Theatre Picks in Bath
Mission Theatre
Elegies for Angels, Punks & Raging Queens. Wed, Oct 8-Sat, Oct 11. 7:30pm. Presented by Bath Operatic and Dramatic Society (BODS). Matinee Saturday at 2:30pm. Elegies is inspired by the real lives behind the names on the AIDS Memorial Quilt. It tells the personal stories of people from all walks of life who lost their lives to the AIDS epidemic in the 80s.
Who Bloody Dunnit? Thu16th – Fri 17th Oct 7:30pm. Presented by The Blank Slate Ensemble. Witness two twisted tales tipping over with crime, curmudgeonry and Agatha Christie crashing out of her grave to cancel us. Whether you’re a die-hard detective novel fan, or just want a good laugh, there’s something for everyone in this double kill – double bill! (Main photo.)
Our Day Out by Willy Russell. Wed, Oct 29, to Sat, Nov 1. 7:30pm.Presented by Next Stage Youth Theatre Company. Matinee Sat 1st Nov, 2pm. Mrs Kay’s remedial class are out for the day from their inner-city Liverpool comprehensive on a trip to North Wales. For many of them it’s the first time they’ve travelled that far from their home town. However, there is one cloud on the horizon: the headteacher has sent Mr Briggs – a disciplinarian – to keep an eye on all the goings-on.
Terry’s: An American Tragedy About Cars, Customers, and Selling Cars to Customers. Mon 3rd Nov. Presented by BRILLIG Theatre. 7:30pm. Memorial Day weekend. The US-of-A. The sales team at Terry’s Cars & Automobiles is preparing to honour the fallen by slashing prices on some gently-used, (mostly) American-made cars.
Rondo Theatre
Wed 8-Sat 11 Oct. Travesties. Bath Drama stage Tom Stoppard’s play set in 1917. Henry Carr plays Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, then sues the company’s business manager, James Joyce. Carr’s unreliable memories in a hilarious tale of love, art, revolution and espionage. With a plot borrowed from Wilde’s classic comedy plus the liberal sampling of theatrical and literary sources on the way, it’s an erudite and very funny dramatic mash-up and a lesser-spotted Stoppard gem.
Sat 18 Oct. Antony and Cleopatra. 8pm. Admission £16. Professional Theatre. Written by William Shakespeare. Adapted by Jacky Crosher. Presented by Shakespeare Live. The story of the passionate love affair between two powerful rulers – Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, and Mark Antony, of Rome – is full of comedy and witty banter, yet also a history play wrapped round a tragic romance, examining the choices between the personal and the political. This fast-paced version, adapted and directed by Jacky Crosher for Shakespeare Live, spins a new twist on this less-performed play.
SIX: Teen Edition. Wed 22 – Sat 25 Oct. 3pm & 7:30pm. £15. Community Theatre. By Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. Presented by Merriman Productions. His-story’s about to get overthrown… again! Back by popular demand, Merriman Productions present SIX: TEEN EDITION; a full-length adaptation of Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’ international phenomenon SIX, modified for performance by teen actors for family audiences. Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. From Tudor Queens to Pop Icons, the SIX wives of Henry VIII take the mic to remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into a euphoric celebration of 21st-century girl power!
Thu 30 Oct. The Goosebumps of Delight. 7:30pm. Full £14 Concs £12. Professional Theatre. Adapted by Gavin Robertson. Presented by Gavin Robertson & Nicholas Collett. A sequel to The Ghost of a Smile, and spookily apt between Halloween and Christmas, two (more) of Charles Dickens’ ghost stories, with a comic element- adapted from his original stories The Baron of Grogzwig – in which a downhearted Baron is visited by a sinister apparition, and The Goblins Who Stole A Sexton – the latter being Dickens’ own inspiration for what later became A Christmas Carol! The themes of redemption and humility are all there – but funnier! Physical theatre/storytelling… with a handy interval!
Wed 5-Sat 8 Nov. Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. 7:30pm. Full £12 Concs £10. Professional Theatre. Presented by WhimsiCo. WhimsiCo take a dive into the dark with their new adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde, combining psychedelic rock with classic gothic horror. To all who know him, Gabriel Utterson is a good man, but when he must investigate a string of mysterious murders somehow connected to his friend Dr Jekyll, he finds that he must discover more about himself than pleasantries if he is to solve the strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. An electrifying new feminist take on the classic novel.
Theatre Royal Bath Main House
Fri 3- Sat18 Oct. Small Hotel. With Ralph Fiennes, Francesca Annis, Rosalind Eleazar, Rachel Tucker in a play by Rebecca Lenkiewicz. Directed by Holly Race Roughan. Evenings 7.30pm. Matinees Thurs & Sat 2.30pm. Ralph Fiennes plays Larry, an acclaimed TV celebrity whose life and career are rapidly unravelling.
