Home

Painting Painting presents:

TV TALENT TO TOP THE GOOD OLD DAYS

 

This March The Good Old Days variety extravaganza returns to City Varieties Music Hall in Leeds.

BBC4 is currently re-running highlights on Fridays from the original TV light entertainment series which ran for 30 years, was watched by millions

and took the City Varieties into households across the globe.

City Varieties’ live stage revival is now in its 28^th year, hosted by legendary Chairman, Mr Johnny Dennis

with the musical accompaniment of The City Varieties “Orchestra” led by Mr David Smith

On Friday 11 and Saturday 12 March, actress, singer and panto legend Anita Harris tops the bill

with the remainder of the performance comprising veteran Music Hall revivalist Peter John, comedian Richard Gauntlett and Scotland’s Cavalier of song, Jimmy McWilliams.

For the following weekend March 18 and 19, local lad Billy Pearce headlines
with Crackerjack’s Jan Hunt, superstar soprano Rebecca Newman and comedy juggler Steve Rawlings rounding out the bill.

 

Fancy dress not obligatory but highly recommended

Friday 11 March 7pm
Saturday 12 March 12 Noon & 4.30pm
Friday 18 March 7pm

Saturday 19 March 12 Noon & 4.30pm

Tickets from £16*

 

Online Booking: www.cityvarieties.co.uk

Box Office: 0113 243 0808

LEE BRENNAN JOINS THE CAST OF

FOOTLOOSE: THE MUSICAL

 

FROM TUESDAY 19 APRIL TO SATURDAY 18 JUNE 2016

 

911 and The Big Reunion star Lee Brennan will make his musical theatre debut when he joins the cast ofFootloose: The Musical, playing the role of Willard from Tuesday 19 April to Saturday 18 June 2016. Lee will join the UK tour for dates in Oxford, Weston Super Mare, Wimbledon, Liverpool, Belfast, Derry, Torquay andGlasgow.

Lee Brennan is widely recognised as one third of multi-million selling pop group 911. One of the biggest pop acts of the 90’s, 911 were one of only five acts in the decade to achieve ten consecutive UK Top Ten Hit Singles, selling over 10 million records around the world and touring the UK four times. Lee returned to 911 in 2013, when the band reformed for ITV’s smash hit series The Big Reunion. An arena tour followed, where they played to over 200,000 fans alongside acts including Five and Blue.

Lee said today: “I am unbelievably excited about joining the amazing cast of Footloose! It has always been a dream of mine to perform in a musical and I cannot wait to get started in my role as Willard. I loved the film and have seen the current stage version and it blew me away!”

As previously announced, Gareth Gates will continue in the role of Willard until 16 April, returning to the show from 20 June 2016.

Based on the 1984 screen sensation starring Kevin Bacon, Footloose: The Musical tells the story of city boy Ren, who has to move to a rural backwater in America where dancing is banned. All hell breaks out as Ren breaks loose and soon has the whole town up on its feet. Featuring classic 80s hits including Holding Out for a Hero, Almost Paradise, Let’s Hear it for the Boy and the unforgettable title track, Footloose: The Musical is set to take the world by storm once again in this brand new production, bursting with youthful spirit, dazzling dance and electrifying music.

 

When the film was released in 1984, it became the highest-grossing February release in US film history.  The soundtrack album ended the year-long reign of Michael Jackson’s Thriller at number one and went on to top album charts all over the world, eventually selling in excess of 17 million copies.  Footloose was nominated for a Golden Globe, and both the title song and Let’s Hear It for the Boy received Academy Award nominations.Footloose: The Musical first opened on Broadway in 1998 where it ran for 709 performances, with a London production following in 2006, opening at the Novello Theatre following a UK Tour.

 

The cast also features Luke Baker (American Idiot, Sunny Afternoon) as Ren, Maureen Nolan (The Nolans, Blood Brothers) as Vi Moore, Hannah Price as Ariel Moore, Nigel Lister as Reverend Shaw Moore, Nicky Swift as Ethel McCormack, Joanna Sawyer as Rusty, Matthew Tomlinson as Chuck, Natasha Brown as Wendy-Jo, Miracle Chance as Urleen, Thomas Cotran as Jeter and Scott Haining as Bickie. The cast also includes Lauren Storer, Natalie Morton-Graham, Luke Thornton and Alex Marshall.

