In a unique format that The Daily Mail called seriously smart and smarting storytelling, every performance, the audience chooses which storylines McGee performs, choosing six out of twelve story cards that take them on a journey through one person’s lifespan as it unfolds throughout the show. The six remaining unheard stories are left untouched and discarded, as a poignant reminder of the things we may never know about even our closest friends. Depending on the audience’s choices, there are 180 different potential versions to be heard with different combinations of stories. 

Described by The Times as the show that will give you a new lust for life, Age is a Feeling tells the story of one person’s life from their 25th birthday until the end. Inspired by real life interviews, the show explores the glorious and melancholy unknowability of human life, the joys and tragedies of getting older, and the sides of people we never get to know. 

It’s a show which knows exactly what it’s doing and how it’s doing it, and it is prepared to take its time so that it turns the screws before it pierces the heart… But make no mistake, it will make you weep (Stagedoor, Lyn Gardner) 

…tender, wry, wise, gut-wrenching monologue from a ladder-fashioned high-chair addressing her 25-year-old self about the life ahead of her, until its last moment. The audience gets to choose a selection of the stories heard en route; but won’t be able to duck the toughest reflections ( ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph). 

Age is a Feeling is an original Soho Theatre commission and production, directed and dramaturged by its Associate Director Adam Brace (Liz Kingsman’s One Woman Show, Sh!t Theatre’s Drink Rum with Expats). It is brought to life by scenic designer Zoë Hurwitz (winner, 2019 Linbury Prize for Stage Design; finalist, 2020 JMK awards) and lighting designer Daniel Carter-Brennan (Liz Kingsman’s One Woman Show, Sh!t Theatre’s Drink Rum with Expats). This dynamic team have created a show that wrestles with our endless chances to change course while we’re alive. 

David Luff, Soho's Creative Director and Producer, said, We are delighted to welcome back Haley McGee following a superb premiere presentation at Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The power and beauty of her writing captivated audiences in Edinburgh and we can’t wait for her to bring this brilliant piece of theatre back to Soho Theatre. 

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The brand-new hit show from harbingers of queer chaos Awkward Productions and Linus Karp, Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story will present an interactive live stream from Belfast’s Accidental Theatre on Saturday 1st April. Combining drag, multimedia, audience interaction, puppetry, and a lot of queer joy, this unique celebration of the people’s princess is as hilarious as it is tasteless. 

Due to royal demand, the Belfast performance will be livestreamed on 1st April at 8.00pm for audiences who wish to join Diana live as she shares the untold and untrue tale of her extraordinary life. Live streaming audiences can reap all the hilarity of Diana’s audience participation through a live chat feature, with Lady Di interacting with viewers throughout the performance. Told through comedy, the show highlights Diana’s ground-breaking stances on social and queer issues as well as her speaking her (un)truth and breaking free from the Monarchy. 

Fun, stupid, queer, surprising, and livestreamed to the world – you have never seen the Queen of Hearts like this. For those who cannot join live on the 1st April, the live stream recording will be available to watch afterwards via the Accidental Theatre website. This is a unique, accessible chance to meet the people’s princess no matter where in the world you are! 

While Karp will bring Diana to life as the only actor on stage, other members of the royal family will appear in multimedia videos, voice overs, as giant dolls and cardboard cut-outs. Geri Allen (Footloose, UK Tour) will portray The Queen, Joseph Martin (Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds) voices Prince Charles, and Zina Badran (Doctor Who, BBC) joins the cast to play God via interactive video clips. 

Linus Karp comments, Creating this show has been the most joyful experience – we have laughed throughout the entire process and I am so excited to get to share my Diana with audiences. I have never known reactions like this from a project. Let Diana’s reign commence! 

The show follows previous Awkward Productions shows how to live a jellicle life: life lessons from the 2019 hit movie musical 'cats' and Awkward Conversations With Animals I've F*cked, for which the creative team received critical acclaim. 

Previous praise for Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story: 

Hilarious, joyful and ridiculous to the point of sublime – Deborah Frances White, The Guilty Feminist 

The most unhinged piece of theatre in existence ★★★★★ — Broadway Baby 

Brings the laughs fast and furious ★★★★★ — Jack the Lad Magazine 

You’ll never look at the royals, and their corgis, in quite the same way again ★★★★★ — London Theatre 1 

Another warped, gobsmackingly unique, comic triumph ★★★★ — Everything Theatre 

Queer positivity radiates through the show’s every pore ★★★★ — West End Best Friend 

Performance Dates 

1st April, 8.00pm Digital livestream at accidentaltheatre.co.uk/live 

1st April – 30th April Available at https://linktr.ee/untruediana 

The full cast for Streetcar is Eduardo Ackerman (Pablo), Alexander Eliot(Steve), Patsy Ferran (Blanche), Gabriela García (Mexican Woman), Cash Holland (Eunice), Paul Mescal (Stanley), Tom Penn (Doctor/Drummer), Jabez Sykes (Young Collector), Anjana Vasan (Stella), Dwane Walcott (Mitch) alongside understudies Rob Dempsey, Francesca Knight, Zach Parkin and Constanza Ruff.

