, you've caught me now just after a very difficult conversation. This morning, I had to euthanise a dog that I couldn't save because it just wasn't ethically right to do so. His owners were weeping tears onto my shoulder.

“One of them was a big burly bloke, who really only let their guard down with me. When they’ve turned into a blithering wreck in my arms, their partner will often say to me ‘Oh, my God! Frank has never shown that kind of emotion before in his entire life!’

“I don't think it's my cuddle that makes every grown man cry! It's just that I'm supporting them while their best friend is in need - and that unlocks the raw childhood need to love and be loved that’s in all of us. That's a miraculous thing which hopefully I'll bring to the stage.”

Above all, in Beyond Supervet, Noel is keen to accentuate the positive. “I also talk about the tough times, because I think it's important that we reflect on the fact that everybody has challenges. We're going through a world of war at the moment, but it's vital to look at the joy and the goodness and the love in the world. Yes, I talk about the darkness a bit in the show, but as an example of how you can find light.”

So what does Noel hope audiences will take away from Beyond Supervet? “I want people to go out feeling that they've gained an insight into something that they didn’t expect - a truly uplifting experience where they’ll feel enriched and entertained.

“The show is a smorgasbord of visual, auditory and stimulatory delights. By coming along and feeling that unconditional love wash over you, I guarantee you will walk out feeling a million percent better than when you walked in.”

Beyond Supervet: Noet Fitzpatrick visits Crewe Lyceum on Friday 10 November; Dudley Town Hall on Saturday 11 November and Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry on Friday 17 November

Events previews from around the region

Events

Half term at The Bear Grylls Adventure

The Bear Grylls Adventure, NEC, Birmingham, B40 1NT

The Bear Grylls Adventure has everything you need for an adrenaline-fuelled day out, with activities including high ropes, indoor archery and climbing, escape rooms and axethrowing.

The more-courageous visitor can check out Cage Snorkel and Shark Dive, where they can ‘take the plunge’ with blacktip reef sharks and tropical fish.

Fancy experiencing the thrill of free-falling at 12,000ft without having to jump out of a plane? Then you’re in luck, as the attraction is home to one of only five iFly wind tunnels in the UK.

Based on Channel Four’s long-running programme, Grand Designs Live is the best place to access ideas, advice and products to make your own home project a success. The show features hundreds of exhibitors and is split into four key sections - Build, Kitchens & Bathrooms, Interiors and Gardens - with designers, planning and finance specialists, architects and project managers all on hand to offer expert advice.

Horse Of The Year Show

NEC, Birmingham, Wed 4 - Sun 8 October

The Horse Of The Year Show is back in Birmingham this month for its 74th edition. The five-day event includes end-of-season national championships for showing and showjumping competitors, as well as international showjumping.

Alongside two arenas of top-class competition, spectators can enjoy impressive displays and numerous crowd favourites, including scurry driving and mounted games.

The show also features a retail village stocked with a range of essentials from top equestrian brands.

Sustainability talks and workshop demos also feature, celebrating the best conceptual and eco-friendly construction ideas. Additional attractions include live talks, Ask An Expert, Green Living Live and Green Living Advice Zone. The show’s usual array of celebrity guests will also be in attendance, as will Kevin McCloud, who’s been hosting the television series since it premiered 24 years ago.

Jet And Space Week

Royal Air Force Museum Midlands, Cosford, Sat 28 October - Sun 5 November

Every adventurer will also get to test their agility on the assault course, which is included with any activity ticket. The venue now welcomes children aged five and older on a number of activities, so even the littlest adventurers can get in on the action.

The Motorhome & Caravan Show

NEC, Birmingham, Tues 17 - Sun 22 October

The RAF Museum Midlands’ first event of its kind, Jet And Space Week sees the venue taking visitors through the history of space exploration via a huge mobile planetarium called Space Odyssey’s Galileo Dome (Thursday 2 - Sunday 5 November).

The week’s line-up of attractions also includes two stargazing evenings with Shropshire Astronomical Society (Saturday 28 October & Wednesday 1 November), the chance to test decision-making skills with a Cuban Missile Crisis-related game (Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 October), and the opportunity to find out all about spacesuits courtesy of a special interactive display (Wednesday 1 - Friday 3 November).

Spanning 11 halls, the Motorhome & Caravan Show is the UK leisure-vehicle industry’s national showcase for the latest motorhome, campervan, caravan and trailer tents. Visitors can speak directly with experts, gain valuable advice, book their pitches and holidays for 2024, and pick up any accessories needed for future trips. Free motorhome driving and towing workshops, and plenty of talks by celebrities and vloggers, also feature.

Grand Designs Live NEC, Birmingham, Wed 4 - Sun 8 October

Events previews from around the region Events

Halloween at Thinktank

Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum, Mon 30 October - Fri 3 November

There are spinetingling goings-on aplenty at Thinktank during this month’s half-term holiday.

The Fright At The Museum family show takes place daily and is full to the brim with freaky facts and spooky science experiments. Meanwhile, over in MiniBrum’s Den, daily Halloween and autumn-themed interactive and sensory stay & play sessions should keep little ones aged 18 months to three years old nicely entertained.

Severn Valley Railway Ghost & Scream Trains

Severn Valley Railway, Bewdley, nr Kidderminster, Sat 28 - Tues 31 October

Are you brave enough to ride the Ghost Train at Severn Valley Railway this Halloween?

Kickstart your fright night with tricks and treats for the whole family to enjoy at Kidderminster Station, then take your reserved seats and settle back to experience a ride out into the darkness.

Scary characters will join you on board, sneaking along the corridors of the train as it passes through haunted stations to Arley.

Brick Or TreatMonster Party

Legoland Discovery Centre Birmingham, Sat 30 September - Sun 5 November

Little monsters can enjoy plenty of chills and thrills at Legoland Discovery Centre this month.

Along with two rides, build & play zones and a soft-play area, mini builders and their families can sink their teeth into a whole (g)host of fang-tastic seasonal activities.

Highlights include a haunted Miniland spooky scavenger hunt, the chance to help build Lego pumpkins to add to the monster garden, and an opportunity to check out Lego 4D Halloween movie The Great Monster Chase!. Mascot Scarecrow will also be on site for a Halloween dance party and photo opportunities.

The Ghost Train experience lasts for approximately 75 minutes and comes complete with a free goodie bag for every child.

Severn Valley Railway is also hosting a similar but ‘more fearsome’ event for older guests. The Scream Train is aimed at visitors aged 18-plus and features ‘petrifying ghouls’ who will be looking to scare the life out of commuters as they make their way to Arley.

Ascarium: Trick Or Treat

National SEA LIFE Centre, Birmingham, Sun 8 October - Sun 5 November

Get ready to dive into some spinetingling fun as the SEA LIFE Centre transforms from aquarium to ascarium this Halloween. Guests are invited to follow an immersive trail, complete magical challenges throughout the aquarium, and help the sea witch and warlock look after their ocean home and fellow sea creatures. There are games and activities to check out as well, with visitors receiving a reward for completing the ‘spook-splash-tic challenges’.

Victorian Ghost Town

Blists Hill Victorian Town, Ironbridge, Fri 27 & Saturday 28 October

Celebrate Halloween with two nights of spooky special events and creepy goings-on in the lamp-lit streets of Blists Hill Victorian Town.

Visitors can try candle dipping and poster printing, shop for handmade Halloween items at the Morbid Market and meet creatures from a local reptile rescue organisation at the Spooky Zoo. Other highlights include a special trick-ortreat trail and a lantern parade to the fairground, where youngsters will be able to sing, dance and take part in a special costume competition.

Events previews from around the region

Events

Halloween Fun At The Farm

Mary Arden’s Farm, Stratford-upon-Avon, Tues 31 October, Thurs 2 & Sat 4 November Discover the weird and wonderful Halloween traditions of medieval and Tudor England at Mary Arden’s Farm this October half term. As well as learning about the customs which people used to follow in order to ward off evil spirits, visitors can also sample a selection of hands-on activities, including making soul cakes, carving pumpkins and crafting a protection charm.

Disney On Ice Presents 100 Years Of Wonder

Resorts World Arena, Birmingham, Wed 1 - Sun 5 November

Disney On Ice is back in Birmingham this half-term-holiday with 100 Years Of Wonder. Set and costume designers have created approximately 180 props and 250 different costumes for the show, all of which will be transported to Birmingham, alongside the impressive set itself, in a staggering 19 trucks!

Featuring Mirabel and the stars of Encanto for the very first time in the UK, the show also includes plenty of well-established on-

On The Home Front 1940s Weekend

Avoncroft Museum, Bromsgrove, Sat 14 & Sun 15 October

Avoncroft Museum steps back to the 1940s this month, providing visitors with a taste of life in the Midlands during the Second World War.

The event’s attractions include motorcycles and vehicles from the era, roaming reenactors, dance classes, a vintage trading area and a fashion show.

A wartime dance event (costing £10pp) takes place on the Saturday evening and comes complete with live entertainment and a 1940s village-hall atmosphere.

ice favourites...

There’s Moana and Maui - who’ll be busy trying to save the island of Motunui - the Disney Princesses, Frozen’s Anna, Elsa & Olaf, the Toy Story gang, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice from Fantasia, and Dory, Nemo, Marlin and new pal Hank. The storyline sees Mickey Mouse being joined by his friends on a journey to discover his favourite memory of all time.

Spooky Spectacular

West Midland Safari Park, Bewdley, Sat 21 October - Sun 5 November

West Midland Safari Park is once again hosting its Spooky Spectacular event for Halloween - and as usual there’s plenty to keep half-term visitors entertained. As well as a free Spooky Trail, there’s also a spinetingling virtual-reality ride, the chance to say a big hello to Patch the Pumpkin Scarecrow and his new friend, Mitzy Monster, and a daily silly science show. Opening hours will be extended on Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 October so that visitors can explore the park after dark.

Oh, and broomsticks at the ready too, as there will also be an immersive reimagining of one of Shakespeare’s spookiest tales: Macbeth.

After-Dark Tours

The Commandery, Worcester, Tues 17, Thurs 19, Tues 24, Thurs 26 & Tues 31 October

The Commandery is one of Worcester’s oldest buildings and a place that harbours lots of ghostly secrets for visitors to uncover. Suitable for people aged 14-plus, the venue’s after-dark tours include tales of strange sightings and mysterious rumours, with your guide for the evening giving the history of the building a hair-raising Halloween twist.

Aston Hall’oween

Aston Hall, Birmingham, Sun 29 October

Dress in your finest ghoulish gear and head to Aston Hall for some family-friendly Halloween fun this month.

Meet creepy characters as you explore the hall, including the wise woman - who’s sure to have a cure for whatever ails you - a man of science & medicine speaking about the nature of the universe, and a witch hunter, who will be prowling the halls in search of broomstick-riding ne’er-do-wells with pointy hats and a bad attitude.