 

Footloose: The Musical has music by Tom Snow and lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and is adapted for the stage by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie. It is based on the original screenplay by Dean Pitchford. It is directed by Racky Plews (American Idiot, West End) with choreography by Matthew Cole, design by Sara Perks and musical supervision by Mark Crossland. It is produced by David Hutchinson and Phillip Rowntree for Sell A Door Theatre Company, Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, Jason Haigh-Ellery and Stephen McGill Productions. It is presented by arrangement with R&H Theatricals Europe.

 

www.footloose-musical.com

@FootlooseTour

 

 

2016 UK TOUR

Monday 8 – Saturday 13 February 2016

DARTFORD Orchard Theatre

Box Office www.orchardtheatre.co.uk | 01322 220000

With Gareth Gates as Willard

 

Tuesday 16 – Saturday 20 February 2016

EDINBURGH Festival Theatre

Box Office www.edtheatres.com | 0131 529 6000

With Gareth Gates as Willard

 

Monday 22 – Saturday 27 February 2016

LOWESTOFT Marina Theatre

Box Office www.marinatheatre.co.uk | 01502 533200

With Gareth Gates as Willard

Monday 29 February – Saturday 5 March 2016

CARDIFF New Theatre

Box Office www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk | 029 2087 8889

With Gareth Gates as Willard

Monday 14 – Saturday 19 March 2016

MANCHESTER Palace Theatre

Box Office www.atgtickets.com/venues/palace-theatre-manchester | 0161 245 6600

With Gareth Gates as Willard

 

Monday 21 – Saturday 26 March 2016

CARLISLE Sands Theatre

Box Office www.thesandscentre.co.uk | 01228 633766

With Gareth Gates as Willard

 

Monday 28 March – Saturday 2 April 2016

PORTSMOUTH King’s Theatre

Box Office www.kingsportsmouth.co.uk | 023 9282 8282

With Gareth Gates as Willard

Tuesday 12 – Saturday 16 April 2016

BOURNEMOUTH Pavilion Theatre

Box Office www.bournemouthpavilion.co.uk | 0844 576 3000

With Gareth Gates as Willard

 

Tuesday 19- Saturday 23 April 2016

OXFORD New Theatre

Box Office www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-theatre-oxford | 0844 871 3020

With Lee Brennan as Willard

 

Monday 25 – Saturday 30 April 2016

WESTON-SUPER-MARE Playhouse

Box Office www.parkwoodtheatres.co.uk/theplayhouse | 01934 645544

With Lee Brennan as Willard

 

Monday 2 – Saturday 7 May 2016

WIMBLEDON New Theatre

Box Office www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-wimbledon-theatre | 020 8545 7900

With Lee Brennan as Willard

 

Monday 9 – Saturday 14 May 2016

LIVERPOOL Empire

Box Office www.atgtickets.com/venues/liverpool-empire | 0151 702 7320

With Lee Brennan as Willard

 

Monday 23 – Saturday 28 May 2016

BELFAST Opera House

Box Office www.goh.co.uk | 028 9024 1919

With Lee Brennan as Willard

 

Tuesday 31 May – Saturday 4 June 2016

DERRY Millennium Forum

Box Office www.millenniumforum.co.uk | 028 7126 4455

With Lee Brennan as Willard

Monday 6 – Saturday 11 June 2016

TORQUAY Princess Theatre

Box Office www.atgtickets.com/venues/princess-theatre-torquay | 0844 871 3023

With Lee Brennan as Willard

Monday 13 – Saturday 18 June 2016

GLASGOW King’s Theatre

Box Office www.atgtickets.com/venues/kings-theatre | 0844 871 7648

With Lee Brennan as Willard

 

Monday 20 – Saturday 25 June 2016

ABERDEEN His Majesty’s Theatre

Box Office www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/venues/his-majestys-theatre | 01224 641122

With Gareth Gates as Willard

 