A Streetcar Named Desire runs at The Phoenix Theatre from 20 March to 06 May 2023.

The smash-hit production has received six Olivier nominations including: 

Sir Peter Hall award for Best Director – Rebecca Frecknall
Best Actress in a play – Patsy Ferran 
Best Actor in a play – Paul Mescal 

Best Supporting Actress in a play – Anjana Vasan 
Best Lighting Design – Lee Curran 
Best Revival – A Streetcar Named Desire

★★★★★ - The Times, The Sunday Times, The Observer, The i

"How pretty the sky is! I ought to go there on a rocket that never comes down."

On a street in New Orleans, in the blistering summer heat, a sister spirals.

When Blanche unexpectedly visits her estranged sister Stella, she brings with her a past that will threaten their future. As Stella’s husband Stanley stalks closer to the truth, Blanche's fragile world begins to fracture. Reality and illusion collide and a violent conflict changes their lives forever.

Almeida Associate Director Rebecca Frecknall’s “heart-stopping” (The Telegraph) revival of Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece runs in the West End from 20 March 2023.

Paul Mescal (“tremendous” The Times) stars as Stanley alongside Patsy Ferran (“astonishingly good” Time Out) as Blanche DuBois and Anjana Vasan (“outstanding” New York Times) as Stella in this “mesmerising” (The i) production.

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Cake will be venturing on a UK tour from 13 March 2023, starting at the Mayflower Studios, Southampton.  

Casting will include, fresh from her magical run as Mary Poppins on the West End, Zizi Strallen (she/her) stars as Marie Antoinette, with Renee Lamb (she/her), Catherine of Aragon from the original cast of SIX, starring as Jeanne.

The cast is completed by B Terry (they/them) as Nicole, Travis Ross (he/him)as Cardinal with Ope Sowande (he/him) and Megan Bryony G (she/her) as the ensemble and Lukas Hunt (he/him) and Amie Hibbert (she/her) as swings. 

Cake combines music with 18th century France to retell a story that sparked a revolution. When Marie Antoinette married King Louis, her reputation was already tarnished by gossip. But when she is implicated in a crime to defraud the crown jewellers of a diamond necklace, it is not just her reputation at stake, but the monarchy and France itself.

Originally commissioned by Paul Taylor-Mills (Heathers & In the Heights), Cake promises to re-define our expectations of what a musical can be.

Paul has said, “We are delighted to be partnering with 6 of the leading regional theatres to present a development production of this brilliant new show. I first commissioned this at The Other Palace five years ago and am delighted to be working with some of the best theatre makers in Drew McOnie, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, Tasha Taylor Johnson and Jack McManus. The show started life at our first MTFestUK and it’s great to see it come to production.”

Tour Dates:

Mayflower Studios, Southampton                                       
13 – 25 March 2023

The Lowry, Salford                                                              
27 March – 01 April 2023 

The Drum, Plymouth                                                              
03 – 06 April 2023 

Curve Theatre, Leicester                                                        
17 – 22 April 2023

Theatre Royal, Norwich                                                        
24 – 29 April 2023

Winner of every ‘Best Musical’ award in New York

“A dazzling ride. No measure of praise could be too much” - New York Times

“Explosively imaginative. Dazzlingly one-of-a-kind. Broadway’s best new musical” - Washington Post

“It made me want to go home and write. I don’t have a better compliment than that” - Lin-Manuel Miranda

“Brilliant. Moving. Joyous. Original. The best original musical on Broadway” - Ryan Reynolds

“It’s very funny, thought-provoking, and really moving” - Whoopi Goldberg

“Above and beyond brilliant! An emotional, cultural revolution” - RuPaul

“A soul-baring, biting, brilliant, hilarious musical. One of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen in the theatre” - Alan Cumming

The smash hit Broadway musical sensation A Strange Loop will transfer from New York to London this summer opening at the Barbican Theatre on 17 June for a strictly limited one-time-only 12-week season.