Alfie Boe In Concert - Symphony Hall Birmingham

Uncanny:

SawBirmingham Town Hall

Peters

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory - The Musical at Birmingham Hippodrome from Tues 17 October to Sun 5 November

thelist

VISUAL ARTS IN THE MIDLANDS

Centrala, Digbeth

PAULINA KOROBKIEWICZ: HOMELAND Exhibition addressing themes of political identity, belonging, memory and representation, Fri 6 Oct - Sat 18 Nov

Grand Union, Minerva Works

ED WEBB-INGALL: A BEDROOM FOR EVERYONE Newly commissioned animation exploring the role of filmmaking in the UK’s current housing crisis, until Fri 1 Dec

Ikon Gallery, Birmingham

MALI MORRIS: CALLING Major solo exhibition documenting Mali’s changing approach to her art in the past 25 years, until Fri 22 Dec

RBSA Gallery, Birmingham

RBSA DRAWING PRIZE 2023 Exhibition of works by Barbara Walker, Kate Mason & Steve Bulcock, until Sat 14 Oct

HELEN HAYWOOD-WILLIS Ceramics exhibition featuring works inspired by the organic shapes and surfaces seen in the garden around the artist’s workshop, until Sat 14 Oct

GABRIELLE ROBERTS-DALTON

Exhibition of semi-self-portraits, until Sat 14 Oct

GRAHAM KERSHAW: THE ROAD BELOW ME - LANDSCAPES FROM LEJOG 2020 Pastel landscapes featuring images captured on the artist’s Lands End to John O Groats (Lejog) cycle ride, undertaken in summer 2020, until Sat 14 Oct

UNIVERSE FOR BEGINNERS - RITA RODNER GRBSA A series of analogue photographs rich with forms and patterns representing the material and virtual world, Tues 17 - Sun 28 Oct

BIRMINGHAM ART CIRCLE Annual exhibition showcasing a wide range of works by established, practising artists working in a range of media, Tues 31 Oct - Sat 11 Nov

Gigs

ELLIE DIXON Sun 1 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

THE TERRYS Sun 1 Oct, The Sunflower Lounge

DIVINE + RIAR SAAB Sun

1 Oct, O2 Institute

HAPPYSAD Sun 1 Oct, Castle & Falcon

JUDY COLLINS Sun 1

Oct, Birmingham Town Hall

DARKNESS - HUMAN

LEAGUE TRIBUTE Sun 1

Wed 4 Oct, The

Sunflower Lounge

POWFU Wed 4 Oct, O2 Institute

COACH PARTY + GIRL

SCOUT Wed 4 Oct, Castle & Falcon

THE MANATEES Wed 4 Oct, The Victoria

RANAGRI + EVERY

THREAD Wed 4 Oct, Red

Lion Folk Club

WINTER MOUNTAIN Wed 4 Oct, Kitchen Garden, Kings Heath

MATTHEW HALSALL

DREAM WIFE Fri 6 Oct, Castle & Falcon

THE HISTORY OF DRUM & BASS WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA Fri 6 Oct, The Mill, Digbeth

HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT Fri 6 Oct, Wulfrun at The Halls

Wolverhampton

THE STUMBLE Fri 6 Oct, Lichfield Guildhall

MADE IN TENNESSEE Fri 6 Oct, Lichfield Garrick

ELLE-J WALTERS BAND Fri 6 - Sat 7 Oct, The Jam House, Jewellery Qtr SCOTT HEPPLE AND THE SUN BAND + WHEN TIGERS USED TO SMOKE + RED LIGHT CAMERA Sat 7 Oct, The Sunflower Lounge

OSIAH + NECROTTED Sat 7 Oct, Devil’s Dog

DESPERATE JOURNALIST Sat 7 Oct, The Night Owl

PARADISE CIRCUS + PENTIRE + SUNBALM Sat 7 Oct, O2 Institute

DEAN KELLAND: IMPOSTER SYNDROME

Exhibition featuring a number of Dean’s new films, prints and sketchbooks that reimagine the psychoanalytic dialogue that has occurred between Pop Art and prison art since the 1960s, until Fri 22 Dec

Midlands Arts Centre, Edgbaston, Birmingham

WATERSHED Group exhibition exploring the relationship between Birmingham and Elan Valley, Walestwo places inextricably linked by water, until Sun 5 Nov

MADGE GILL: THE CLOUDS WILL BURST

THE SUN WILL SHINE AGAIN Exhibition featuring drawings, paintings, embroidery and archival material showcasing the beautiful work of self-taught artist Madge Gill (18821961), until Sun 26 Nov

WORLDS AWAY: ART, NATURE AND WELLBEING Exhibition bringing together work by artists who have been inspired by the natural world and its power to stimulate feelings of belonging and mental & physical wellbeing, until Sun 26 Nov

DIGITAL ZINES Exhibition of work created by seven Birmingham secondary schools during summer 2023 as part of Reframe, a new digital-skills project sponsored by Apple, until Sun 7 Jan

WOVEN FROM THE FIELD - SUE KIRK & ROSALIND STODDART Exhibition of works using materials grown and harvested from the artists’ land, Tues 31 Oct - Sat 11 Nov

Elsewhere:

JOURNEY INTO MARVEL New exhibition looking at the world of Marvel Comics, until Sat 14 October, The Hub at St Mary’s, Lichfield

A PLACE TO CALL HOME Understand diverse experiences via the eyes of people who have lived through them, and find out about the latest social justice research at the University of Birmingham, until Sat 4 Nov, The Vaults, The Exchange, Centenary Square, Birmingham

GAIA BY LUKE JERRAM Installation enabling visitors to contemplate ‘our fragile planet from a different perspective; one usually reserved for astronauts’, until Sun 5 Nov, Lichfield Cathedral

JOURNEY THROUGH CREATION Mini installations celebrating the Earth and the stages of its creation according to the Bible, until Sun 5 Nov, Lichfield Cathedral

WHERE WE ONCE GATHERED

Showcase of Herbert Walters’ photographic works, taken on the silent and still streets of Birmingham in the first four weeks of the 2020 Covid lockdown, until Fri 8 Dec, The Bramall, University of Birmingham

Oct, Fletchers Bar

AMY MAY ELLIS Sun 1

Oct, Kitchen Garden, Kings Heath

RADIO COSTELLO Sun 1

Oct, The Rhodehouse, Sutton Coldfield

THE BOOTLEG BEATLES

Sun 1 Oct, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

EDDI READER Sun 1 Oct, Lichfield Garrick

KALEEM TAYLOR Mon 2

Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

LAUREN SPENCER SMITH + HENRY MOODIE +

GEENA FONTANELLA Mon

2 Oct, O2 Institute

PUMA BLUE Tues 3 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

THE NORTHERN BOYS

Tues 3 Oct, The Mill, Digbeth

KATIE SPENCER Tues 3

Oct, Kitchen Garden, Kings Heath

COOPS Wed 4 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

LOU WARREN BAND Wed

4 Oct, The Jam House, The Jewellery Quarter

PASTEL + VEGA RALLY

Thurs 5 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

BROTHER STRUT Thurs 5

Oct, The Jam House, Jewellery Quarter

GODEATER Thurs 5 Oct,

Devil’s Dog

GANG OF FOUR + MIKI

BERENYI TRIO + LOOSE

ARTICLES Thurs 5 Oct, O2 Institute

DO NOTHING + HUMOUR

Thurs 5 Oct, Castle & Falcon

CEMETERY SUN Thurs 5 Oct, The Asylum

STEVE AJAO Thurs 5 Oct, Royal Birmingham

Conservatoire

MICHELE STODART Thurs 5 Oct, Kitchen Garden, Kings Heath

THE BEAST DECOYSBEASTIE BOYS TRIBUTE

Fri 6 Oct, The Night Owl

THE SHERLOCKS Fri 6 Oct, O2 Institute

JOEL FOSTER + SONDR +

MACKIE LAWLOR +

LAUREN MARY +

FALLOUT Fri 6 Oct, O2 Institute

SCENE QUEEN Fri 6 Oct, O2 Academy

LAUREN MAYBERRY Fri 6 Oct, O2 Academy

KK’S PRIEST + PAUL DI’ANNO + BURNING WITCHES Sat 7 Oct, O2 Institute

RAF-SAPERRA Sat 7 Oct, O2 Institute

THE DOORS ALIVE Sat 7 Oct, O2 Academy

PEJA Sat 7 Oct, Castle & Falcon

SYSTEM OF A DOWN UK + UNTIL 9 Sat 7 Oct, The Flapper HOWARD JONES + BLANCMANGE Sat 7 Oct, Symphony Hall

THE DARKSIDE OF PINK FLOYD Sat 7 Oct, The Crescent, Birmingham

HYBRID MINDS Sat 7 Oct, Forum

THE XCERTS Sun 8 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

RUGER Sun 8 Oct, Forum

LEVEL 42 + THE CHRISTIANS Sun 8 Oct, The Civic at The Halls Wolverhampton

THE ELVIS WORLD TOUR Sun 8 Oct, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

JACK CRITCHLOW Sun 8 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

Lauren Mayberry - O2 Academy

Classical Music

SYMPHONIC UNIVERSE Featuring music from The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man, Black Panther, Captain America, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange and more... Sun 1 Oct, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

PETER STEVENS ORGAN CONCERT Tues 3 Oct, Lichfield Cathedral

RACHMANINOFF WITH KAZUKI YAMADA & THE CBSO Featuring Fazil Say (piano). Programme includes works by Prokofiev, Saint-Saëns & Rachmaninoff, Wed 4 Oct, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

CBSO CENTRE STAGE: FAURÉ PIANO QUINTET Thurs 5 Oct, CBSO Centre, Birmingham

HUW WIGGIN (SAXOPHONE) & OLIVER

WASS (HARP) Thurs 5 Oct, The Hub at St Mary’s, Lichfield

THOMAS TROTTER: CELEBRATING 40 YEARS AS BIRMINGHAM CITY ORGANIST Fri 6 Oct, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

BARBER LUNCHTIME CONCERT

Featuring Joseph & Daniel Tong (pianos). Programme includes works by Schubert, Fri 6 Oct, Elgar Concert Hall, Bramall Music Building, University of Birmingham

JESS GILLAM ENSEMBLE Programme includes works by CPE Bach, Will Gregory, Thom Yorke, Thompson, Bernstein, James Blake, Rune Sørensen, Debussy & John Harle, Fri 6 Oct, Elgar Concert Hall, Bramall Music Building, University of Birmingham

RYAN CORBETT ACCORDION CONCERT

Programme includes works by J.S Bach, Couperin, Piazolla, Repnikov, Mozart, Tchaikovsky & Albeniz, Fri 6 Oct, Wade Street Church, Lichfield

CARDUCCI QUARTET Programme includes works by Mozart, Beethoven & Dvorak, Fri 6 Oct, The Hub at St Mary’s, Lichfield

SALVADOR SANCHEZ PIANO CONCERT

Programme comprises the complete Granados Goyescas Op. 11(or Los majos enamorados – ‘The Gallants in Love’), Sat 7 Oct, The Hub at St Mary’s, Lichfield

JOO YEON SIR (VIOLIN) & IRINA ANDRIEVSKY (PIANO) Programme includes works by Vitali, Kreisler, Grieg & Frolov, Sat 7 Oct, The Hub at St Mary’s, Lichfield