Monday 27 June – Saturday 2 July 2016

BRADFORD Alhambra Theatre

Box Office www.bradford-theatres.co.uk | 01274 432000

With Gareth Gates as Willard

Monday 4 – Saturday 9 July 2016

BIRMINGHAM Alexandra Theatre

Box Office www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-alexandra-theatre-birmingham | 0844 871 3011

With Gareth Gates as Willard

 

Tuesday 12 – Saturday 16 July 2016

NEWCASTLE Opera House

Box Office www.tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk | 0191 243 1171

With Gareth Gates as Willard

 

Monday 18 – Saturday 23 July 2016

WOKING New Victoria Theatre

Box Office www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-victoria-theatre | 0844 871 7645

With Gareth Gates as Willard

 

Monday 25 – Saturday 30 July 2016

BRIGHTON Theatre Royal

Box Office www.atgtickets.com/venues/theatre-royal-brighton | 0844 871 7627

With Gareth Gates as Willard

 

Monday 1 August – Saturday 6 August 2016

BRISTOL Hippodrome

Box Office www.atgtickets.com/venues/bristol-hippodrome | 0844 871 3012

With Gareth Gates as Willard

 

Monday 15 – Saturday 27 August 2016

ABERYSTWYTH Arts Centre

Box Office www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk | 01970 62 32 32

 

Monday 19 – Saturday 24 September 2016

BLACKPOOL Opera House

Box Office www.wintergardensblackpool.co.uk | 0844 856 1111

With Gareth Gates as Willard

 

Monday 3 – Saturday 8 October 2016

IPSWICH Regent Theatre

Box Office 01473 433100

With Gareth Gates as Willard

SHEFFIELD THEATRES EXTENDS WORLD PREMIÈRE OF RICHARD BEAN’S

THE NAP AND SHOW BOAT HEADS DOWNSTREAM TO LONDON’S WEST END

Sheffield Theatres’ Artistic Director Daniel Evans today announces the world première production of Richard Bean’s comedy thriller The Nap will extend its run by one week, alongside news that his recent five star production of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s musical Show Boat is to transfer to the West End. 

 

Directed by Sheffield Theatres’ Associate Director Richard Wilson, The Nap, written by award-winning Richard Bean (One Man Two Guv’nors) will extend its run by one week on the Crucible stage until Saturday 2 April. This brand new laugh-out-loud comedy thriller is set at the World Snooker Championships and stars a cast including  BAFTA award-winning  Jack O’Connell(Unbroken, ’71, Starred Up), Mark Addy (The Full Monty film, Game of Thrones, Atlantis) and Ralf Little (Lewis, The Royle Family, Our Zoo).

Daniel Evans’ critically acclaimed production of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’smusical  Show Boat will transfer to West End’s New London Theatre in spring 2016.  Seen by over 36,000 people during its seven-week run in Sheffield, previews begin at the New London Theatre fromSaturday 9 April.  Produced in the West End by David Ian with Bob Bartner and Norman Tulchin, tickets for Show Boat go on sale on Friday 12 February.  The cast will be announced shortly.

Daniel Evans said:  “Show Boat is often thought to be the mother of all musicals.  Hammerstein and Kern’s score continues to blow audiences away, almost 90 years later.  As well as being a riveting story, the piece’s themes of family and freedom still speak to us today in a profound way.  I feel proud that the production we made in Sheffield will now get to travel further afield and be experienced by yet more audiences in the capital.”  

Producer David Ian said: “I am absolutely thrilled, along with my co-producers Bob Bartner andNorman Tulchin, to be bringing Daniel’s ground breaking production of Show Boat to the West End. As soon as I saw the production in Sheffield there was no doubt in my mind that we absolutely had to bring Show Boat in to London, giving West End audiences the opportunity to see this brand new version of such an incredible musical.”

Tickets for The Nap can be purchased from Sheffield Theatres’ Box Office in-person, byphone on 0114 249 6000 or online at sheffieldtheatres.co.uk and are priced from £18.00 (concessions available).  A transaction fee of £1.50 (£1.00 online) applies to all bookings made at the Box Office (excluding cash).

 

For ticket information for Show Boat go to www.ShowBoatMusical.co.uk or call 0844 412 4654

Directed by Alastair Whatley, William Nicholson’s play tells the love story of C.S. Lewis, author ofThe Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters, and American poet Joy Davidman. The production opens at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre on Thursday 18 February, prior to a nationwide tour.

