Strictly Come Dancing star Johannes Radebe is to star in a new UK tour of musical Kinky Boots next year. Nothern dates so far announced are Manchester Palace (February 4-8); Newcastle Theatre Royal (May 6-10); Leeds Grand (May 20-24) and Liverpool Empire (July 8-12). With a score by Cyndi Lauper and book by Harvey Fierstein, the show has been a Broadway and West End hit, based on a true story and the movie of the same name. After inheriting his family's failing shoe factory and with a relationship on the rocks, life is proving difficult for Charlie Price – until he meets Lola, a drag queen whose sparkle and unsteady heels might just hold the answer to saving the struggling business. South African born Johannes toured the world in the international dance show Burn The Floor before being head-hunted for Strictly Come Dancing. In 2021 he and his celebrity partner John Waite were the first all-male partnership on the show. His debut solo UK tour Freedom and follow up show Freedom Unleashed sold out across the UK, and he is currently on tour with this third show: House of Jojo. More info and tickets here

Independent theatre company Dangerous To Know takes hard-hitting, award-winning play On Me to Waterside Arts in Sale, Manchester (May 2) and Bolton Library (May 16-17). The play, by Manchester-based writer and actor Caroline Lamb, deals with sexual abuse, rape and the victimsation of women, whose fear and experiences can often be severely traumatising. Actors Shona and Christian have just started working together on a true-crime docudrama. Christian plays a cruel abuser-turned-killer and Shona his survivor. As filming progresses, their feelings for each other grow – along with fear, self-doubt, frustration and a creeping sense of danger. Two years ago the play received an Off West End OFFfest award, as well being shortlisted at the Greater Manchester Fringe awards for Best Drama and the Write for the Stage prize for new writing. The Waterside evening starts with the play, which will run for an hour, to be followed by a panel discussion featuring members of the creative team, workers from local charities and academics who helped to develop GMCA 's gender-based-violence strategy. Representatives of the Trafford Domestic Abuse Service and Trafford Rape Crisis will be present to help audience members who may be affected by the themes of the play. The evening is suitable for those aged 15 and over. More info and tickets here

The Royal Exchange Theatre's pop up sibling The Den returns to Stalybridge Civic Hall next spring for a second community festival, to build on the success of its first visit in 2019. Working closely with Tameside Council, schools, groups, organisations and residents across Tameside, the partnerships aim to build on local initiatives - such as the Dukinfield Craft Cafe with Jigsaw Homes - that arose from the previous festival. The Royal Exchange is working with a Hyde-based theatre maker and filmmaker and also runs programmes to expand skills offstage too.. Royal Exchange director of engagement Inga Hirst said: “We are excited to bring together a new group of local Exchange Ambassadors, who will help us find out what Tameside residents want and need to bring people together to make it a reality." Tameside Council assistant executive member for culture, heritage and digital inclusivity Councillor Sangita Patel, said: “This is fabulous news for Stalybridge and Tameside and a wonderful opportunity for local people to get more involved in the arts and enjoy the performances, workshops and activities that will form a part of the prestigious project." Tameside residents keen to find out more or get involved can find out more here.

Know your theatre: Contact Theatre, Manchester The most unusual-looking theatre building you’ll ever come across, Contact has undergone more radical changes of direction than your average performing arts organisation. Built as the performance space for Manchester University Drama Department, it was briefly used by the ‘69 Theatre Company before that became the Royal Exchange Theatre Company. In 1972 the building became home to the Manchester Young People’s Theatre, aka Contact, a sadly now little-remembered repertory company under the likes of Richard Williams, that presented many of Alan Bleasdale’s stage successes and gave young actors such as Mark Rylance and Rick Mayall early roles. The set-up later changed again to take Contact back to its young people's theatre roots, and a rebuild in 1999 produced the highly-distinctive current ventilation chimneys. Now fully open again after a £6.5m re-vamp in 2020, the emphasis is even more on young people doing it for themselves. Contact’s aim is to enable young people to change their lives through the arts as well as enabling audiences of all ages to experience new shows. Contact is the leading national theatre and arts venue to place young people at the decision-making heart of everything. Young people aged 13-30 lead the organisation, working alongside staff in deciding the artistic programme, making staff appointments and acting as full board members. Pic: Joel Chester Fildes Address: Contact Theatre, Devas Street, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6JA Phone: Box office 0161 274 0600 (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm), General inquiries 0161 274 0646. Facilities: This fascinating - not to say quirky - architectural edifice near the university has a main 320-seat auditorium (Space 1) and an 80-seat studio. The redevelopment has produced new performance spaces, a new recording studio, an arts and health development space, new offices for organisations to hire and a new café/bar. The work also contributed to the building's emphasis on sustainable development: Contact is reckoned to be in the top one per cent of the North West's most environmentally-friendly buildings. Parking: Contact doesn't have its own parking, but visitors can use the university car park, which is directly outside and subject to charges. Online box office: Go here and follow the booking route to your show choice