CBSO FAMILY CONCERT: FAIRY TALES

Featuring Kazuki Yamada (conductor), Casey Bailey (presenter). Programme includes works by Ravel, Harrison & Grieg, Sun 8 Oct, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

LONDON CONCERTANTE Programme includes works by Mozart, VaughanWilliams & Vivaldi, Sun 8 Oct, Lichfield Cathedral

CHRISTOPHER CLARKE HARPIST Programme includes works by N. Rota, Ravel, Britten, Debussy, Louie & Tournier, Sun 8 Oct, The Hub at St Mary’s, Lichfield

ASHLEY WASS PIANO CONCERT Programme includes works by Beethoven, A. Shor-M. Pletnev, J.S Bach & Shostakovich, Sun 8 Oct, The Hub at St Mary’s, Lichfield

BRITTEN OBOE QUARTET Programme includes works by Schubert, Thea Musgrace, Mozart & J.S Bach, Sun 8 Oct, The Hub at St Mary’s, Lichfield

Comedy

FAMILY COMEDY SHOW Sun 1 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

CÎRJE, FLORIN, DOBROTĂ & POPINCIUC

Sun 1 Oct, The Glee Club, B‘ham

BRIDGET CHRISTIE Sun 1 Oct, Old Rep, Birmingham

JOSH PUGH, GARY DELANEY, ANDY

ROBINSON & LINDSEY SANTORO Tues 3 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

RIA LINA Wed 4 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

TIFF STEVENSON, ED PATRICK, EMMANUEL SONUBI & JO ENRIGHT Wed 4 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

STEPHEN BAILEY, DEAN COUGHLIN, JOJO

SUTHERLAND & FREDDY QUINNE Wed 4

Oct, Herbert’s Yard, Birmingham

FRANKIE BOYLE Wed 4 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

SOPHIE DUKER Wed 4 Oct, Warwick

Arts Centre, Coventry

COMEDY CAROUSEL WITH ANDY

ROBINSON, RAY BRADSHAW & COMIC

TBC Thurs 5 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

LINDSEY SANTORO, PHIL PAGETT & COMIC TBC Thurs 5 Oct, Bear Tavern, Birmingham

SEANN WALSH Thurs 5 - Fri 6 Oct, Old Rep, Birmingham

DAWN FRENCH Thurs 5 - Sat 7 Oct, Birmingham Hippodrome

STEVE ROYLE, MAUREEN YOUNGER, RAY

BRADSHAW, AURIE STYLA & AJAY ROSE

Fri 6 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM COMEDY FESTIVAL

BREAKING TALENT AWARD 2023 Fri 6 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

PETER KAY Fri 6 Oct, Utilita Arena

Birmingham

VICTORIA MELODY Fri 6 Oct, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham

TOM ALLEN Fri 6 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

TOM STADE Fri 6 - Sat 7 Oct, Bilston

Town Hall

PETER RETHINASAMY, DAVID EAGLE, TOM WRIGGLESWORTH & SULLY

O’SULLIVAN Sat 7 Oct, Rosies Nightclub, Birmingham

ERIC RUSHTON Sat 7 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

STEVE ROYLE, MAUREEN YOUNGER, RAY

BRADSHAW & AURIE STYLA Sat 7 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

CARL HUTCHINSON Sat 7 Oct, Old Rep, Birmingham

DANNY CLIVES & TAL DAVIES Sat 7 Oct, 1000 Trades, Birmingham

ROB KEMP Sat 7 Oct, 1000 Trades, Birmingham

DAMON CONLAN & LIN SMITH Sat 7 Oct, 1000 Trades, Birmingham

ANGELA BRA Sat 7 Oct, Tilt, Birmingham

JORDAN GRAY Sat 7 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

JASON BYRNE Sun 8 Oct, Birmingham

Town Hall

JAMIE HUTCHINSON Sun 8 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

ALFIE MOORE Sun 8 Oct, Old Rep, Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM COMEDY FESTIVAL FREE

Theatre

PRIDE & PREJUDICE The Crescent Theatre Company present an amateur version of Jane Austen’s classic novel, until Sat 30 Sept, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE A ‘thrilling adventure’ of fantasy, myth and friendship, taking audiences on a journey to a childhood once forgotten, and the darkness that lurks at the very edge of it... until Sat 30 Sept, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

LA BAMBA! The Wanted’s Siva Kaneswaran and Strictly star Pasha Kovalev star in a brand-new musical about a young girl with a big voice, big dreams and an even bigger heart, until Sat 30 Sept, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

84 CHARING CROSS ROAD Amateur version presented by the Lichfield Players, until Sat 30 Sept, Lichfield Garrick

BROWN BOYS SWIM Karim Khan examines the pressures faced by young Muslim men in an ‘exhilarating’ new play about fitting in and striking out, until Sat 30 Sept, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

UNUSUAL SHORTS The Flying Ducks Theatre Company present an evening of comedy sketches, quirky characters, audio-visual treats and vintage live music, Sat 30 Sept, Highbury Theatre, Birmingham

MACBETH Reuben Joseph takes the lead in Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, until Sat 14 Oct, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratfordupon-Avon

TOM DAVIS Fri 6 Oct, Birmingham

Town Hall

JOSH JONES Fri 6 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

HALF-DAYER PT.1 Sun 8 Oct, Cherry Reds and The Victoria, Birmingham

KIERAN HODGSON Sun 8 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

THE WITCHING HOUR Described as the ghost story experience of the year, this ‘spinetingling’ play ‘transcends time and place until all those who enter are left scrambling for a way out.’... until Sat 21 Oct, The Blue Orange Theatre, Birmingham

Foil, Arms & Hog - HogWash - Birmingham Hippodrome

thelist

SINATRA THE MUSICAL Brand-new production exploring the life (on and off stage) of legendary crooner Frank Sinatra. Matt Doyle stars in the lead role, until Sat 28 Oct, The Rep, Birmingham

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE Tracy-Ann Oberman stars in a powerful reimagining which places Shakespeare’s play in 1936 Londona time when fascism is on the rise across the whole of England... until Sat 10 Feb, Swan Theatre, Stratfordupon-Avon

THE FULL MONTY Danny Hatchard, Jake Quickenden and Bill Ward star in a new touring production based on the hit 1996 film of the same name, Mon 2 - Sat 7 Oct, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

BY THE WATERS OF LIVERPOOL New staging of Helen Forrester’s period drama, Tues 3 - Wed 4 Oct, Lichfield Garrick

CALENDAR GIRLS THE MUSICAL Brandnew production of the Gary Barlow & Tim Firth musical starring Tanya Franks, Maureen Nolan, Lyn Paul, Amy Robbins, Paula Tappenden, Marti Webb & Honeysuckle Weeks, Tues 3 - Sat 7 Oct, The Alexandra, Birmingham

TO BEGIN THE WORLD OVER AGAIN: THE LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE A one-man show telling the very personal story of an 18th-century rock star... Thurs 5 Oct, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham

ALAN TURING - A MUSICAL BIOGRAPHY New musical which journeys through the extraordinary life of the man who had a major input into computer science, Thurs 5 - Sun 7 Oct, The Old Joint Stock, Birmingham

PHANTASMAGORIA Gripping psychological horror exploring the dangers of right-wing popularism, Thurs 5 - Sat 7 Oct, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

Dance

AN EVENING WITH ANTON DU BEKE An evening of song, dance and laughter hosted by the Strictly judge, Mon 2 Oct, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

AILEY 2: THE NEXT GENERATION OF DANCE Presented by exceptional, early-career dance talent from the US. Programme features Francesca Harper’s futuristic Freedom Series (excerpt), Robert Battle’s The Hunt, William Forsythe’s Enemy In The Figure (excerpt), and Alvin Ailey’s masterpiece, Revelations, Tues 3Wed 4 Oct, Birmingham Hippodrome

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! Fusion of ballet, tap, jazz and musical theatre, presented by Cashmore School of Dance, Sun 8 - Sun 15 Oct, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

Light Entertainment

FOIL, ARMS & HOG An evening with one of the internet’s most renowned comedy sketch groups, Sun 1 Oct, Birmingham Hippodrome

SING-A-LONG-A ENCANTO A screening of the hit musical, complete with interactive elements, Sun 1 Oct, The Alexandra, Birmingham

SING-A-LONG-A THE GREATEST

SHOWMAN Join a live host, who will teach you a unique set of dance moves and how to use the interactive prop bags, Sun 1 Oct, The Alexandra, Birmingham

BOB BROLLY & FRIENDS Midday variety show featuring a blend of Irish, country and singalong songs, fun and laughter, Wed 4 Oct, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL WORLD TOUR A new collection of the world’s most incredible ocean films, Thurs 5 Oct, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

DREAMCOAT STARS Keith Jack (BBC’s

Any Dream Will Do) headlines a cast of performers in a mega-mix production celebrating West End and Broadway musical theatre classics, Fri 6 Oct, Sutton Coldfield Town Hall

SKETCH COMEDY ABOUT THE NEWS

Humorous take on the biggest local, national and international news stories, Sat 7 Oct, Crescent Theatre

AN EVENING OF BURLESQUE Expect fun, feathers and fabulous costumes in a fusion of cabaret, comedy, music, circus and burlesque, Sat 7 Oct, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

CANDLELIGHT: A TRIBUTE TO ADELE

Discover the music of Adele by the gentle glow of candlelight, Sat 7 Oct, Birmingham Cathedral

OFF MENU: LIVE Ed Gamble and James Acaster’s award-winning podcast, live on stage for the first time, Sun 8 Oct, Birmingham Hippodrome

Talks & Spoken

Word

AN EVENING WITH JUNIOR HEMANS

Leaders from some of the UK’s most prominent industries share their own personal pathways and ambitions. Guest speakers include The Amos Bursary, The Prince’s Trust, NHS Wolverhampton and The Wolves Foundation, Wed 4 Oct, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

POETRY JAM LIVE! Featuring poets who are starting out and seasoned veterans - plus anyone else who can tell a story! Thurs 5 Oct, Jennifer Blackwell Space, Symphony Hall

Events

OKTOBERFEST Featuring themed entertainment for all ages and the chance to ride a selection of rollercoasters and family favourites, until Sun 1 Oct, Alton Towers, Staffordshire

PUMPKIN PICKING Visit your favourite animals at the farm, then grab your wheelbarrow and head to the pumpkin field, until Sun 29 Oct, Forge Mill Farm, West Bromwich

HISTORIC RALLY FESTIVAL Featuring up to 60 specially selected cars, 30 Sept - Sun 1 Oct, Weston Park, Shropshire

BIRMINGHAM OPEN STUDIOS Art & crafts trail featuring dozens of creators, Sat 30 - Sun 1 Oct, venues across Birmingham

BRICK OR TREAT: MONSTER PARTY Get into the Halloween spirit with some fang-tastic activities, Sat 30 SeptSun 5 Nov, Legoland Discovery Centre, Birmingham

GAIA Touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram, until Sun 5 Nov, Lichfield Cathedral, Staffordshire

BRICK OR TREAT: MONSTER PARTY Spooktacular activities, including a ‘scarevenger’ hunt, a Lego pumpkin patch and more, until Sun 5 Nov, Legoland Discovery Centre, B’ham