Nominated for 11 Tony Awards and winner of every Best Musical award in New York, Michael R. Jackson’s critically acclaimed Pulitzer Prize–winning, blisteringly funny masterwork exposes the heart and soul of Usher - a young, gay, Black writer who hates his day job, so writes a musical about a young, gay, Black writer who’s writing a musical about a young, gay, Black writer…a strange loop. Usher grapples with desires, identity and instincts he both loves and loathes, all brought to life on stage by a hilarious, straight-talking ensemble.

A Strange Loop is only the 10th musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with the previous winner being Hamilton, with the committee citing the show as a “metafictional musical that tracks the creative process of an artist transforming issues of identity, race, and sexuality that once pushed him to the margins of the cultural mainstream into a meditation on universal human fears and insecurities.”

The New York critics heaped plaudits on this sensational production: The New York Times said the show was a “dazzling ride” and “no measure of praise could be too much”. The Wall Street Journal described the show as “hilarious, intimate and personal” adding that “A Strange Loop is extraordinary in just about every way. It represents theater at its most daring and unexpected”.  And Variety summed it up, hailing A Strange Loop as “the most furiously entertaining show on Broadway”.

Michael R. Jackson is a playwright, composer, and lyricist who is a rising star in the world of contemporary writing and quickly gaining recognition as one of the most innovative voices in American theatre. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Jackson moved to New York to attend NYU (New York University), where he began his career as a writer and performer. His writing is already drawing comparisons to other literary greats, and he is quickly becoming recognised as an inspiring and transformative writer in his own right. His next musical, White Girl in Danger, a co-production between the Vineyard and Second Stage, is set to begin previews at the Tony Kiser Theater, New York on 15 March 2023.

Michael R. Jackson said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be bringing A Strange Loop to London.  This show has been a true labor of love since my early twenties, and to have it continue its extraordinary journey from Musical Theatre Factory, to Off-Broadway, to Woolly Mammoth, to Broadway and now to London is a dream I never knew I had come true. I can't wait to share the story of Usher and his thoughts with new audiences.”

Kate Varah, executive director for the National Theatre, said: "We are delighted to be supporting the transfer of this Pulitzer Prize & Tony Award-winning new musical into London this summer. A Strange Loop is a vital piece of new work by American playwright, Michael R. Jackson and we are so excited to be working with our producing partners to share this special story with UK audiences.”

Howard Panter said: “A Strange Loop is nothing short of a spellbinding masterpiece. When I saw it on Broadway I was transfixed and knew immediately that London audiences, like New York, would love this unique, moving and funny musical.  Michael R. Jackson is a complete genius and we look forward to welcoming him to these shores for a very successful season at the Barbican this summer.”

Barbara Whitman, originating producer of the Broadway production, said “I’m overjoyed to be bringing A Strange Loop to the Barbican, and I can’t wait to introduce London to the work of the singularly brilliant Michael R. Jackson. It feels so right to have this be the next step for this uniquely original musical.”

Tickets go on sale on 10am on Monday 20 March

This spring, The Turbine Theatre will host a reworked version of the iconic cult musical, which previously ran at The Other Palace in 2018, and in concert form at the London Palladium in 2016. 

A thrilling, high-energy 80s-inspired British musical with a superhero-sized heart and an uplifting score. 

A show where geeks rule, dreams do come true, and everyone finds the superhero inside themselves.

Leading the cast, as our unlikely hero, Eugene, is Elliott Evans (Kiln – A New Musical) with his two best friends Janey and Feris being played by Jaina Brock-Patel (SIX The Musical) and James Hameed (Be More Chill). 

Completing the cast is Naomi Alade (Beautiful – The Carole King Musical) as Eugenie (Swing), Dominic Andersen (What’s New Pussycat?) as Gerhard/Tough Man/Dad, Joseph Beach (Ortistic Augasm) as Evil Lord Hector, Lara Denning (Matilda) as Lex, Louis Doran (Bugsy Malone) as Eugenie (Swing), Maddison Firth (Heathers The Musical) as Carrie/Super-Hot Lady, Sebastian Harwood (Treason The Musical In Concert) as Eugenie (Swing) and Rhys Taylor (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) as Theo/Space Diva. 

Boasting a pulsating soundtrack, streamed by millions and heard across 125 countries, Eugenius! is a hilarious love letter to the iconic movies, comic books and nostalgia of the 80’s. A champion of the underdog, a place where anyone can become the hero. With our legion of Eugenies we’re set to prove that together we are mighty.

The musical is written by Ben Adams and Chris Wilkins and is directed by Hannah Chissick, it will run at the Turbine Theatre from Friday 17 March until Sunday 28 May 2023.

