One of the newly-resurrected London City Ballet's inaugural tour stops will be at York Theatre Royal, (September 6-7). After a 30-year gap, the company was revived last year and the new company's first UK tour features a revival of Kenneth MacMillan’s 1972, one-act ballet Ballade, not seen in Europe for over 50 years, and a new commission by Olivier-award winner Arielle Smith. The original company closed in 1996, having been based at Sadler’s Wells, London and internationally recognised as one of the world’s leading dance collectives – Diana, Princess of Wales was its Royal patron. Meanwhile, Ockham’s Razor, the UK’s foremost circus theatre company, brings Tess, a new vision of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles (May 8-11). The show uses the original text, combined with the physical language of circus as the performers wield wooden planks, shift walls, ropes and swathes of linen to make sets that unfold and which the cast balance upon, climb, carry and construct. Also coming this autumn is the award-winning and critically-acclaimed Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) from November 4-9. The show won the Best Comedy Olivier Award in 2022 and is an audacious retelling of Austen’s iconic love story. New play Wonder Boy (October 29-November 2) by Ross Willis is on its first tour after receiving acclaim when it premiered at Bristol Old Vic in 2022. Directed by Olivier sward-winner Sally Cookson (A Monster Calls), it tells the story of 12-year-old Sonny, who creates a superhero to help him with his stammer. More info and tickets here

Phosphoros Theatre - a London-based company that makes political performances featuring refugee and asylum-seeking actors - is at HOME Manchester (May 9-11), with Tender, a new play drawing on the personal stories of its cast of five. Featuring actors from Albania, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Iraq, the show began development in 2021, supported by Arts Council England and Derby Theatre, and reflects the impact of continued crises since then for the company of actors and their community. With no safety net, no right to work and debts to pay, how does refugees and asylum-seekers build a future? Phosphoros is inviting young refugees and artists from around the UK to contribute material, which will be shared in performances on the tour. These moments will be developed during drama workshops with local refugee youth groups, led by the actors, exploring and reflecting on the themes of the play. There are discounted or free tickets for refugees at every performance, pre-show talks, workshops and support materials for new English learners. More info and tickets here

Just 10 weeks after announcing a schedule of four operas and a family show at the Venue Cymru theatre in Llandudno in the 2024-25 season, Welsh National Opera has had to cancel its May 2025 visit completely as a result of budget cuts. The cancellation follows the failure by Arts Council England and the Arts Council of Wales to deliver grant funding at the standstill level applied for. Gone from North Wales are 2025 performances of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Britten’s Peter Grimes (the latter a new production), and a “Play Opera LIVE” concert presented by Tom Redmond, aimed at introducing new audiences to opera and classical music – see our previous article here for the details. Performances in October this year of Verdi’s Rigoletto and two of the three parts of Puccini’s one-acter triptych Il Trittico – the tragedy Suor Angelica and the comic Gianni Schicchi – plus a concert of “Opera Favourites at the Movies”, will go ahead. A planned visit to Bristol in February 2025 with similar content to Venue Cymru’s has also been cancelled, and a revival of Rigoletto in Cardiff that month will be replaced with an “Opera Favourites” programme. The 2025 schedule of The Marriage of Figaro, Peter Grimes and the “Play Opera LIVE” concert remains intact for the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff (with a shortened Marriage of Figaro on one night, designed for newcomers to opera), and will tour to Southampton and Plymouth, while the two operas will also play in Birmingham and Milton Keynes, and The Marriage of Figaro plus “Play Opera LIVE” will go to Swansea. WNO describes the revised schedule as having “no impact on our commitment to extending our reach throughout Wales”. The company’s funding has been reduced by £2.2m (35 per cent down on the previous level) by Arts Council England, and by around £500,000 (11.8 per cent down) by Arts Council Wales. This result of the cuts stands in contrast to ACE avowals of support for opera outside London and the south of England, including a controversial plan to make English National Opera move its base from London to Manchester some time towards the end of the present decade. WNO Interim General Director Christopher Barron said: “Our new financial situation means we have the challenge of balancing a reduced budget while maintaining artistic standards in providing a stimulating programme of performance and engagement activities. “We are pleased to still be visiting Venue Cymru in the autumn with our new production of Rigoletto and with Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi, as well as our Opera Favourites concert.  We also continue to work across Wales with our concert programme and with our community and engagement work, which will include a creative project in schools across Conwy in 2024/2025.” More info here

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.