TOY COLLECTORS FAIR Featuring more than 500 stalls packed with thousands of new and old collectables for sale, Sun 1 Oct, NEC, Birmingham

ARTS MARKET Featuring a range of stalls with a broad selection of quality handmade products, Sun 1 Oct, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), B’ham

COLOUR BOX: THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY Screening of the Studio Ghibli film, followed by an hour-long workshop, Sun 1 Oct, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham

WEDDING FAIR Meet an array of wedding suppliers and check out the facilities that the museum has to offer for wedding ceremonies and receptions, Sun 1 Oct, British Motor Museum, Gaydon

HORSE OF THE YEAR SHOW 2023 The biggest week of the year for equestrian entertainment, Wed 4Sun 8 Oct, NEC, Birmingham

GRAND DESIGNS LIVE Access inspiration and expert advice for your next building project, Wed 4 - Sun 8 Oct, NEC, Birmingham

GANDEYS CIRCUS The circus presents brand-new production Glitterati, Wed 4 - Sun 8 Oct, Tudor Grange Park, Solihull

THINKTANK TASTER TOUR Guided tour of a selection of the Visitor Service Team’s favourite items, Thurs 5 Oct, Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum

BIRMINGHAM LITERATURE FESTIVAL 2023 Showcasing ‘the very best writers, speakers, thinkers, activists and artists from the UK and across the world’, Thurs 5 - Sun 8 Oct, The Rep, Birmingham

ASTON AFTER DARK: GHOST TOUR An evening of ghostly tales in one of Britain’s most haunted mansions, Fri 6 - Sat 7 Oct, Aston Hall, Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM SEASONAL MARKETS

PRESENTS: OKTOBERFEST FOOD FEST

‘Delicious food, German beers, and a lively atmosphere’, Sat 7 Oct, The Bond, Digbeth

GUIDED TOUR OF WEOLEY CASTLE

Explore Weoley Castle with experienced guides and check out real finds from the site, back on display for the first time in over 10 years, Sat 7 Oct, Weoley Castle, Birmingham

THEATRE TOUR Get a unique insight into one of the most historic theatres in the West Midlands, Sat 7 Oct, The Alexandra, Birmingham

SCAREFEST Including the venue’s award-winning spooktacular scare experiences, Sat 7 - Sun 8 Oct, Alton Towers, Staffordshire

ASCARIUM: TRICKS & TREATS Follow an immersive trail to help the witches and warlocks find their missing potion ingredients. Discover some of the spookiest creatures of the sea, Sun 8 Oct - Sun 5 Nov, National SEA LIFE Centre, Birmingham

By The Waters Of Liverpool - Lichfield Garrick

thelist

Gigs

SKINNY PELEMBE Tues

10 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

YOUTH SECTOR

Tues 10

Oct, The Sunflower Lounge

FREYA RIDINGS Tues 10

Oct, O2 Institute

SUPERSUCKERS + WARNER E HODGES

BAND Tues 10 Oct, The Asylum

GARY NUMAN Tues 10

Oct, Birmingham Town Hall

Thurs 12 Oct, O2

Institute

DON TOLIVER Thurs 12

Oct, O2 Academy

PAIN + ENSIFERUM

Thurs 12 Oct, The

Asylum

THE WILD THINGS Thurs

12 Oct, The Asylum

PIPER ROCKELLE Thurs

12 Oct, The Mill, Digbeth

ELECTRIC SWING CIRCUS

Fri 13 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

SONIC BOOM SIX Fri 13

Oct, The Sunflower

Lounge

VEXED + PULSE +

HOUNDS + KENSEI Fri

13 Oct, Devil’s Dog

HARD-FI + TOM A.

SMITH Fri 13 Oct, O2 Institute

TAY IWAR Fri 13 Oct, O2 Institute

LAURA TOXVAERD AND JEPPE ZEEBERG Tues 10

Oct, Midlands Arts

Centre (MAC)

BRIGID O’NEILL Tues 10

Oct, Kitchen Garden, Kings Heath

HENGE Wed 11 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings

Heath

ALFIE JUKES + TONI SANCHO Wed 11 Oct, The Sunflower Lounge

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND + DASHBOARD

CONFESSIONAL Wed 11

Oct, O2 Academy

LIZ SIMCOCK Wed 11

Oct, Red Lion Folk Club

KATHRYN WILLIAMS + POLLY PAULUSMA Wed

11 Oct, Kitchen Garden, Kings Heath

THE WONDER OF STEVIE

Wed 11 Oct, Stafford

Gatehouse Theatre

RAGZ ORIGINALE Thurs

12 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

PLEIADES Thurs 12 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings

Heath

HONEYMOAN Thurs 12

Oct, The Sunflower Lounge

THE DROWNS + BRUISE

CONTROL + ROTUNDA +

SUCKERPUNCH Thurs 12

Oct, The Dark Horse, Moseley

CORY WONG FEAT

ANTWAUN STANLEY +

SECRET NIGHT GANG

JETTYS + NECKLACE +

CAMERON JENKINS + BO

Sat 14 Oct, O2 Institute

FELL OUT BOY + BLACK

CHARADE Sat 14 Oct, O2 Academy

ANTARCTIC MONKEYS

Sat 14 Oct, O2

Academy

BLACK WATER FIEND +

MONASTERY +

CROWNED HYENAS +

SERENITY Sat 14 Oct, O2 Academy

BANCO DE GAIA +

NATHAN FAKE Sat 14

Oct, Castle & Falcon

GNAWING HUNGER +

NAMELESS + FLUMXT +

AWAITING ENDS Sat 14

Oct, The Asylum

BASS DRUM OF DEATH

Sat 14 Oct, The

Flapper

AUTUMN BARZĀKH Sat 14 Oct, Royal

Classical Music

LUNCHTIME ORGAN CONCERT WITH THOMAS TROTTER Programme includes works by JS Bach, K Volans, H Willan, W Wolstenholme & R Laurin, Mon 9 Oct, Birmingham Town Hall

RUSSELL WATSON IN CONCERT Thurs 12 Oct, Lichfield Cathedral

RACHMANINOFF PIANO CONCERTO NO.2

WITH JENEBA KANNEH-MASON & THE CBSO Featuring Andrew Gourlay (conductor). Programme includes works by Coleridge-Taylor, Rachmaninoff & Wagner, Thurs 12 Oct, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

LUNCHTIME RECITAL WITH ASHLEY WAGNER Fri 13 Oct, Birmingham Cathedral

BARBER LUNCHTIME CONCERT

DAN HAGLEY Tues 10 Oct, Lichfield Garrick

JACK SKIPPER Wed 11 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

NORMAN LOVETT, ERIC RUSHTON, DAMON CONLAN, RICHARD DADD, MAT

TAYLOR & HANNAH WEETMAN Wed 11 Oct, The Irish Centre, Birmingham

MARK WATSON Wed 11 Oct, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham

IMPROV WOLVES Wed 11 Oct, Tilt, City Arcade, Birmingham

ED BYRNE Wed 11 Oct, Lichfield Garrick

COMEDY CAROUSEL WITH ANDY

ROBINSON, STEVE GRIBBIN & SUSIE

MCCABE Thurs 12 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

RHYS JAMES Thurs 12 Oct, Old Rep, Birmingham

SANCTUM SANCTORIUM

Fri 13 Oct, O2

Academy

CASH... A TRIBUTE TO JOHNNY CASH Fri 13

Oct, O2 Academy

WOLFGANG FLÜR Fri 13

Oct, Castle & Falcon

UNINVITED Fri 13 Oct, The Asylum

LOW GIRL Fri 13 Oct,

The Victoria

CHOIR! CHOIR! CHOIR!

Fri 13 Oct, Birmingham

Town Hall

NASHVILLE IN CONCERT

Fri 13 Oct, Resorts

World Arena, B’ham

THE GOOD WATER + 3

LITTLE WOLVES + BIG

SKY ORCHESTRA +

VENTRELLES Fri 13 Oct,

The Sunflower Lounge

THOSE DAMN CROWS +

THE CRUEL KNIVES Fri 13 Oct, The Wulfrun at The Halls W’hampton

SUFFERING +

MØRKTÅR+ VERLETZEN + OMEGATHRONE Sat

14 Oct, Devil’s Dog

SPINCYCLE Sat 14 Oct,

Tilt, Kings Heath

THE BONGOLIAN & THE HEELS Sat 14 Oct, The Night Owl

PICTURE THIS Sat 14 Oct, O2 Institute

AFFLECK’S PALACE +

JEALOUS NOSTRIL Sat 14 Oct, O2 Institute

THE RUSHMORE + THE

Birmingham Conservatoire

BLINK-182 + THE STORY

SO FAR Sat 14 Oct,

Utilita Arena

THE HOLLIES Sat 14

Oct, The Civic at The Halls Wolverhampton

NELL MESCAL + ALICE

AUER Sun 15 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings

Heath

CATE Sun 15 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings

Heath

Featuring Geneva Lewis (violin) & Julia Hamos (piano). Programme includes works by Handel, Bartók, Simon Holt & Schumann, Fri 13 Oct, Elgar Concert Hall, Bramall Music Building, University of Birmingham

ALFIE BOE IN CONCERT Sat 14 Oct, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

ANGELOS EPITHEMIOU, FREDDY QUINNE, ESHAAN AKBAR & DAVID EAGLE Thurs 12 Oct, Hockley Social Club, Birmingham

ALEX MILNER Thurs 12 Oct, Tilt, Birmingham

THE STAND-UP COMEDY GAMESHOW Thurs 12 Oct, Secret Space, Birmingham

LUKE ANTHONY MCDONNELL Thurs 12 Oct, Muthers Studio, Birmingham

THE KAMIKAZE CLUB SHOWCASE Thurs 12 Oct, 1000 Trades, Birmingham

THE LATE NIGHT SWEET SHOP Thurs 12 Oct, Cherry Reds Cafe, Birmingham

LIAM WITHNAIL, MATT REES, STEVE GRIBBIN, SUSIE MCCABE & CHARLIE

LEWIS Fri 13 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

DAYTIME TV Sun 15

Oct, O2 Academy

PYE CORNER AUDIO +

GLOK Sun 15 Oct,

Castle & Falcon

ACRES + LASTELLE Sun

15 Oct, The Asylum

ROISIN MURPHY FROM CO. MONAGAHN & LITTLE

JIMMY Sun 15 Oct, Irish Centre, Kings

Heath

NOTORIOUS - DURAN

DURAN TRIBUTE Sun 15

Oct, Fletchers Bar

JAMES YORKSTON & NINA PERSSON Sun 15

Oct, Kitchen Garden, Kings Heath

SONORO QUARTET Programme includes works by Haydn, Shostakovich & Annelies van Parys new work, Sun 15 Oct, Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

EX CATHEDRA: RACHMANINOFF 150: VESPERS Featuring Jeffrey Skidmore (conductor), Martha McLorinan (mezzo soprano), James Robinson (tenor) & Simone Rebello (bells), Sun 15 Oct, Birmingham Town Hall