Musical Direction by Nick Pinchbeck, Set and Lighting Design by Andrew Exeter, Sound Design by Alistair Penman and Video by Andy Walton with Choreography by Aaron Renfree.

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Musical mainstays Shona White (Mamma Mia!, West End and international tour; Wicked, West End; Chess, UK tour) and Jenna Lee-James (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, West End; Cats, European tour; Boogie Nights, UK tour) will headline the Variety Stage on 30th April at Ragley Hall. White is best known for her roles in Mamma Mia! – as the first actress to play both Donna and Sophie Sheridan – and has starred in fan favourite musicals including The Rocky Horror Show (West End) and Merrily We Roll Along (West End). Lee-James is the only person in the world to have played all three lead roles in We Will Rock You, and has recently finished an international tour of The Man, The Music, The Show with Hugh Jackman. 

For festivalgoers who want a fix of all-new, upcoming musicals, the Variety Stage is the place to go, with new musicals Luna the Musical and Somewhere performing showcases during the day. SpinningRock Productions presents Luna the Musical. Set in present day North Dakota, Luna follows the journey of a pregnant teen as she, and the characters in her life, challenge and explore their identities in uncertain times. From The Play Theatre Productions is Sarah Bishop’s new musical Somewhere. Featuring original music and lyric from The Dunwells, Somewhere is an enchanting, fairytale-esque show telling the story of the shattered ‘Somewhere’ mirror and a cursed kingdom. 

Joining them will be Show Choir and Stagecoach Solihull, performing audience-favourite showtunes, as well as all-things-musicals Box Office Radio and ChiChi Fit, the theatrical fitness experience. 

As well as the three stages there will be a funfair, silent disco, theatre merch village, backstage hub, stagey activities and food and drink stalls, making Gaiety Festival the place to be this spring for all things musicals. The headliners of Gaiety Festival’s Main Stage will be: Marisha Wallace (Oklahoma!; Waitress; Guys and Dolls); Kerry Ellis (Anything Goes; We Will Rock You; Wicked); Collabro, in one of their last-ever performances; Lee Mead (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; Wicked; Legally Blonde: The Musical); Cassidy Janson (& Juliet; Beautiful: The Carol King Musical; Avenue Q); Lauren Samuels (Bend It Like Beckham; Grease; We Will Rock You) and Sophie Evans (Wicked; The Wizard of Oz; Lord of the Dance). The amazing line up will perform their favourite musical theatre songs on the Main Stage, accompanied by the London Musical Theatre Orchestra (Royal Albert Hall; London Palladium; Dominion Theatre). 

Mike Wilson, producer of Gaiety Festival comments, The countdown is well and truly on to the UK’s first showtunes music festival and we are delighted to announce more exciting news about the incredible day of musical theatre entertainment that festivalgoers can look forward to. Gaiety Festival is shaping up to be the stagiest of events and we can’t wait to share it with the fans! 

Gaiety Festival will bring the best of musical theatre to the stunning grounds of Ragley Hall in Warwickshire, a magnificent stately home near Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon. Alongside standard, family, and VIP tickets, there will be return travel packages from Birmingham, London, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, Worcestershire and Coventry from Gaiety Festival’s Official Coach Partner, Big Green Coach, so musical fans from around the country can easily get their stagey fix. 

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Each member of the cast will multi-roll throughout the duration of the performance, whilst also playing one lead role. Alex Phelps (As You Like It, Shakespeare’s Globe/CBeebies; When Darkness Falls, Park Theatre/UK Tour; Hamlet, Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre) will be playing the role of the determined Ringmaster. Taking on the role of the Acrobat, is actor and puppeteer Katriona Brown (There’s a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom and Other Stories, Little Angel Theatre; Chum-o-logues, Southwark Playhouse). 

Genevieve Sabherwal (My Grandma’s a Walrus, Southwark Playhouse; Speed Dial, Pleasance; Spooky Ship, Bristol Old Vic) will be performing as the Trick Rider. Wilson Benedito (50 Ways to Kill Your Lover, Amazon; Alan Carr’s New Year Specstacular, Channel 4) provides comedic relief as The Clown. Rounding off the cast as the sharp-witted Knife Thrower is Eddie Mann (Rocketman, Paramount; Macbeth, Three Inch Fools; Back to The Future, Secret Cinema). 

Julie Forster, creative Director of the York Theatre Royal and director of Around the World in 80 Days, comments I was amazed that we generally know more about Jules Verne’s fictional characters than we do about the real woman who set the record for circumnavigating the globe in 1889 (and did the journey in less time…) I knew I had to tell her story. I found that this approach allowed interesting themes to emerge around whose stories get told, whose stories dominate and who should stand aside to give space to the untold ones. 