SHADOWLANDS will then tour to Salisbury, Eastbourne, Ipswich, Windsor, Croydon, Malvern, Worthing, Doncaster, Chesterfield, Birmingham, Portsmouth, Cardiff, Exeter and Richmond, with further dates to be announced.

The cast of SHADOWLANDS will be led by Stephen Boxer (Humans, The Iron Lady, Doctors) as C.S. Lewis, Denis Lill (The Royal, Only Fools and Horses, Rumpole of the Bailey) as Major W.H. Lewis ‘Warnie’ and Amanda Ryan (The Forsyte Saga, Shameless) as Joy Davidman. They will be joined by Simon Shackleton as Professor Christopher Riley, Jeffrey Harmer as Rev ‘Harry’ Harrington, Ian Marr as Alan Gregg, Richard Holliday as Dr Maurice Oakley and Shannon Rewcroft as Douglas, with Holly Smith and Alistair Higgins playing multiple supporting roles.

SHADOWLANDS, by William Nicholson, tells the love story of C.S. Lewis, Oxford don and author of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters, and American poet Joy Davidman. What begins as a formal meeting of two very different minds slowly develops into a feeling of connection and love. Lewis finds his quiet life with his brother Warnie disrupted by the outspoken, feisty Davidman, whose uninhibited behaviour offers a sharp contrast to the rigid sensibilities of the male-dominated university. Each provides the other with new ways of viewing the world, but Lewis’s Christian faith is tested when Joy is diagnosed with cancer.

Official website: www.shadowlandstour.com

Twitter: @shadowlandstour

Facebook: shadowlandsthetour

2016 TOUR SCHEDULE

18 – 27 February Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford 01483 44 00 00 www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk

29 February – 5 March Salisbury Playhouse 01722 320 333 www.salisburyplayhouse.com

7 – 12 March Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne 01323 412 000 www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk

14 – 19 March New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich 01473 295900 www.wolseytheatre.co.uk

29 March – 2 April Theatre Royal Windsor 01753 853 888 www.theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk

4 – 9 April Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon 020 8688 9291 www.fairfield.co.uk

11 – 16 April Festival Theatre, Malvern 01684 892277 www.malvern-theatres.co.uk

19 – 23 April Connaught Theatre, Worthing 01903 206 206 www.worthingtheatres.co.uk 26 April – 30 April CAST Theatre, Doncaster 01302 303 959

castindoncaster.com 16 – 21 May Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield 01246 345 222

chesterfieldtheatres.co.uk

31 May – 4 June Birmingham Repertory Theatre 0121 236 4455 www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

13 – 18 June New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth 023 9264 9000 www.newtheatreroyal.com 21 – 25 June New Theatre, Cardiff 029 2087 8889 www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk

28 June – 2 July Exeter Northcott Theatre 01392 726363 www.exeternorthcott.co.uk

25 July – 30 July Richmond Theatre 0844 871 7651 www.atgtickets.com/venues/richmond-theatre

 

Directed by James Brining, Artistic Director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse, the tour of the much loved Sherman Brothers musical kicks off in Southampton on Wednesday 10 February.

Caractacus Potts will be played by Jason Manford (The Producers, Sweeney Todd) from 10 February until 24 April, and he will return to the show from 5 October 2016. Lee Mead (Casualty, Legally Blonde, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat) will play Caractacus Potts from 4 May until 18 September 2016.

Martin Kemp (EastEnders, The Krays) will play the Childcatcher and Amy Griffiths (Everyman, Stephen Ward, The Pajama Game) will play Truly Scrumptious, both until 24 April 2016.

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG will also feature Phill Jupitus (The Producers, Hairspray) as Lord Scrumptious/Baron Bomburst until 24 April 2016, Michelle Collins (EastEnders, Coronation Street) as Baroness Bomburst, and Andy Hockley (The Phantom Of The Opera) as Grandpa Potts.

