What's On

This moving iconic comedy by Willy Russell made famous by Michael Caine and Julie Walters explores the changing relationship between Frank, a cynical alcoholic professor, and Rita, a working class hairdresser who enrols on an open university course in English Literature.

Rita’s fresh uncluttered views reignite Frank’s love of teaching but whose need to fulfil her desire to pass exams and be like other students leads to friction, bringing their relationship to a tragi-comic climax.

“as good as a top west end production”
“EMMA  is a star in waiting”
“utterly compelling from beginning to end”

What happens when two sets of parents meet up to deal with the unruly behaviour of their children? A calm, rational debate between grown-ups about the need to teach kids how to behave properly?  Or a hysterical night of name-calling, tantrums and tears before bedtime?

Boys will be boys, but adults are usually worse - much worse.

God of Carnage was written in French by Yasmina Reza and premiered in Paris in 2008.  It was translated into English by Christopher Hampton and performed in the West End and Broadway, going on to win both a Tony best play and an Olivier best comedy award. 

MAYBE DICK
By John Hewer
Based on the novel 'Moby-Dick' by Herman Melville
Directed by Bruce Knight

Herman Melville's classic tale of revenge and retribution is retold in this inventive, comic retelling on the high seas from the company behind ‘Just Like That! The Tommy Cooper Show’ and ‘Dracula! One Bloody Fang After Another’.

Nantucket, 1841. Ishmael signs on to the Pequod, and witnesses the perils of nature, obsession, punning and physical comedy, as Captain Ahab conducts a reckless pursuit of the savage white whale, Moby Dick.  

All plot will be lampooned. All jokes will be harpooned. 

"Absolutely brought the house down" - Lincolnshire World

"'Carry On Moby Dick'" - North West End

"You will be hit with wave after wave of silliness, leaving a warm glow and a great big smile." - Review Culture

"You don't need to know Moby-Dick to get the jokes. And there are plenty of jokes." - Voicebox

"This is fun knockabout stuff; we are never more than 30 seconds from the next punchline and Hewer has excellent comic timing and a winning naïveté." - North West End

"Hewer manages to play all the parts and maintain narrative coherence along with a stream of jokes and the odd musical interlude." - Chiswick Calendar

"The jokes came thick and fast. We left with huge, aching smiles." - TheatreFest 

Prepare for pandemonium with this brand new Gilbert and Sullivan production of Iolanthe from Opera Anywhere! This ingeniously witty and magical operetta is a tale of forbidden love between fairies and mortals – peers of the House of Lords, no less!

Strephon is the half-fairy, half-mortal son of the fairy Iolanthe and has fallen in love with Phyllis, a ward of the court. But for them to marry, Phyllis needs the Lord Chancellor’s permission, which is going to be tricky as he hopes to marry her himself – as do half the house of Lords! It’s Gilbert & Sullivan at their satirical best poking fun at power, privilege and parliamentary democracy.

Suitable for all ages, this opera is sure to leave you laughing and whistling all the way home.

SOMETHING BETTER CHANGE - An evening of stories on the theme of change written and read by Gloucestershire authors

Cotswold Playhouse Sunday 12 May at 7.30pm (doors 7.00pm)
£12

Now in its thirteenth year, Stroud Short Stories 27th event will be will an evening of extraordinary stories about change/changes/changing. Expect everything from underpants to climate catastrophe.

As usual, ten stories will be selected - from the hundred or so usually submitted - to be read by their authors, who may be professional writers, skilled amateurs or even complete beginners, but all of whom are from Gloucestershire.

Proclaimed by the Cheltenham Literature Festival as ‘possibly the best short story event in the South West’, SSS’s considerable reputation is based on the unfailingly high quality of the stories read at its events.

Judged this time by SSS organiser/editor John Holland and novelist/short story author Ali Bacon.

As always the demand for tickets will be high.

More information is on the SSS website - stroudshortstories.blogspot.com

KEY DATES
Sunday 11 February - Open for submissions which are free as always
Sunday 24 March - Submissions close
Friday 12 April - Tickets go on sale from the Cotswold Playhouse website

WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT THE LAST SSS EVENT ‘LOVE IS STRANGE’
A hugely enjoyable evening

A variety of stories, from excellent writers and readers, and with top class organisation 

Wonderful variety of thought provoking stories, brilliantly read, some quite frankly... hilarious. 

What a fantastic evening

It was a great night and I thought the quality was really high

Great night last night! I really enjoyed it 

Great evening, one of the best I have attended 

it was a terrific event I thought, possibly the best I've been to yet

Some wonderful stories - from the beautiful to the sad and uplifting - an inspiration!