Comedy

QUEER AS JOKE Mon 9 Oct, The Loft, Birmingham

JOSH PUGH Tues 10 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

THOM BEE Tues 10 Oct, 1000 Trades, Birmingham

BALTHAZAR DARK Tues 10 Oct, 1000 Trades, Birmingham

LAUGH TILL IT HURTS: A BDSM COMEDY SHOW Tues 10 Oct, Cherry Reds Cafe, Birmingham

CONLAN BEATS THE DEVIL Tues 10 Oct, The Lost & Found, Birmingham

PAUL FOOT Fri 13 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

UPSTAIRS AT CHERRY REDS Fri 13 Oct, Cherry Reds, Birmingham

DAVE LYNCH Fri 13 Oct, Actress and Bishop, Birmingham

IAN CRAWFORD, STEPHEN DODD, HANNAH SILVESTER & DAMON CONLAN Fri 13 Oct, Joe Joe Jim’s Bar, Birmingham

ED BYRNE Fri 13 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

GARRETT MILLERICK, KAZEEM JAMAL, GAVIN WEBSTER & TOM TOAL Sat 14 Oct, Rosies Nightclub, Birmingham

CONNOR BURNS Sat 14 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

LIAM WITHNAIL, MATT REES, STEVE

GRIBBIN & SUSIE MCCABE Sat 14 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

JENNY ECLAIR Sat 14 Oct, Old Rep, Birmingham

SACHIN KUMARENDRAN Sat 14 Oct, 1000 Trades, Birmingham

RYAN LEWIS & GARETH WILLIAMS Sat 14 Oct, 1000 Trades, Birmingham

KAMIKAZE CLUB’S QUEST FOR POINTS! Sat 14 Oct, 1000 Trades, B’ham

LOZI LEE & DAVE DINSDALE Sat 14 Oct, The Crown Members Club, B’ham

PIERRE NOVELLIE Sat 14 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

TRAVIS JAY, LOYISO GOLA, TRIXX, KAT BOYCE & LOVELL SMITH Sun 15 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

DANNY MCLOUGHLIN Sun 15 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

PAUL WHITEHOUSE, SHAZIA MIRZA, JOHN SIMMIT, GEOFF SCHUMANN & COMIC TBC Sun 15 Oct, The Rep, Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM COMEDY FESTIVAL FREE

HALF-DAYER PT.2 Sun 15 Oct, Cherry Reds and The Victoria, Birmingham

Theatre

MADE IN (INDIA) BRITAIN A coming-ofage story about discovering your community and the journey that follows, Mon 9 - Wed 11 Oct, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

SISTER ACT Lesley Joseph stars as Mother Superior in the heavenly smash-hit musical, Mon 9 - Sat 14 Oct, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

HALF WAY ‘ROUND THE BEND’ An ‘unflinchingly honest and cheerfully anarchic fusion of contemporary writing and standup comedy’ that explores ‘what it really means to live, work and thrive with mental illness’, Tues 10 Oct, Lichfield Garrick

EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE

Smash-hit musical featuring Ivano Turco as Jamie and John Partridge as Hugo//Loco Chanelle, Tues 10Sat 14 Oct, Birmingham Hippodrome

ANNIE Craig Revel Horwood (TuesFri) and Jodie Prenger (Sat) star as Miss Hannigan in the rags-to-riches tale of orphan Annie and her journey to a better life, Tues 10 - Sat 14 Oct, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

MICHAEL MEARS: THE MISTAKE A ‘fastmoving, thought-provoking’ drama about the dangers that arise when humans dare to unlock the awesome power of nature, Thurs 12 Oct, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), B’ham ROOTS Arnold Wesker’s timeless play, presented by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s Acting Department, Thurs 12 - Sat 14 Oct, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

WOMEN & THEATRE: REVIVAL A series of rehearsed readings and key productions from Women & Theatre’s archive, presented in celebration of the company’s 40th anniversary, Thurs 12 - Sat 14 Oct, The Rep, Birmingham

ROUGH GIRLS Tara Lynne O’Neill’s ‘passionate, humorous and tenacious play’ honours the women who kicked down doors so that today’s athletes could break through. Presented by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s Acting Department, Thurs 12 - Sat 14 Oct, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

DEVIL DOLLS Don’t Go Into The Cellar present a one-man show of eerie encounters and cursed objects, Sat 14 Oct, Lapworth Museum, University of Birmingham

COWBOIS A ‘rollicking’ queer western about a handsome bandit named Jack Cannon, Sat 14 Oct - Sat 18 Nov, Swan Theatre, Stratford-uponAvon

Dance

UNKNOWN REALMS ACE Dance & Music double bill featuring contrasting works examining the past and present, Tues 10 Oct, The Rep, Birmingham

Light Entertainment

RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: WERQ THE WORLD Featuring fan favourite drag queens Bimini Bon-Boulash, Aquaria, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Mistress Isabelle Brooks, Bosco, Daya Betty, Kandy Muse & Ginger Minj, Thurs 12 Oct, Utilita Arena Birmingham

CANDLELIGHT CONCERT Talented musicians perform music from a wide range of genres, Thurs 12 Oct, Birmingham Cathedral

the UK’s first Black and Brown improv group, Sat 14 Oct, Patrick Studio, Birmingham Hippodrome

YIPPEE KI YAY Richard Marsh’s acclaimed retelling of classic action movie Die Hard, Sat 14 Oct, The Rep

Talks & Spoken Word

AN AUDIENCE WITH LUCY WORSLEY: AGATHA CHRISTIE Join ‘the queen of history’ as she shares stories from the fascinating life of ‘the queen of crime’, Mon 9 Oct, Birmingham Town Hall

LATE NIGHT EXCHANGE: WORLD

HOMELESS DAY An evening of thoughtprovoking discussions and inspiring stories - including a panel discussion exploring women’s homelessness, Tues 10 Oct, The Exchange, Centenary Square, Birmingham

HOLLY MATTHEWS IN CONVERSATION An evening with the former TV actress (Waterloo Road, Casualty, Byker Grove), singer, widowed mother of two, self-development coach and founder of The Happy Me Project, Tues 10 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

FRED KARNO: THE LEGEND BEHIND THE LAUGHTER David Crump gives an illustrated talk on the early careers of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, as well as the person to whom they owed much of their successcomedy goliath Fred Karno, Wed 11 Oct, B:Eats, Symphony Hall, B’ham

Events

CASTLE KIDS PLAYGROUP Toys, games and craft activities for children aged up to five, Tues 10 Oct, Weoley Castle, Birmingham

GAYDON GATHERING Motoring enthusiast meet-up event, Tues 10 Oct, British Motor Museum, Gaydon

THINKTANK TASTER TOUR Guided tour of a selection of the Visitor Service Team’s favourite items, Wed 11 Oct, Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum

DRONE COPS Hour-long talk by West Midlands Police’s drone unit, Thurs 12 Oct, West Midlands Police Museum, Birmingham

PUMPKIN PICKING Visit your favourite animals at the farm, then grab your wheelbarrow and head to the pumpkin field, Fri 13 - Sun 29 Oct, Forge Mill Farm, West Bromwich

SCAREFEST Including the venue’s award-winning spooktacular scare experiences, Fri 13 - Tues 31 Oct, Alton Towers, Staffordshire

PARENT TO PARENT Pick up pre-loved school uniforms, bags, shoes, books, toys, prams, high chairs, cots and more, Sat 14 Oct, Sandwell Valley Visitor Centre

THEATRE TOUR Go behind the scenes at the UK’s first purpose-built repertory theatre, Sat 14 Oct, Old Rep, Birmingham

MURDER MYSTERY DINING EXPERIENCE

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG Tudor

Musical Comedy Society present an amateur version of Ian Fleming’s children’s book, Tues 10 - Sat 14 Oct, Sutton Coldfield Town Hall

SHEILA’S ISLAND Tim Firth’s sharpwitted comedy, set during an annual outward bound team-building weekend in the Lake District, Wed 11 - Sat 14 Oct, The Old Joint Stock, Birmingham

YIPPEE KI YAY Richard Marsh’s acclaimed retelling of classic action movie Die Hard, Thurs 12 Oct, Lichfield Garrick

FLEETWOOD MAC BY CANDLELIGHT A cast of West End singers and a live band perform Fleetwood Mac’s greatest hits, Fri 13 - Sat 14 Oct, Lichfield Cathedral, Staffordshire

JUMPROV! - OCT 23 Live comedy from

UNCANNY: I KNOW WHAT I SAW Join Danny Robbins for ‘the biggest investigation into the paranormalever!’ Fri 13 - Sat 14 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

SIMON REEVES: TO THE END OF THE EARTH An evening with one of the world’s most adventurous travellers, Sat 14 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

- A FOWL MURDER Crack the clues, enjoy a four-course dining experience and travel along the railway, Sat 14 Oct, Severn Valley Railway, Bewdley, Nr Kidderminster

THE NATIONAL SNOW SHOW

Inspirational speakers, cutting-edge technologies and the best in gear, all under one roof, Sat 14 - Sun 15 Oct, NEC, Birmingham

HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR Fangtastic fun on the farm, Sat 14 - Sun 15 Oct, Hatton Adventure World, Warwick

An Audience With Lucy Worsley: Agatha Christie - Birmingham Town Hall

thelist

Gigs

FLAT WORMS Mon 16

Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

ALEX LAHEY Mon 16

Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

MUNICIPAL WASTE +

GEL + UNDEATH Mon 16

Oct, Castle & Falcon

SQUID Mon 16 Oct,

Birmingham Town Hall

KONGERO Mon 16 Oct,

Kitchen Garden, Kings

Heath

JACKSON MATHOD Tues

17 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

MIKE ZITO & ALBERT CASTIGLIA + ADAM

GILES LEVY Tues 17

Oct, Kings Heath

SPEECH DEBELLE Tues

17 Oct, O2 Institute

KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES + THE NIGHTMARES

Tues 17 Oct, O2

Institute

RIVAL SONS + L.A.