Tue 21-Sat 25 Oct. Death on the Nile. This adaptation of the Agatha Christie classic sees the detective Poirot played by Mark Hadfield and joined by Glynis Barber and Bob Barrett.
Tue 28 Oct – 1 Sat Nov. Little Women. Louisa May Alcott’s novel is adapted for the stage by Anne-Marie Casey with the March sisters – tomboy Jo, beautiful Meg, sensitive Beth and spoilt Amy as they navigate the challenges of the Civil War era, forging unbreakable bonds of love and family. Step into the world of sisterhood, courage, ambition and follow the sisters as they progress into womanhood.
Egg Theatre
Fri 3- Sun 5 Oct. The Little Prince Toby Thompson embarks on a whimsical journey with the Little Prince as he wanders the universe in search of the true meaning of friendship in an adaptation of the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s novel.Various day time performance times.
Thu 9-Sat 11 Oct. An Ant Called Amy. When she wins the Employee of the Month Award, Amy feels a happiness that drives her to work even harder. But is she truly content? With the help of the Brown Spider, Amy learns to find true happiness by appreciating the world around her and celebrating her brother’s memory in the everyday. A charming and moving story about a busy little ant who learns to slow down. Various performance times.
18 Sat-19 Sun Oct. Cinderella Ice Cream Seller. In this new musical for families and children, join Talvi and Caldwell, loyal employees of Cinderella’s, as they share her rags to riches tale, and confront their own desires, hopes, and the magic that lies within each scoop of Cinderella’s legendary ice cream. Various performance times.
Fri 31 Oct-Sun 2 Nov. Little Gift. Meet Ted, a cautious old soul living all alone in a busy, bustling town. He likes it that way. It’s quieter and safer. Until one extraordinary day, a surprise visitor turns his lonely life upside down. Told by a very special performer, with a playful mix of puppetry, music and song, Little Gift is a tender and warm story about friendship and the joy to be found just around every corner. Various performance times.
Ustinov Studio
Thu 4 Sep-Sat 4 Oct. Endgame. Award-winning actor, director and writer Douglas Hodge and acclaimed film and television actor Clive Francis join the previously announced Mathew Horne and Selina Cadell in Samuel Beckett’s macabre comedy. In a bare room, Hamm, an old, blind tyrant is locked in a stalemate with his servant Clov. Interrupted by the nostalgic musings of Hamm’s ancient, dustbin-dwelling parents, Hamm and Clov do their best to ignore the older pair, and cling stubbornly to their comic routine of casual savagery and mutual dependence.
Thu 09-Fri 10 Oct. Bluffing Your Way in Ballet. The show takes you beyond the tutu, as our show pirouettes its irreverent, witty and fast-paced way through ballet history. Resident septuagenarian ballerina, Alexandra, leads her talented actors and dancers in a merry dance, exposing snippets from her career and how the portrayed galaxy of ballet stars influenced her artistic life.
Wed-Thu 22-23 Oct. Sherlock Holmes and the Man Who Believed in Fairies. If you think the Cottingley Fairies was just a straightforward hoax, think again! The famous detective is pitted against his own creator in a titanic battle of wits as they both aim to prove and disprove the reality of the infamous wartime fairy photographs. 7.30pm.
Tue 25 Nov-Sat 3 Jan. The Last Five Years. Matinees Weds & Sat 2.30pm (Wed 3 Dec 10.30am) nightly at 7.30pm. A funny, musical and heartfelt observation of a rollercoaster romance between two New Yorkers, a young writer and an aspiring actress. Written in 2001 by Jason Robert Brown with songs like the duet The Next Ten Minutes sung by Jamie and Cathy.
Theatre Picks outside Bath
Alma Theatre, Bristol
Sun 12 Oct. Junkies. A gay age-gap romance with an edge which discovers that addiction comes in many guises. A young man who needs money dates an older who has more than enough. As their relationship develops it becomes clear that they have more in common than either realises, and that each can help the other to find a way forward.
Tobacco Factory, Bristol
Wed 8-Sat 18 Oct. Cosí Fan Tutte with the Opera Project. Mozart’s playful story of two sisters who are engaged to two officers. An old ‘Don’ makes a flippant remark to the officers that women are typically unfaithful and fickle! This sets in motion a crazy bet, that the officers could, in disguise, seduce each other’s fiancée. Approx 3 hrs.
Old Vic Theatre, Bristol
Tue 28 Oct-Sat 1 Nov. Private Lives. Love and chaos collide in Noël Coward’s timeless comedy. Amanda and Elyot are charming, rich, utterly reckless – and divorced. When they meet unexpectedly on the first night of their honeymoons with new partners, in the balmy moonlight of the French Riviera, old flames re-ignite, and impulsive love takes hold.
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