Another absolute triumph from Stroud Short Stories and John Holland 

 BEHOLD YE RAMBLERS - a new play by Neil Gore

From the voices of ramblers and campaigners to the songs and poetry inspired by past and current struggles, “Behold Ye Ramblers” is a new play about The Clarion newspaper and the organisations formed by its readership, including the famous rambling club, The Sheffield Clarion Ramblers. Along with the Clarion Cyclists, these early Edwardian pioneers promoted healthy outdoor pursuits, organising expeditions across open moors and mountains whilst campaigning for the right to roam, bringing them into conflict with landowners’ hunting and shooting activities and laws that prioritised private property over the wellbeing of others. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_sTfT96Q8Y

KEN LUDWIG’S TREASURE ISLAND
Adapted from the novel by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

Jump aboard for a journey of a lifetime across the tropical seas. Your companions will be a few cutthroat pirates, a parrot and a courageous boy entangled in a dangerous swashbuckling expedition. Jim Hawkins embarks on a daring sea voyage to locate an island of buried riches, and gets more than he bargained for. But with his fate sealed, he discovers not only gold and gems but also treachery and mutiny lurking around every corner. Along with unforgettable characters including Long John Silver, the most famous pirate of them all, Treasure Island comes alive for the whole family as an epic theatrical adaptation of one of the world’s great adventure stories.

"Scripted by Ken Ludwig, this new version invests in a gripping yarn with a genuinely rough and ready buccaneering spirit. It flies the flag for good old fashioned ensemble story telling” – The Telegraph.

ADVISORY: Treasure Island is appropriate for adults and children ages eight and up. The show is an exciting adventure that contains nautical danger, action-packed fight scenes, mild language and the occasional scallywag that may not be suitable for youngest mateys.

Join Helen Wood as she heads into the great outdoors, with her trusty trug, on a quest to become an expert forager. In this quirky, feel-good comedy all aspects of foraging are unearthed and celebrated – the challenges, the dangers and the joy of discovering a new type of berry to turn into jam.
Even if you’ve never picked a blackberry before, you’ll receive a warm welcome and a badge at the Foraging Fan Club.

This is the third in a series of five-star, sell-out Fan Club shows; Helen having previously shared her love of Ordnance Survey maps and her enthusiastic attempts to visit every National Trust property.

Reviews for The O.S. Map Fan Club:

***** “Endearing and zany. Comic genius.’ - Everything Theatre
***** “Ingeniously clever…warm and friendly.” - The Wee Review
Must See Show “Wonderful, quirky and engaging.” - Fringe Review

Review for The National Trust Fan Club:
**** “Highly skilled comic celebration.” - The Scotsman

…an absorbing Epic drama with original contemporary vocal and music score told with compelling 
theatricality....

The principal players here are Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, John and Robert Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, Alina Castro-Fernandez and Barbara Walters.
And then there's Lisa Howard, the virtually invisible protagonist so pivotal to the story, for so long, sadly denied her rightful place in this intriguing narrative. 
There's a huge sweep of history here...over 60 years distilled into less than one and a half hours traffic on the stage. It's an Epic tale but the heroes are little people, the shoemaker Alvara Garcia and his devoted wife Eva.

Mature political themes, choreographed violence and infrequent coarse  language
Suitable for 13 years and above
Duration: 85 minutes.

Nuworks is an independent not for profit, completely self funded, community theatre entity. We have been in continuous existence since 1988. We have our home at Mills Street Warehouse, Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia.

We write most of our work including the music component. We record our own songs in our 
studio. We tour overseas on a regular basis and have performed at The Edinburgh Fringe, The Adelaide Fringe and The Auck-land Fringe where we have attracted a number of prestigious awards as well as four and five star reviews.

Oscar Wilde

DOT Productions returns with The Oscar Wilde Classic ‘An Ideal Husband’. Sir Robert Chiltern’s dinner party takes a drastic turn when Mrs Cheveley makes a surprise announcement that reveals her true motive for attending. Forced to choose between his family’s disappointment and his career, Sir Robert turns to his friend Lord Goring for help. Lady Chiltern makes it clear she expects her husband to be a model of perfection, but when she expects foul play, she makes it clear Sir Robert must do the right thing if their marriage is to survive.

Join us for this wonderfully witty Wilde play about public and private honour.

Our family-friendly circus invites you into a kingdom, where international acrobats come alive. Accompanied by a contortionist, hand balancer, and cyr wheel artist, just to name a few! Inspired by fairy tales, theatrical romance, and elegance, you’ll be taken through the story of a man who dreams of becoming a clown, when he stumbles upon a letter from a forgotten ballerina.