EDWARDS Tues 17 Oct,

O2 Academy

BEKI BRINDLE BAND

Tues 17 Oct, Velvet

Music Rooms

HEAVY LUNGS Wed 18

Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

“HONEYBOY” HICKLING

BAND Wed 18 Oct, The Jam House, Jewellery Quarter

HEART OF A COWARD + THECITYISOURS Wed

18 Oct, Devil’s Dog

BELLAH MAE Wed 18

Oct, O2 Institute

CHRIS FOX + SMALL

CHANGES Wed 18 Oct, Red Lion Folk Club, Birmingham

WATERLOO - A TRIBUTE

TO ABBA Wed 18 Oct, Utilita Arena B’ham

SAMBROSO ALLSTARS

Thurs 19 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

DAOIRÍ FARRELL TRIO

Thurs 19 Oct, Nortons, Digbeth

ADAM NUTTER + EXPERIMENT 637 Thurs

19 Oct, The Sunflower Lounge

THE KAIROS Thurs 19

Oct, The Sunflower Lounge

GAVIN DEGRAW Thurs

Monday 16 - Sunday 22 October

Classical Music

PETER DYKE ORGAN RECITAL Tues 17 Oct, Lichfield Cathedral

LONDON CENTRAL BRASS Programme includes works by Carlo Gesualdo arr. Urban Agnas, James MacMillan, Torbjorn Hultmark, Angela Slater, Jason Rebello & Anders Hillborg, Tues 17 Oct, The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

KANE BROWN, KYRAH GRAY, LOYISO

GOLA & TRIXX Sat 21 Oct, The Rep, Birmingham

ROUGH WORKS: NEW MATERIAL NIGHT Sun 22 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

PETER FRANCIS, RICHARD BLACKWOOD, SLIM, AURIE STYLA, DANA ALEXANDER, THENJIWE & ANNETTE FAGON Sun 22

Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

19 Oct, O2 Institute

LARRY JUNE Thurs 19

Oct, O2 Institute

IMPERIAL AGE Thurs 19

Oct, The Asylum

SUNTOU SUSSO Thurs 19 Oct, Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space, Symphony Hall

THE EXTENDED FAMILY BAND Thurs 19 Oct, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Edgbaston

SHY FACE TROUBADOUR

Thurs 19 Oct, Kitchen Garden, Kings Heath

JOE MCELDERRY Fri 20

Oct, Old Rep

ALABASTER Fri 20 Oct, Tilt, City Arcade

LITTLE MAN TATE + THE INSTITUTES +

SHAMBOLICS Fri 20 Oct, O2 Institute

KEZIA GILL Fri 20 Oct, O2 Institute

MAHALIA Fri 20 Oct, O2

Academy

POP-PUNK! ON BRASS Fri 20 Oct, O2 Academy

HAGGARD CAT Fri 20

Oct, The Victoria

OYSTERBAND Fri 20 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

WHITNEY - QUEEN OF THE NIGHT Fri 20 Oct, The Civic at The Halls

Wolverhampton

TRUE ORDER - NEW ORDER TRIBUTE Sat 21

Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

MIGHTY MIGHTY +

GERRY COLVIN + THE LEAKING MACHINE Sat

21 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

JENNIFER OWENS Sat 21

Oct, The Sunflower Lounge

ON THE SESH + DAN

MURPHY Sat 21 Oct, Nortons, Digbeth

HERE AT LAST Sat 21

Oct, O2 Institute

ANDREW CUSHIN Sat 21

Oct, O2 Institute

THE CLONE ROSES + DEFINITELY MIGHTBE + THE JAMES EXPERIENCE

Sat 21 Oct, O2

Academy

BRASS AGAINST Sat 21

Oct, O2 Academy

TEETH OF THE SEA Sat

21 Oct, The Asylum

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA

Sat 21 Oct,

Birmingham Town Hall

AFTERTHOUGHT +

FEELINGS MUTUAL + EL FAUNA + AKSHIT DHALL

Sat 21 Oct, The Rainbow, Digbeth

TUNDE Sat 21 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

EUROPE Sat 21 Oct, The Civic at The Halls Wolverhampton

MANCHESTER

COLLECTIVE Sun 22

Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR Sun 22

Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

THE BLUETONES Sun 22

Oct, O2 Institute

CODY PENNINGTON COUNTRY SHOW Sun 22

Oct, O2 Institute

THE JAPANESE HOUSE

Sun 22 Oct, O2

Academy

TIGERCUB + JAMES AND THE COLD GUN Sun 22

Oct, The Asylum

THE WATERBOYS Sun 22

Oct, Symphony Hall

LUDOVICO EINAUDI Featuring special guest Sam Lee. Programme includes tracks from Underwater - 12 newly composed solo piano tracks, Wed 18 Oct, Resorts World Arena, Birmingham

KENNETH HAMILTON PIANO RECITAL Programme includes works by Chopin & Liszt, arr. Busoni, Fri 20 Oct, Elgar Concert Hall, Bramall Music Building, University of Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM PHILHARMONIC

ORCHESTRA: 80TH ANNIVERSARY

CONCERT Programme includes works by Elgar & Beethoven, Sun 22 Oct, Birmingham Town Hall

Comedy

JACKIE FABULOUS Tues 17 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

SHANE TODD Tues 17 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

STEFF TODD Wed 18 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

JOSH PUGH, ERIC RUSHTON, KAREN

BAYLEY & FREDDY QUINNE Wed 18 Oct, Herbert’s Yard, Birmingham

ROMESH RANGANATHAN Wed 18Thurs 19 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

COMEDY CAROUSEL WITH ANDY

ROBINSON, LOST VOICE GUY & IAN

COPPINGER Thurs 19 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

SOPHIE MCCARTNEY Thurs 19 Oct, Birmingham Town Hall

TERRY CHRISTIAN Thurs 19 Oct, The Mill, Digbeth, Birmingham

SUZI RUFFELL Thurs 19 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

JAY LAFFERTY, LOST VOICE GUY, GAVIN

WEBSTER, IAN COPPINGER & JON

CAPEWELL Fri 20 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

SEAN COLLINS Fri 20 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

TOM DAVIS Fri 20 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

PETE OTWAY, RAUL KOHLI, ADAM BLOOM & DAVE LONGLEY Sat 21 Oct, Rosies Nightclub, Birmingham

JAY LAFFERTY, LOST VOICE GUY, GAVIN WEBSTER & IAN COPPINGER Sat 21

Theatre

SH!T FACED SHAKESPEARE: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING A combination of hacked-to-bits Shakespeare script, half a dozen professional actors and a bucketload of booze... Tues 17

Oct, Lichfield Garrick

PRETTY WOMAN THE MUSICAL Amber Davie, Ore Odube and Oliver Savile star in this touring version of the smash-hit musical, Tues 17 - Sat 28 Oct, The Alexandra, Birmingham

TAKING SIDES Highbury Players present an amateur version of Ronald Harwood’s drama, Tues 17Sat 28 Oct, Highbury Theatre Centre, Birmingham

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

- THE MUSICAL Roald Dahl’s iconic story is brought to the stage in a new production fusing memorable songs from the 1971 film with new numbers from the award-winning songwriters of Hairspray, Tues 17 Oct - Sun 5 Nov, Birmingham Hippodrome

SH!T FACED SHAKESPEARE: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING A combination of hacked-to-bits Shakespeare script, half a dozen professional actors and a bucketload of booze... Wed 18 Oct, Old Rep, Birmingham

DRACULA: MINA’S RECKONING A contemporary retelling of Bram Stoker’s classic horror, Wed 18 - Sat 21 Oct, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

Squid - Birmingham Town Hall

thelist

WAR OF THE WORLDS (ON A BUDGET) An abridged version of the HG Wells classic, ‘featuring one actor, a loop pedal, ukulele, lots of cardboard, many hats and terrifying tripod puppets’, Thurs 19 Oct, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham

Dance

MATTHEW BOURNE’S ROMEO & JULIET

New Adventures’ critically acclaimed production of Shakespeare’s timeless tale, Tues 17 - Sat 21 Oct, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

Light Entertainment

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

Shakespeare’s comedy is transported to 1980s Italy. Presented by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s Acting Department, Thurs 19 - Sat 21 Oct, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

CRIMES ON CENTRE COURT Murder and mayhem combine in a tennis-themed whodunnit performed by New Old Friends, Thurs 19 - Sat 21 Oct, Lichfield Garrick

EATING MYSELF Pepa Duarte’s onewoman show offers a full sensory experience exploring womanhood, body image and tradition, Fri 20 - Sat 21 Oct, The Old Joint Stock, Birmingham

WAR OF THE WORLDS (ON A BUDGET) An abridged version of the HG Wells classic, featuring ‘one actor, a loop pedal, ukulele, lots of cardboard, many hats and terrifying tripod puppets’, Sat 21 Oct, Lichfield Garrick

ASHES TO ASHES & A KIND OF ALASKA

The Crescent Theatre Company present amateur versions of two Harold Pinter plays, Sat 21 - Sat 28 Oct, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

Kids Theatre

NEST M6 Theatre fuse clowning, original song and shadow play in a brand-new family show telling a tale about taking care, discovering what’s important and learning how to fly, Sat 21 Oct, The Rep, Birmingham

HISTORY IN THE MAKING: A BLACK HISTORY SPECIAL A trip down the Black History timeline, presented through drama, spoken word, dance and music performance, Tues 17Wed 18 Oct, Patrick Studio, Birmingham Hippodrome

UNCANNY: I KNOW WHAT I SAW Danny Robbins undertakes ‘the biggest-ever investigation into the paranormal’, Wed 18 Oct, Birmingham Town Hall

with the decorated SAS leader as he shares his inspirational story, Sat 21 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

Events

MINI MOTORISTS MONDAYS Find the museum cats before enjoying a special Halloween-themed singalong, Mon 16 Oct, British Motor Museum, Gaydon

experience’, Sat 21 Oct, Millennium Point, Birmingham

EXPLORE ASTON HALL Immerse yourself in 400 years of history in the Jacobean mansion, Sat 21 Oct, Aston Hall, Birmingham

GCCF SUPREME CAT SHOW 2023 Cats of all shapes, sizes and coat textures will be attendance! Sat 21 Oct, NAEC Stoneleigh, Kenilworth

J0E MCELDERRY: CELEBRATE THE MUSIC

Evening celebrating music from a wide range of genres and eras, Thurs 19 Oct, Old Rep, Birmingham

JURASSIC PARK 30TH ANNIVERSARY

LIVE IN CONCERT Watch the Stephen Spielberg classic in HD on a big screen while the Halle Orchestra perform John Williams’ iconic score live on stage, Sat 21 Oct, Resorts World Arena, Birmingham

DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS? Leading man Adam - an actor turned paranormal investigator - unravels the legends of theatre ghosts, Sun 22 Oct, Lichfield Garrick

NICK COPE A show that promises to appeal to children and adults alike, ‘with songs to reach into the heart and ignite the imaginations of younger audience members’, Sun 22 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

Talks & Spoken

Word

AN EVENING WITH ADRIAN EDMONDSON

CASTLE KIDS PLAYGROUP Toys, games and craft activities for children aged up to five, Tues 17 Oct, Weoley Castle, Birmingham

THE MOTORHOME AND CARAVAN SHOW Explore the new 2024 motorhome, campervan, caravan and trailer tents from the leading UK and European manufacturers, Tues 17 - Sun 22 Oct, NEC, Birmingham

THINKTANK TASTER TOUR Guided tour of a selection of the Visitor Service Team’s favourite items, Fri 20 Oct, Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum

ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975)

WITH COCKTAILS Screening of the hit comedy horror film, presented alongside ‘a unique cocktail

SPOOKY SPECTACULAR Join Patch the pumpkin-scarecrow and his new friend, Mitzy Monster, Sat 21 OctSun 5 Nov, West Midland Safari Park, Bewdley, Nr Kidderminster

FREDDO’S SPOOKTACULAR STAGE SHOW ‘The spookiest live stage show in town’, Sat 21 Oct - Sun 5 Nov, Cadbury World, Bournville

LARGE MODEL AIRCRAFT SHOW

Featuring over 100 large static radiocontrolled model aircraft, Sun 22 Oct, British Motor Museum, Gaydon DECODING CRIME WRITING:

UNLEASHING THE POWER OF AI AND STORYTELLING Join author Ajay Chowdhury for a ‘criminally fun workshop and discussion’, Sun 22 Oct, West Midlands Police Museum, Birmingham