Celebrating the career of internationally acclaimed, Manchester-based cabaret star, actor and visual artist David Hoyle - aka The Divine David - Please Feel Free to Ignore My Work, is at the city's Aviva Studios until April 28. The programme offers events celebrating a prolific body of work spanning four decades, as well as rarely-seen paintings, slogan works and new commissions, plus screenings of television appearances and films. Hoyle will also host talks, live painting and a radically-alternative pub quiz. Please Feel Free to Ignore My Work brings together key themes that run through Hoyle’s back-catalogue: gender, mental health, AIDS, revolution, decadence and the effects of capitalism. A new end-of-the-pier variety show - David Hoyle: Still Got It? - on April 27, will merge seaside culture and the avant-garde to bring the three-week residency to a close. Hoyle will be joined on stage by performers from the worlds of burlesque, music, drag, film, circus and cabaret. Hailing from Blackpool, Hoyle’s alter-ego took him from radical alternative settings to the studios of Channel 4. His early career was in the queer nightlife of Manchester – including performances at Paradise Factory, Contact, and Queer Up North, before ascending to the international cabaret circuit. Hoyle has worked extensively as an actor, and his work as a visual artist has been shown in The Hayward Gallery and art spaces from Paris to Liverpool to Copenhagen. David Hoyle said: "In a way this show at Aviva Studios feels like a great sense of recognition as an artist, coming out of the darkness into light, from marginalisation to validation. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, for which I shall be eternally grateful.” More info and tickets here

Hope Mill Theatre's 2023 hit Lizzie The Musical returns to the Manchester venue for a three-week run in the autumn (October 17-November 10). The show premiered in New York in 2009, and the Hope Mill production was the first UK-created version of the show and the first UK tour. Lizzie explores the life of Lizzie Borden, who was accused of murdering her father and stepmother with an axe in the summer of 1892. The musical delves into Lizzie’s complex psyche and speculates on the motivations she may have had: loss of inheritance, history of sexual abuse, oppression and madness. The show will be directed and choreographed by Hope Mill co-founder William Whelton. A cast has yet to be chosen William Whelton said: “After such a successful run in Manchester and across the UK last autumn, I am thrilled to bring Lizzie back to where the production was created. It will run over Halloween, which is the perfect time of year; we are planning a very special performance on October 31, full of surprises for the fans." General tickets are now on sale, but those for the October 31 gala go on sale on August 4. More info and tickets here

An all-female cast explores the topic of science experimentation - against the backdrop of a gospel church rehearsal - in The Bell Curves, by Contact Theatre director Keisha Thompson. Nana, a biologist, wants to use her research to secure her future with her partner, Henri, but at what cost? The play was prompted by two female scientists, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, who won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2022 for the development of the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology. Often referred to as “molecular scissors“ it enables scientists to perform microsurgery on DNA, but for some the discovery raises ethical questions. The play is supported by a grant from The Future of Human Reproduction, an innovative, interdisciplinary research programme, funded by Wellcome, which explores the cultural, ethical, legal and social challenges faced by technological advances that fundamentally change the possibilities for human reproduction. The work is also being supported by Contact and the In Manchester’s DNA project, a grant awarded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Performances are at Ascension Church (282 Stretford Road, M15 5TQ), from April 18-20, and Contact is also holding a free public read-through of the text at Contact Manchester on April 20 (book places at the address below). More info and tickets here

Ramon Ayres, Andres Velasquez and others Ephemeral Ensemble HOME, Manchester April 10-11, 2024: 1 hour After making a big impression at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last year, this five-person tribute to the “Disappeared” of Argentina’s past is on a UK tour. Rewind is still very much the same show, it seems, and its direct and vivid use of modest means is still its greatest strength. There’s an introduction, a sequence of sketch-like reconstructions of what led to the death and disappearance of Alicia – a young woman who did nothing worse than join an anti-government demonstration – and of the conclusions of those who found and identified her in a mass grave… and finally a solemn reminder that she was just one of many. A description is “mimed archaeology” – bringing back to life facts revealed through careful scientific inquiry, because those facts deserve to be told. Much of it is done through movement and simple lighting, with brilliant use of acetates on a mobile overhead projector (I thought we’d seen the last of those long ago, but it’s remarkable what you can do with one): Josephine Tremelling (also a performer) gets the credit for lighting design. And there is music: Alex Paton performs live and is an effective one-man band with the help of a sequencer and some very clever ideas (and his colleagues). Andres Velasquez introduces the story and holds it together, and the other performers are Eyglo Belafonte and Louise Wilcox. Part of the 30th ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American Festival at HOME, it’s what they call physical theatre – you could also call it meaningful political theatre, as the company is keen to draw parallels with injustice and guilt in Latin America and elsewhere today, and proclaims: “By digging into the past, we build a future”. Entertainment? Maybe not primarily – the story is too serious for that to be the main impression, and the structure means it can hardly gain pace after re-telling what happened on one day of violence. It’s more a commemoration, and a witness to truth that should not be forgotten. More info and tickets here