Ewen Cummins plays The Toymaker/Mr Coggins, with Sam Harrison as Boris and Scott Paige as Goran, and Kathryn Barnes, Rosanna Bates, Alex Louize Bird, Abigail Climer, Jade Davies, Matt Gillett, Ewan Gillies, Joanna Goodwin, Nathan Vaughan Harris, Christopher D Hunt, Paul Iveson, Nia Jermin, Kelsie-Rae Marshall, Mollie Melia-Redgrave, Perry O’Dea, Matt Overfield, Ross Russell, Craig Turner and Robert Wilkes.

For more information, visit www.chittythemusical.co.uk

Facebook: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang The Musical

Twitter: @ChittyMusical / #chittymusical

 

10–21 February Mayflower Theatre, Southampton www.mayflower.org.uk 02380 711811

24 February – 13 March Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin www.bordgaisenergytheatre.ie 0844 847 2455

16 – 27 March Grand Opera House, Belfast www.goh.co.uk/ 028 9024 1919

30 March – 9 April Regent Theatre, Stoke 0844 871 7649 www.atgtickets.com/venues/regent-theatre

13 – 24 April Cliffs Pavilion, Southend www.thecliffspavilion.co.uk 01702 351 135

4 – 14 May Milton Keynes Theatre 0844 871 7652 www.atgtickets.com/venues/milton-keynes-theatre/

18 – 29 May Nottingham Theatre Royal www.trch.co.uk 0115 989 5555

1 – 12 June Theatre Royal, Newcastle www.theatreroyal.co.uk 08448 112 111

15 – 19 June Theatre Royal Plymouth 01752 267222 www.theatreroyal.com

29 June – 17 July Sheffield Lyceum www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk 0114 249 6000

20 – 30 July New Wimbledon Theatre 0844 871 7646 www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-wimbledon-theatre

3 – 21 August Wales Millennium Centre www.wmc.org.uk 029 2063 6464

24 August – 3 September Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury www.marlowetheatre.com 01227 787787

7 – 18 September Birmingham Hippodrome www.birminghamhippodrome.com 0844 338 5000

21 September – 2 October Royal & Derngate, Northampton www.royalandderngate.co.uk 01604 624811

5 – 16 October Festival Theatre, Edinburgh www.edtheatres.com 0131 529 6000

19 – 29 October King’s Theatre, Glasgow 0844 871 7648 www.atgtickets.com/venues/kings-theatre/

9 – 19 November New Victoria Theatre, Woking 0844 871 7645 www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-victoria-theatre/

6 December – 15 January 2017 The Lowry, Salford 0843 208 6000 www.thelowry.com/

Further tour dates to be announced

OF MICE AND MEN

INTERVIEW WITH DUDLEY SUTTON WHO PLAYS THE ROLE OF ‘CANDY’

How would you describe the character you play in Of Mice And Men?

It’s very interesting because he’s the oldest guy and he represents the growing weakness of workers who are going to be slung on the mud heap – the dung heap – as soon as they can’t do a job anymore. He’s lost one of his hands and is just doing what they called ‘swamping out’ – washing the floors and stuff – and as soon he can’t do that anymore they’ll sling him on the dung heap which means the workhouse.

What’s the common ground between you and Candy?

There’s a tremendous amount. The girl in the play, Saoirse-Monaca Jackson, is 60 years younger than I am. I’m working with a whole group of young actors who are absolutely brilliant and wonderful and exciting. I’m on the way out and they’re on the way in. There’s a strange kind of sweetness in that relationship. I mostly just sit around admiring them so much I forget my cues.

And what are the big differences between you and him?

[Laughs] Well, I’ve never worked for a living. I tried it once but it didn’t really suit me. No, I mustn’t be flippant. I’ve never had that grinding poverty that he has. I’ve been skint at times but never that endless grinding poverty. I saw that kind of poverty when I was young and working in places like Manchester; and you’d see industrial wounds on the streets of places like that.

They say never to work with children or animals, so is it working with a dog on stage?

If you want to look it up in the history books, I’m the only actor I’ve ever come across that got a notice in a paper many years ago where the critic said I was the only actor he’d ever met who could upstage a baby lamb. That was in the Sam Shephard play The Curse Of The Starving Class. But it’s difficult with a dog because the dog in this has to be old. He’s a reflection of Candy really because he’s old and he stinks and he’s dragging his feet and he’s going blind and he’s useless. But once you let the dog take over you’re OK. When I’m trying to control the dog it doesn’t work; you just have to accept the dog is going to come onstage and every kid in the place is going to go ‘Aaah!’ They’ll all be watching the dog, not me. But I like going on stage with animals and children. I’m not threatened by them.