TOM THUMB Classic children’s tale brought to life by Lyngo Theatre. Expect feathery spinning birds, a flying house and a portable forest, Sun 22 Oct, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham

A chance to hear the comedy legend’s back story - from strict Methodist upbringing and boarding school education, through to joining the comedy revolution and more... Tues 17 Oct, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

BILLY BILLINGHAM MBE: ALWAYS A LITTLE FURTHER Spend an evening

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo & Juliet - Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

Thinktank Taster Tours - Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum

thelist

Monday 23 - Tuesday 31 October

BROOKEHORSE +

JOHANNA REY + BLACK

TAPE Fri 27 Oct, The Asylum

DEPRESSION BABY Fri 27

Oct, The Victoria

PLUS-MINUS Fri 27 Oct, Royal Birmingham

Conservatoire

MAX ZT & DAN

WHITEHOUSE Fri 27 Oct, Royal Birmingham

Conservatoire

NESSI GOMES + AAYUSHI

+ GENEVIEVE Fri 27 Oct, Crescent Theatre

JLS Fri 27 - Sat 28 Oct, Utilita Arena B’ham

AMY MONTGOMERY +

Gigs

MODERNLOVE. +

ELLYSSE MASON Mon 23

Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

YE VAGABONDS Mon 23

Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

THE DUNWELLS Mon 23

Oct, The Sunflower Lounge

ELLIE GOULDING Mon 23

Oct, O2 Institute

Oct, Kitchen Garden, Kings Heath

SHED SEVEN + THE SLOW READERS CLUB

Tues 24 Oct, The Wulfrun at The Halls

Wolverhampton

PROTOMARTYR Wed 25

Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

TAILGUNNER + HELLFEKTED + WHITE

TYGER Wed 25 Oct, The Asylum

ZAND Wed 25 Oct, The Victoria, Birmingham

MICHELL, PFEIFFER & KULESH + JOHN & CAROL HOARE Wed 25

Oct, Red Lion Folk Club

HAIRCUT 100 Wed 25

Oct, Birmingham Town Hall

HOLLY JOHNSON Wed 25

Institute

BOSSTRIA - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE ESTREET BAND TRIBUTE

Thurs 26 Oct, Castle & Falcon

SEBA SAFE Thurs 26

Oct, The Victoria

CHE AIMEE DORVAL Sat 28 Oct, The Sunflower Lounge

LAST RESORT Sat 28

Oct, Devil’s Dog

THE FATHER TEDS Sat 28

Oct, Nortons, Digbeth

SAMANTHA FISH Sat 28

Oct, O2 Institute

WE THREE + MORGAN ST.

JEAN Sat 28 Oct, O2 Institute

ELECTRIC CALLBOY + AS EVERYTHING UNFOLDS +

MONUMENTS Sat 28 Oct, O2 Academy

THE SOUP DRAGONS +

BMX BANDITS Sat 28

Oct, O2 Academy

BLACK VOICES Sat 28

Oct, Warwick Arts

Centre, Coventry

LLOYD COLE Sat 28 Oct, Coventry Cathedral

GABRIELLE Sat 28 Oct, The Civic at The Halls

Wolverhampton

Heath

MARTI PELLOW Sun 29

Oct, Lichfield Garrick

SAINT AGNES Mon 30

Oct, O2 Institute

RBC JAZZ ORCHESTRA WITH TIM HAGANS Mon 30 Oct, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

SHUBH Mon 30 Oct, Forum

EMPLOYED TO SERVE +

PUPIL SLICER + GOING OFF! Tues 31 Oct, Devil’s Dog

KASSI VALAZZA Sun 29

Oct, The Sunflower Lounge

BROKEN DRUMSTICK +

MY LAST DUTCHESS +

SPITWASH + JINXED +

REDEMPTION Sun 29

Oct, O2 Institute

CITY AND COLOUR Sun

29 Oct, O2 Institute

NEWTON FAULKNER Sun 29 Oct, O2 Institute

MAISIE PETERS Sun 29 Oct, O2 Academy

THE BOO RADLEYS + CUD Tues 31 Oct, O2 Institute

ENGLISH TEACHER Tues 31 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

BRENT FAIYAZ Mon 23

Oct, O2 Academy

SARAH SMOUT Mon 23

Oct, Kitchen Garden, Kings Heath

FUTURE UTOPIA Tues 24

Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

ROMAIN VIRGO Tues 24

Oct, The Jam House, Jewellery Quarter

THY ART IS MURDER +

WHITECHAPEL + FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY + SPITE

Tues 24 Oct, O2 Institute

THE CLOVERHEARTS +

JOLLYROGER + PASSIVE

FIX Tues 24 Oct, The Flapper

SIXTIES GOLD Tues 24

Oct, Symphony Hall

MAC AYRES Tues 24 Oct,

Mama Roux’s

ANDY IRVINE Tues 24

Oct, Symphony Hall

LYNNE HANSON Wed 25

Oct, Kitchen Garden, Kings Heath

MARTI PELLOW Wed 25

Oct, Warwick Arts

Centre, Coventry

QUILL Wed 25 Oct,

Lichfield Garrick

KRISTIN HERSH Thurs 26

Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

ZYGGURAT + ANTHONY

CHILD Thurs 26 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

EXIST IMMORTAL +

GLASS GRAVE Thurs 26

Oct, Devil’s Dog

THE KINGS OF SPAIN

Thurs 26 Oct, Tilt, City

Arcade

NOAHFINNCE + BLACKOUT PROBLEMS

Thurs 26 Oct, O2

KIT DOWNES & ENEMY

Thurs 26 Oct, Royal

Birmingham Conservatoire

S CLUB Thurs 26 Oct,

Utilita Arena, B’ham

NICK HARPER Thurs 26

Oct, Kitchen Garden, Kings Heath

ANTHONY JOHN CLARKE

Thurs 26 Oct,

Bromsgrove Folk Club

ROYAL BLOOD + HOTWAX

Thurs 26 Oct, The Civic at The Halls Wolverhampton

VENBEE Fri 27 Oct, O2 Institute

THE DUST CODA + DOOMSDAY OUTLAW + BUNKER 9 Fri 27 Oct, O2 Institute

YOUNG FATHERS Fri 27

Oct, O2 Institute

THE REYTONS + THE K’S + DECLAN WELSH + THE DECADENT WEST Fri 27

Oct, O2 Academy

STONEBWOY Fri 27 Oct, O2 Academy

FANGS OUT +

PALUCH X SŁOŃ Sat 28

Oct, Castle & Falcon

THE UKULELE ORCHESTRA OF GREAT BRITAIN Sat 28 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

S CLUB Sun 29 Oct, Utilita Arena

Birmingham

SAM LEWIS Sun 29 Oct, Kitchen Garden, Kings

MAISIE PETERS Tues 31 Oct, O2 Academy

WUNDERHORSE + EADES + BASHT. Tues 31 Oct, O2 Academy

MCFLY Tues 31 Oct, O2 Academy

FALL OUT BOY + PVRIS + NOTHING, NOWHERE. Tues 31 Oct, Utilita

Arena Birmingham

REG MEUROSS Tues 31 Oct, Kitchen Garden, Kings Heath

Haircut 100 - Birmingham Town Hall

Kit Downes & Enemy - Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

thelist

Classical Music

LUNCHTIME ORGAN CONCERT WITH THOMAS TROTTER Programme includes works by Buxtehude, Susato, Byrd, Merkel, Weir & Coates, Mon 23 Oct, Birmingham Town Hall

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF UKRAINE Featuring Volodymyr Sirenko (conductor) & Antonii Baryshevskyi (piano). Programme includes works by Lyatosynsky, Beethoven & Sibelius, Tues 24 Oct, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

TIMOTHY RIDOUT: SOLO VIOLA RECITAL Programme includes works by Caroline Shaw, Georg Philipp Telemann, Sally Beamish, György

Kurtág, Benjamin Britten & Johann Sebastian Bach, Wed 25 Oct, The Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

CHINEKE! ORCHESTRA Featuring soloist Nathan Amaral (violin). Programme includes works by Haydn, Bologne & Beethoven, Thurs 26 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

LANG LANG PLAYS THE GOLDBERG

VARIATIONS Fri 27 Oct, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

LUNCHTIME RECITAL WITH TIM STEWART Fri 27 Oct, Birmingham Cathedral

SPIDER-MAN INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

LIVE IN CONCERT Sat 28 Oct, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Comedy

TOM LUCY Wed 25 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

JUDI LOVE Fri 27 Oct, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

DAN NIGHTINGALE Fri 27 Oct, Warwick

Arts Centre, Coventry

JOSH PUGH, MARTIN MÓR, STEVE

WILLIAMS & PAUL MCCAFFREY Fri 27Sat 28 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

JOHN ROBINS Sat 28 Oct, Birmingham

Town Hall

ROB ROUSE, FINLAY CHRISTIE, MATT

BRAGG & JON PEARSON Sat 28 Oct, Rosies Nightclub, Birmingham

ANGELA BARNES Sat 28 Oct, Old Rep, Birmingham

THE THIRSTRAP QUEER COMEDY NIGHT

Sat 28 Oct, Tilt, Central Arcade, Birmingham

HARE OF THE DOG COMEDY Sun 29 Oct, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham

JEN BRISTER Mon 30 Oct, Birmingham

Town Hall

story of five women drawn together by motherhood, Wed 25 - Sat 28 Oct, Patrick Studio, Birmingham Hippodrome

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Amateur version presented by Manor Musical Theatre, Wed 25 - Sat 28 Oct, Sutton Coldfield Town Hall

THE REAL AND IMAGINED HISTORY OF THE ELEPHANT MAN Tom Wright’s acclaimed play, Thurs 26 - Sat 28 Oct, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

Theatre

ONE MAN POE Using Edgar Allan Poe’s original text, one actor brings to life ‘four of the most terrifying examples of gothic literature’, Tues 24 Oct, The Old Joint Stock, Birmingham

GREEN AND BLUE Kabosh Theatre’s award-winning play looks at the societal and human cost of borders, Tues 24 Oct, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham

DOUBLE BILL OF LOCKED ROOM

MYSTERIES Featuring Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Speckled Band and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Murders In The Rue Morgue, Thurs 26 Oct - Sat 4 Nov, Blue Orange Theatre, Birmingham

BEHIND THE CURTAIN BOA Stage & Screen Production Academy, in collaboration with Cirque L’amour Aerial Arts & Pole Academy, present an immersive theatrical experience for Halloween, Mon 30 - Tues 31 Oct, Old Rep, Birmingham

TWELVE ANGRY MEN Hollywood star Patrick Duffy leads the cast in Reginald Rose’s gripping courtroom drama, Mon 30 Oct - Sat 4 Nov, The Alexandra, Birmingham

PETER PAN GOES WRONG Mischief are back with their riotous spin on a timeless classic, Mon 30 Oct - Sat 4 Nov, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

examines the pressures faced by young Muslim men in an ‘exhilarating’ new play about fitting in and striking out, Tues 31 Oct - Sat 4 Nov, The Rep, Birmingham

THE BOX OF DELIGHTS The RSC’s festive family show follows an orphaned schoolboy who finds himself the guardian of a small wooden box with powers beyond his wildest dreams, Tues 31 Oct - Sun 7 Jan, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