Know your theatre: The most beautifully-located profes-sional theatre in the UK, Theatre by the Lake traces its origin to 1948 and a team of theatre enthusiasts who created a 225-seat mobile theatre to take live performance around post-war Britain. The convoy of trailers arrived in Keswick for the first time in 1961, but by 1975 was unfit to tour, so the company successfully took up residence by Derwentwater. In 1996 the convoy was uprooted one last time, to be replaced by the current permanent structure, the last theatre built in Britain in the 20th Century and the first to be built – at a cost of £6.5m –with the help of the national lottery. The theatre opened in August 1999 with Charley’s Aunt . There are two stages, a 400-seat main house with a central rake that has excellent sight lines, and a 100-seat studio. The main house is large for its seating capacity, high and wide, with a stage capable of holding big shows. In the main house the company presents a busy programme of now mainly wide- appeal co-productions (partnering with theatres including Bolton Octagon and Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough) throughout the year and a wide-ranging series of studio shows. TBTL also hosts a variety of festivals and visiting companies. The theatre has a loyal local audience, alongside the many tourists who enjoy a night of theatre after tramping the fells. Theatre by the Lake, Keswick Address: Theatre by the Lake, Lakeside, Keswick, Cumbria CA12 5DJ Phone: Box Office: 017687 74411 (9.30am-7.30pm/6pm non-performance nights). Admin: 017687 72282 (9am-5pm). Catering: 017687 81102 (9am-9pm). Also available by email . The theatre is currently closed but expects to reopen in autumn 2021. Facilities: A modern theatre with modern sensibilities when it comes to loos and disabled facilities. Avoid the main theatre side seats if you can, despite their lower cost. The adjacent restaurant is open 10am-3pm daily, and a tourist attraction in itself, with views across the lake. When the theatre reopens allow plenty of time to dine as service can be slow – though there is that view to look at... Parking: The theatre is located off Lake Road and is indicated on brown tourist signs throughout the town. Lakeside car park (Allerdale Borough Council, pay and display) is next to the theatre, and in summer gets very busy, so allow plenty of time to park. Charge is £1 from 7pm-7am. Before 7pm charges vary. Go here and follow the booking route to your show choice. Online box office:

Know your theatre: Built for £95,000 by public subscription and opened in 1967, the Octagon was the first professional theatre built in the North West after World War II – one of very few 'in the round'. Particularly associated with local playwrights Bill Naughton and Jim Cartwright, the Octagon today offers a wide range of repertory productions and co-productions mixing classics and lighter material. When the theatre's future was threatened in 1999, 12,000 people signed a petition to 'Keep theatre made in Bolton', and succeeded. The theatre closed in 2018 for a £12m renovation and officially reopened, after Covid delays, on July 6 2021, with a production of The Hound Of The Baskervilles . The revamped building has a new roof, electrics and plumbing, is more environmentally friendly, has greatly improved accessibility, new restaurant, bar and back stage facilities. The Octagon's main space seats up to 390, its studio space 100. The main house has the best sight lines of any theatre – that's probably a fact. Octagon Theatre, Bolton Address: Octagon Theatre, Howell Croft St, Bolton BL1 1SB . Phone: Box Office: 01204 520661 (Mon-Sat, 9am-6pm, opt 2; applies also to group bookings). You can also contact info@octagonbolton.co.uk with general inquiries and boxoffice@octagonbolton.co.uk with booking inquiries. Facilities: The new theatre has an extensive cafe/bar area (open Tue-Sat, 10am-4pm) breakfast served until noon), extensive facilities for disabled patrons, new seating and studio and classroom spaces. Parking: Nearest car park: Octagon NCP multi-storey (BL1 1TN). Free street parking (some disabled bays) in Le Mans Crescent after 6pm, (limited spaces). Online box office: Go here for what's on and follow the show links for tickets. Access 24 hours.