Malvern Theature presents rich harvest of entertainment on stage this autumn (From Ludlow Advertiser)

Malvern Theature presents rich harvest of entertainment on stage this autumn

8:00am Wednesday 2nd September 2009

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SEPTEMBER sees the opening of the autumn season at Malvern Theatres, where a fabulous programme of drama, music and dance will provide plenty of inspiration for shorter evenings.

Kicking off the season next week is Peter Bowles in a double bill of oneact plays: Terence Rattigan’s The Browning Version and Chekhov’s Swan Song.

He’s followed by Malvern Theatre Players’ new production Inherit the Wind, regarded as one of the most moving and meaningful plays in American theatre, based on the infamous ‘monkey trial’ of 1925 when a young teacher was pilloried for exposing young children to Darwin’s theories of evolution.

Also in September, Spike Milligan’s celebrated war memoirs, Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall, are brought to life in a hilarious new stage adaptation.

And English Touring Theatre present Roger McGough’s new adaptation of Moliere’s The Hypochondriac.

More laughter is guaranteed with the all new Round the Horne, Unseen and Uncut, which brings to life the bizarre collection of characters created by Barr y Took and Marty Feldman which kept a quarter of the population captivated in its radio heyday.

Su Pollard stars in one of the bestloved musicals of all time, Annie, with its memorable score including the legendar y Tomorrow, and English Touring Opera present Handelfest, the biggest celebration of Handel’s operatic work anywhere in Europe in 2009, the 250th anniversary of his death.

Back by popular demand this autumn is Cabaret, starring Wayne Sleep, with its show-stopping choreography, dazzling costumes and some of the most iconic songs in music theatre.

And following its critically acclaimed West End run last year, Headlong’s radical re-imagining of Pirandello’s classic Six Characters in Search of an Author comes to Malvern at the beginning of November, with a cast that includes Catherine McCormack and Jack Shepherd.

Other drama highlights of the season include Simon Shepherd and Philip Franks in the classic spy comedy caper Our Man in Havana, Malvern favourite Felicity Kendal in George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s Profession and Susan Hampshire as one of the most memorable of matriarchs, Mrs Bennett, in Pride and Prejudice.

Described by The Scotsman as ‘a force to be reckoned with’, 2FaCeD Dance Co are back in Malvern on October 17, with their highly charged, gritty new work choreographed by award-winning Tamsin Fitzgerald.

Three other shows that offer contemporary, innovative and exciting entertainment are Markus the Sadist, a rap opera; Vincent Dance Theatre’s If We Go On and Red Cape Theatre’s The Idiot Colony. Malvern Theatres has a special offer on these four shows, with any two available for £17.50.

There’s also a strong musical string to Malvern’s autumn bow, with performances from Tasmin Little and the London Mozart Players, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Leon McCawley and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

The Yamaha International Piano Series starts on November 2 with Angela Hewitt and ends on March 18 next year with a performance by John Lill.

The season culminates, as it does ever y year, with the Malvern Theatres’ panto. This year Colin Baker stars as Fleshcreep in Jack and the Beanstalk alongside children’s favourites, Mike Fischetti from CBBC and Amy Thompson from Five’s Milkshake with Last of the Summer Wine’s Sarah Thomas as the Fairy.

For more information or to book, call 01684 892277 or visit malverntheatres.

co.uk.

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