Kids Theatre

THE AMAZING BUBBLE MAN Children’s show in which Louis Pearl showcases the art, magic, science and fun of bubbles, Sat 28 Oct, Lichfield Garrick BEAUTY & THE BEAST - POCKET-SIZED

PANTO The pantomime season arrives a little early and comes complete with ‘song, dance and laughter’, Sat 28 Oct - Sun 5 Nov, Birmingham Botanical Gardens

ROALD DAHL & THE IMAGINATION

SEEKERS A show for young children that aims to develop both creative and literary skills while exploring two of Roald Dahl’s stories, Sun 29 Oct, Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space, Symphony Hall

THE AMAZING BUBBLE MAN Children’s show in which Louis Pearl showcases the art, magic, science and fun of bubbles, Mon 29 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

THUMBELINA Live music, dance and song combine in a production telling the story of a miniature girl finding her place in the big wide world, Tues 31 Oct, Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton

DAN HAGLEY Wed 25 - Thurs 26 Oct, The Rep, Birmingham

COMEDY CAROUSEL WITH ANDY

ROBINSON, STEVE WILLIAMS & PAUL

MCCAFFREY Thurs 26 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

ROB ROUSE, FREDDY QUINNE, TOM

DEACON, MATT FOSTER & DREW TAYLOR Thurs 26 Oct, Hockley Social Club, Birmingham

TOM DAVIS Thurs 26 Oct, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

NABIL ABDULRASHID Thurs 26 Oct, Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton

THOMAS GREEN Fri 27 Oct, The Glee Club, Birmingham

GAVIN WEBSTER, JULES O’BRIAN & PHIL PAGETT Fri 27 Oct, The Station, Birmingham

CHEEKY LITTLE BROWN A coming-ofage story examining the friendship between two Black women on diverging paths of self-love and acceptance, Tues 24 - Sat 28 Oct, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

HALF WAY ‘ROUND THE BEND’ An ‘unflinchingly honest and cheerfully anarchic fusion of contemporary writing and stand-up comedy that explores ‘what it really means to live, work and thrive with mental illness’, Wed 25 - Thurs 26 Oct, The Rep, Birmingham

INTO THE WOODS Creators Theatre Company present Stephen Sondheim’s award-winning musical, Mon 30 Oct - Sun 5 Nov, The Dovehouse Theatre, Solihull

HAUNTED Adam Z Robinson presents two tales to chill the blood: The Monkey’s Paw by WW Jacobs and The Upper Berth by F Marion Crawford, Tues 31 Oct, The Old Joint Stock, Birmingham

HALLOWEEN FAMILY SHOW: THE CANTERVILLE GHOST Original adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play, especially written for children and young families, Tues 31 Oct, Ludlow Assembly Rooms, South Shropshire

BROWN BOYS SWIM Karim Khan

THE SINGING MERMAID Julia Donaldson & Lydia Monks’ enchanting children’s story is brought to life using puppetry, music and song, Tues 31 Oct - Wed 1 Nov, Lichfield Garrick

THE SMEDS AND THE SMOOS A joyful tale of star-crossed lovers, based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Tues 31 Oct - Wed 1 Nov, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

Light Entertainment

MOST HAUNTED THE STAGE SHOW

Hosted by Yvette Fielding and featuring the TV show’s all-time top10 scares, complete with previously unseen video footage, Mon 23 Oct, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

THE PUNDITS An evening with football pundits Jeff Stelling, Paul Merson, Matt Le Tissier, Phil Thompson & Charlie Nicholas, Tues 24 Oct,

THE GOOD ENOUGH MUMS CLUB A poignant new musical telling the

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

KIN - BARELY METHODICAL TROUPE The ‘UK’s hottest circus company’ perform their five-star hit show, Tues 24 Oct, Lichfield Garrick

FUNNY GIRLS HALLOWEEN SHOW

FEATURING BETTY LEGS DIAMOND Join Betty and her crypt kicker dancers for a spooky spectacle. Note that all children must be accompanied by an adult, Wed 25 - Thurs 26 Oct, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

TAILENDERS The award-winning podcast team (Greg James, Felix White and Jimmy Anderson) take to the road with their alternative (and sometimes musical) look at cricket, Thurs 26 Oct, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

SHELL SUIT CHER Laugh, dance and play to win as Cher (aka Tracey Collins) ‘unzips her wild journey from Vegas to Mecca and beyond’, Fri 27 Oct, The Old Joint Stock, B’ham

REVEREND RICHARD COLES:

BORDERLINE NATIONAL TRINKET The only British vicar to have had a number-one hit single lifts the lid on a life ‘truly and truthfully lived’, Fri 27 Oct, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham

BUFFY REVAMPED Seventy minutes. Seven seasons. One Spike, Sat 28 Oct, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

ABBOT & COSTELLO MEET

FRANKENSTEIN WITH WINE A unique showing of the 1948 horror comedy classic, presented alongside a ‘fun & freaky’ wine-tasting experience featuring five themed wines chosen by wine geek Tony Elvin, Sun 29 Oct, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR A ‘fangtastic family show filled with magic and illusion’, Mon 30 Oct, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

SASHA VELOUR: THE BIG REVEAL LIVE

SHOW An immersive evening of drag, storytelling and live art, Tues 31 Oct, Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Talks & Spoken Word

CALEB FEMI IN CONVERSATION An evening with the acclaimed writer, director and photographer, Wed 25 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

STEVE BACKSHALL: OCEAN Family show featuring stunts, experiments, props, cutting-edge science and big-screen footage, Fri 27 Oct, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry

Events

CASTLE KIDS PLAYGROUP Toys, games and craft activities for children aged up to five, Tues 24 Oct, Weoley Castle, Birmingham

DESIBLITZ LITERATURE FESTIVAL:

EMERGING WRITERS Discover new talent in British Asian writing, Wed 25 Oct, The Exchange, Centenary Square, Birmingham

ELVIS LIVE ON SCREEN Full-scale concert featuring Elvis on screen while the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra perform some of his bestknown songs live on stage, Fri 27 Oct, Resorts World Arena, Birmingham

GHOSTS AT THE LOCK UP A night of ghost stories and spooky tales, Fri 27 Oct, West Midlands Police Museum, Birmingham

REEL & MEAL: HALLOWEEN Featuring a special dinner cooked up in the Kiln Kitchen and a screening of the 1970s classic, Fri 27 Oct, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham

GHOST HUNTS Under the cover of darkness, take part in guided investigations across the site, with access to ghost-hunting equipment and experienced mediums, Fri 27Sun 29 Oct, Sandwell Valley Visitor Centre

THE MONSTER MASH BALL Set sail on a narrowboat to join Krazy Kris and his Groovy UV gang, Fri 27 - Tues 31 Oct, Dudley Canal and Caverns

GHOST TALES AT KENILWORTH CASTLE

Join historic storytellers on a spinetingling journey through history, Fri 27 - Tues 31 Oct, Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire

PUMPKIN EXTRAVAGANZA Get ready for a spooktacular adventure filled with pumpkin picking, creepy carving and thrilling theatre, Fri 27 Oct - Fri 3 Nov, Becketts Farm, Wythall, Birmingham

HALLOWEEN FAMILY SPOOKY TOUR A family-friendly ‘spooky storytelling tour’ of Blakesley Hall, Sat 28 Oct, Blakesley Hall, Birmingham

EXPLORE ASTON HALL Immerse yourself in 400 years of history in the Jacobean mansion, Sat 28 Oct, Aston Hall, Birmingham

HALLOWEEN SILENT DISCO Put your Halloween costume on and enjoy three DJs battling it out, Sat 28 Oct, Millennium Point, Birmingham

STARGAZING EVENING Learn how to use a telescope to understand the constellations, Sat 28 Oct, Royal Air Force Museum Midlands, Cosford

GREAT BRITISH MODEL RAILWAY SHOW A family-friendly weekend dedicated to model trains and layouts, Sat 28Sun 29 Oct, British Motor Museum, Gaydon

SCREAM TRAINS Hold on tight as the train passes through haunted stations on the way to Arley, Sat 28Tues 31 Oct, Severn Valley Railway, Bewdley, Nr Kidderminster

GHOST TRAINS Take a thrilling ride in the dark through haunted stations, Sat 28 - Tues 31 Oct, Severn Valley Railway, Bewdley, Nr Kidderminster

SPOOKY MILL TOURS Family-friendly guided tour of the historic watermill, Sat 28 Oct - Fri 3 Nov, Sarehole Mill, Birmingham

BOTANICAL BEASTS AND MYTHICAL CREATURES Meet witches & wizards who’ve stepped out of storybooks, Sat 28 Oct - Sun 5 Nov, Birmingham

Botanical Gardens

JET AND SPACE WEEK A whole week of activities exploring space, jets and the future of the RAF, Sat 28 OctSun 5 Nov, Royal Air Force Museum

Midlands, Cosford

HALLOWEEN KIDS DISCO Celebrate Halloween with music, fun and games, Sun 29 Oct, Blakesley Hall, Birmingham

ASTON HALLOWEEN Meet spooky characters as you explore the hall, Sun 29 Oct, Aston Hall, Birmingham

SPOOKY STAY AND PLAY Event aimed at encouraging little ones to enjoy creative, interactive and sensory play, Mon 30 Oct - Fri 3 Nov, Thinktank

Birmingham Science Museum

FRIGHT AT THE MUSEUM FAMILY SHOW

Prepare for a ‘monstrous’ show featuring freaky facts and spooky science, Mon 30 Oct - Fri 3 Nov, Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum

REEL & MEAL: HOCUS POCUS Featuring a special dinner cooked up in the Kiln kitchen and a screening of the 1990s classic, Tues 31 Oct, Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham

HALLOWEEN TRAIL AND CRAFT Follow the ghosts as you explore the ruins before getting stuck into a craft activity, Tues 31 Oct, Weoley Castle, Birmingham

SPOOKY SCIENCE FAMILY NIGHT Explore the museum after dark and take part in spooky activities, Tues 31 Oct, Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum

AUTUMN ART WORKSHOPS Halloweenthemed crafts designed for children aged five to 13, Tues 31 Oct - Thurs 2 Nov, Sutton Coldfield Town Hall

Spooky Science Family Night - Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum

Great British Model Railway Show - British Motor Museum, Gaydon

Competitions

Enter now at

be

WIN! with What’s On...

with a chance of bagging one of these fabulous prizes!

A pair of tickets to see Peter Pan Goes Wrong

Mischief return to the region this month with their riotous spin on a timeless classic - West End smash hit Peter Pan Goes Wrong.

The show visits Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from Monday 30 October - Saturday 4 November and we have a pair of tickets to give away for the 7.30pm performance on the opening night.

Competition closes Friday 20 October

A pair of tickets to see The Box Of Delights

The RSC’s ‘magically festive’ production of The Box Of Delights is sure to enchant families this winter with performances running at Stratford-upon-Avon’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre from Tuesday 31 October to Sunday 7 January.

We’ve joined with the RSC to offer readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to the afternoon performance on Saturday 18 November.

Competition closes Monday 6 November