Theatres are having a tough time, opening sometimes for only a few days before having to shut again. Funds go into hosting productions that have to be cancelled half way through or don’t even get on stage. The Rose Theatre in Kingston has scheduled a fabulous line up for 2021, so with the new vaccine hopefully changing the future, do support the if you can
Woke: 8-10 Feb
An award-winning production about the 20th century African American experience, the play follows two women’s fight for civil rights. One is notorious Black Panther Assata Shakur; the other, a present-day university student enrolling as the Ferguson riots begin. Set against a powerful soundtrack of original music and traditional gospel and blues sung live, the two women challenge the American justice system, become criminalised through political activism.
Educating Rita: 23-27 Feb
After being interrupted mid-production in November due to lockdown, stars Stephen Tompkinson and Jessica Johnson return to finish their run!
The Seven Pomegranate Seeds: 4-27 March
From the creative team behind My Brilliant Friend (National Theatre transfer, 2019) and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (West End transfer, 2019), Rose Theatre presents the world premiere of Colin Teevan’s The Seven Pomegranate Seeds. Seven contemporary stories grounded in prominent, mythical origins. Persephone, Hypsipyle, Medea, Alcestis, Phaedra, Creusa and Demeter: the women of Euripides’ plays are reimagined as people of today in an unexpected fusion of celebrity, inappropriate desires, historical police investigations and missing children. A severed maternal bond threads each story together, charting a journey through rage and redemption, towards a compelling conclusion.
FOR CHILDREN…
The Gruffalo’s Child: 12-21 February
The Gruffalo said that no Gruffalo should
Ever set foot in the deep dark wood. . .
Follow the Gruffalo’s Child on her adventurous mission in Tall Stories’ enchanting adaptation of the much-loved picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.
What the Ladybird Heard: 2-11 April
Two crafty robbers, one tiny ladybird, and a whole farmyard of fun! Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len have a cunning plan to steal the farmer’s fine prize cow. But they reckon without the tiniest, quietest creature of all: the Ladybird has a plan of her own! Join the woolly sheep, the hairy hog, the fat red hen and the dainty dog in this hit musical adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks’ colourful farmyard adventure.
Horrible Histories: The Best of Barmy Britain: 13-18 April
Can you beat battling Boudicca? Would you be a martyr for the Magna Carta? Will you lose your heart or head to horrible Henry VIII? Will Parliament survive gunpowder Guy? Dare you stand and deliver to dastardly Dick Turpin? Escape the clutches of Burke and Hare and move to the groove with party Queen Victoria!
Find out what else is happening locally here.