Lucie Lovatt Theatr Clwyd/Torch Theatre production Theatr Clwyd, The Mix April 2-20, 2024, 2 hrs 10 mins What do you do when you are the last full-time residents in a village used mainly for second homes: sell up or stay? Apparently the village of Cwm-Yr-Eglwys had only two permanently-occupied properties out of 50, and this is the starting point for Lucie Lovatt's Kill Thy Neighbour, directed by Chelsey Gillard. The action begins with the arrival of a new neighbour, set to renovate the home next door as a second home. The house used to belong to an artist, now missing, presumed dead. What unfolds is a series of family dramas affecting the last full-time residents of the village, who face an immediate choice after a proposed change in legislation from the Senedd (Welsh parliament), limiting the number of second homes in a village. Do they sell up or stay? Selling means leaving behind several generations of family history - but also means they can take advantage of inflated house prices, which place the property beyond the reach of locals. As time passes, the murky secrets often hidden in a family are exposed, much to the chagrin of the individuals. Most importantly, we find out what happened to the artist next door, and what he did to people in the village that led to his demise. Various issues are drawn out by these events, notably the contrast between traditional and modern values. The mother and father are shocked, for example, when their unmarried daughter comes for a visit - five months pregnant, having used IVF and a sperm donor. In confronting this and other events, the characters learn to accept themselves and others in a better way. While there is plenty of gritty reality here, there is also some dark humour, which lightens the mood considerably. The cast of five, Gareth (Jamie Redford), Caryl (Victoria John), Max (Gus Gordon), Meirion (Dafydd Emyr) and Seren (Catrin Stewart) are excellent. All have stage presence and some telling moments. Having said that, the storyline is quite melodramatic and arbitrary at times. The play picks up on some important issues, but could have a different set entirely. All families have their issues and secrets, but this particular family seemed to have taken quite a pummelling compared to others. But this doesn't stop the production holding one's attention and providing some riveting entertainment. Well worth a visit, this village, though you might not want to buy a home here... More info and tickets here

Greater Manchester's 7 to11-year-olds have only a short time left to enter the Salford Lowry's annual Creative Writing Challenge. The competition showcases the creativity of children from across Greater Manchester, and entries can include poetry, short stories or stage text. Recently, pupils from St Joseph’s RC Primary School, Summerville Primary School and Christ Church CE Primary School visited The Lowry to get inspiration for their entries by watching the stage adaption of Onjali Rauf’s novel The Boy at the Back of the Class. The Lowry provided free transport and theatre tickets.. The adaptation is by writer and broadcaster Nick Ahad, one of the judges of this year’s challenge. Nick said: “Since I was a little boy - probably around the age of the children who came to see the show - I've loved writing probably more than anything else. That children who saw the show might be inspired to write their own stories, is a privilege greater than I can express.” Also on the judging panel are former Emmerdale star and author Samantha Giles (appearing at The Lowry in Kay Mellor’s The Syndicate in May); poet Tony Walsh; Mike Leyland of the National Literacy Trust and actor Carla Henry. The year’s challenge will also feature a new children’s judging panel, made up of members of a reading group from Little Hulton Library, as well as a new partnership with the University of Salford that will see a judging panel made up of students. The Creative Writing Challenge has had support from founder Beryl Jones, who with her husband Trevor is a Gold Patron of The Lowry, the National Literacy Trust, the University of Salford, Salford Community Leisure and Williams BMW. The Lowry’s aim is for the challenge to be accessible to as many children as possible, so entries will be accepted in a variety of formats, including written, voice recording or video. The deadline for entries is April 26. Full info here

Following last year's hugely-successful dance drama based on TV's Peaky Blinders, Rambert is back at Salford's Lowry (April 18-20) with Death Trap, a double-bill devised by award-winning choreographer Ben Duke. Ben is co-founder and artistic director of Lost Dog, which won a National Dance Award for best mid-scale company. For Rambert, his piece Death Trap showcases his sense of dance theatre, while In Cerberus, dance is a matter of life or death, an adaptation of the Greek tale of Orpheus and Eurydice and a bittersweet musing on myth and mortality. Goat is inspired by the spirit of Nina Simone, with iconic songs including Feelings, Feeling Good and Ain’t Got No – I Got Life. Both pieces are recreated for the tour by Ben and the Rambert company. He said: "I first worked with Rambert in 2017 and while we both have changed a lot since then, this history gives me a sense of partnership. "The work I make is always inspired by, and made with, the performers. Their diversity of backgrounds means they bring a richness of experience into the space and it is their talent and generosity that really make this work." Rambert will return to The Lowry in the autumn with a revival of big hit Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby (October 22-26). More info and tickets here (Lowry) or here (Peaky Blinders)

Manchester-based producers So La Flair Theatre together with theatre-making duo Megan Keaveny and Ellie Campbell - aka MissMatch - launch a northern tour of Is This Thing On? at Manchester's Contact Theatre this month (April 17-20). Meet Mary and Liz, two friends on opposite ends of the feminist spectrum, as they discuss their work and their relationship. As their friendship reaches its boiling point, one fateful open mic night forces them to confront each other over whose right it is to tell someone’s story. The show is MissMatch's debut, with the duo passionate about blurring the lines of theatrical mediums, experimenting with the ways character-driven plays can be elevated by spoken word and live music, and hoping to draw audiences into their world of feminist theatre with laughter. After Contact Theatre, the show goes to Trencherfield Mill in Wigan (April 25); Slung Low in Leeds (May 4); Hope Street Theatre in Liverpool (May 16) and Theatre Royal Wakefield (May 29). Recommended for those 16 and over. More info here (Contact)