Jules Verne’s original characters are transformed in Forster’s adaptation, embracing different modes of transport and they journey across the globe. Audiences can join the Ringmaster, the Acrobat, the Clown, the Trick Rider, and the Knife Thrower on their frantic race to travel Around the World in 80 Days. 

Tilted Wig Productions was formed in 2017 by Katherine Senior and Matthew Parish who have over twelve years of experience producing and touring plays throughout the UK, taking over 20 productions out on the road. Their shows now tour around some of the biggest theatres in the UK, yet their original ethos has always remained the same: whether Titled Wig is producing a classic play or a vibrant new adaptation, they will always aim to inspire a bright and innovative creative team to take their stories UK-wide. 

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Brenda Edwards will star in the role of Killer Queen. She previously played the part in both the UK tour and the record-breaking Dominion Theatre run. Brenda first found fame on the second season of The X Factor, where she made it all the way to the semi-final. She has since had leading roles in hit musicals including Mama Morton in Chicago, Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act The Musical and Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray.

Lee Mead will star in the role of Khashoggi. As winner of the BBC One series ‘Any Dream Will Do’ in 2007, Lee was awarded the prize of the lead role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. His theatre credits include Billy Flynn in Chicago, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Emmett Forrest in Legally Blonde and Fiyero in Wicked.  

Ben Elton said: “I’m thrilled that the wildly talented Brenda Edwards and Lee Mead are starring in We Will Rock You. They’re guaranteed to blow your mind and after that they’ll blow the roof off!”

Brenda Edwards said: “I’m delighted to be stepping back into the shoes of the legendary Killer Queen and this time at the iconic London Coliseum! I can’t wait to work with Ben again, the hugely talented Lee Mead and the rest of the amazing company.”

Lee Mead said: “I’m so excited to be joining the cast of We Will Rock and can’t wait to bring Queen’s legendary songs back to the London stage. We start rehearsing in April – bring it on!”

Following critical acclaim for their performances in the UK tour, Olivier award nominated actor Ian McIntosh and Elena Skye, reprise their roles as Galileo Figaro and Scaramouche. Further casting to be announced.

The musical features 24 of Queen’s greatest hits and a hilarious script by Ben Elton - who returns to the director’s chair for this London homecoming - ‘We Will Rock You’ rivals the scale and spectacle of the band’s legendary live performances.

It has been 21 years since We Will Rock You premiered at London’s Dominion Theatre in 2002, where it was seen by six million people over 4600 performances during an astonishing 12-year run, becoming one of the most successful musicals in West End history and the longest runner at the Dominion by a margin of nine years. It also found unprecedented popularity around the world, playing to a global audience of 20 million across 28 countries.

‘We Will Rock You’ tells the story of a globalized future without musical instruments. A handful of rock rebels, the Bohemians, fight against the all-powerful Globalsoft company and its boss, the Killer Queen; they fight for freedom, individuality and the rebirth of the age of rock. Scaramouche and Galileo, two young outsiders, cannot come to terms with the bleak conformist reality. They join the Bohemians and embark on the search to find the unlimited power of freedom, love and rock!

‘We Will Rock You’ is produced by Phil McIntyre Live, Queen Theatrical Productions and Tribeca Theatrical Productions.

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Through captivating tales and a magnetic performance, Rich shares the highs and lows of his eventful and peculiar life, revealing how his mental illnesses affect him. Silly Boy explores themes such as anorexia, bipolar disorder, self-harm, borderline personality disorder and heroin abuse. But as dark as the subjects may be, the show is not heavy, more a celebration of the beauty and silliness of it all.

Dr Mark Salter, Consultant in Adult General Psychiatry (who has appeared on Big Brother, Stephen Fry’s Bipolar Documentary, ITV and the BBC) said “it was the most accurate portrayal of mental illness and bipolar disorder etc he has ever seen”

An anonymous benefactor was so moved by the show he is sending Rich on this tour as he feels it needs to be seen by as many people as possible.

In a weird turning of the tables, two psychotherapists messaged him after seeing the show to say that they learned more from his show than any academic paper or textbook they have read as they got to feel what it feels like. This in turn got him invited to perform at the Psychologist Research institute in Bristol and to the NHS Conference.

Rich’s journey has been far from conventional. He left school in Yorkshire with no GCSEs and worked as a binman and a cleaner, a stand-up comedian, and even became an internet entrepreneur, raising (and losing) a million dollars for his empathy-based internet start-up, which saw him partner with Stephen Fry. He developed 2 sitcoms with Channel 4, including The Art of Foley and can be seen in Lovesick and Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.

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