As the Bolton Octagon gets ready to take audiences to Neverland in its festive production of Peter Pan, the theatre is looking ahead to spring with two premieres, a modern classic and the smash-hit comedy that was to have reopened the theatre in 2020, after its multi-million-pound refurbishment.
Opening the season will be - at last - the regional premiere of Vinay Patel’s critically-acclaimed play An Adventure (February 4-26, 2022), an epic love story that follows the journey of husband and wife Rasik and Jyoti across seven decades and three continents.
The drama was another originally chosen for the theatre’s reopening season in 2020.
The Octagon follows it with a new adaptation of Barry Hines’ classic story Kes (March 10-April 2, 2022), in a co-production with Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake. Adapted for the stage by Robert Alan Evans, Kes follows bullied and neglected teenager Billy Casper in 1960s Yorkshire, whose life is changed when he finds a kestrel hawk that he cares for and trains.
Next up is the world premiere of Habibti Driver (April 21-May 7, 2022) a new East-meets-Wigan comedy. Relationships are put to the test for Ashraf – an Egyptian Muslim taxi driver – and his half-Egyptian, half-Wigan daughter Shazia, in this heart-warming new play.
Closing the season as we enter the summer is brilliant comedy One Man, Two Guvnors (May 26-June 25, 2022). Richard Bean’s modern farce is a riotous mix of slapstick, hilarity and live music as recently-fired Francis Henshaw finds himself juggling not one but two new jobs and he tries to keep his two guvnors apart.
Looking ahead, audiences will also be able to buy tickets for the Octagon’s 2022 festive production - a musical adaptation of Dickens’ classic tale A Christmas Carol (November 17, 2022-January 14, 2023).
Octagon’s artistic director Lotte Wakeham said: “After an extraordinary year for the Octagon it feels wonderful to now be looking ahead to 2022.”
I am incredibly excited by the shows we have lined up for audiences over the coming months – there is a real mix of laugh out loud comedy, classic drama and new writing.
“The productions of An Adventure and One Man Two Guvnors were originally announced as part of our original 2020 opening programme, then postponed due to the pandemic, so I’m thrilled we can now bring them to the stage as part of our new spring/summer season.”
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