The play dates back to 1937. Why do you think it has endured?

It has so many extraordinary resonances. It’s about the haves and have-nots, and the absolute suppression of the people by the emerging big agriculture companies. It was an extraordinary time in American history, and in a way the old guy Candy has two things – he has the comfort of his dog, and his dream of being part of a group with their own bit of land, with trees, growing corn. It’s a modern tragedy based on economics, and there’s always been this great divide between the haves and the have-nots. There’s always been this struggle and there will always be a struggle between capital and labour. This play is set in the late 20s and there were union strikes that had to be broken up with shotguns. People were killed by guns and pickaxe handles so you got Woody Guthrie and all those great protest songs that came out of that time. It’s as relevant today as it ever was and I can see why schools have had the book on the curriculum for so long. It’s an intensely moral play in the best sense of the word.

Is it a play you’ve always wanted to perform in?

I didn’t really know much about it and I don’t usually look at plays very deeply until I’m in them. But I started out in 1957 in the East End, in what ways then a very rundown place called Stratford which now of course is very gentrified, in the very left-wing Theatre Workshop company. So the play kind of fits well with me.

How do you feel you would have fared during the Great Depression?

It’s difficult to tell because I was educated, but I think I would have survived because I’ve always had an inquiring mind and I’ve always distrusted authority. There were wonderful movements during the Great Depression – education for working people and all the rest of it. A lot of things were going on.

What are the biggest challenges for you as an actor in playing Candy?

Everything is a challenge. Mainly it’s learning lines. Learning lines has always been a misery for me and you go through hell until you know them. But I have to say how impressed I am with the cast. It’s very well cast indeed.

The tour marks the 20th anniversary of the Touring Consortium Theatre Company. Why do you feel the work it does is so important?

Because they usually do stuff that’s on the curriculum and brings it all alive. I don’t like to think of the theatre as part of the department of do-gooding. Theatre should be challenging and I think it should be offensive. I think it’s important for it to be offensive. People need to be offended in order to think. If you airbrush everything out nobody is ever going to be offended and the whole world is going to be sanitized. We’d all be going round like a bunch of zombies. We need the argument, we need the discussion, we need the rows. Disagreement is very important but it’s discouraged on so many levels.

Do you have any pre or post show rituals?

I do lip and tongue exercises in the dressing room so I don’t flub the lines. You do imitations of motorbikes and motorboats. [Laughs] You just have to make sure your teeth don’t fall out. I also have an old voice exercise that was given to me in New York in 1960 which I still use, which has to do with falsetto and just getting the voice warmed up a bit. But I’m a bit beyond leaping about doing exercise. I tried to join in a practice game with the boys in the company the other day, which involved throwing a light handball around, and I fell over. Two of them had to pick me up because I’m a bit fat at the moment. I have to sit down and accept the fact that I’m 60 years older than the girl in the play and 40 years older than the oldest guy.

What are your career highlights?

It sounds feeble but it’s usually the one I’m currently in. But my favourite TV part was Tinker in Lovejoy which has given me friends all over the world. I also loved a film I did called The Football Factory. I’ve always liked being on the outskirts pushing in; two of the films I was involved in, The Football Factory and early on The Leather Boys, were avoided by cinemas. I’m still knocking on the door. I’m still kicking against the bricks. I’ve also always loved Shakespeare and I think most actors do because he’s always got his feet in the mud. He doesn’t get all esoteric, grand and abstract. It’s firmly rooted in reality and life and I’ve tried to make my work like that – to keep it in reality.

Of Mice And Men is at Darlington Civic Theatre from Tuesday 15 to Saturday 19 March.

Tickets* £17.40 to £27, discounts available. Thursday and Saturday matinees all seats £18.50. Family ticket Saturday 2.30pm £44. Under 16s and schools all seats £11 plus 1 free with every 10 booked.

To book contact the Box Office on 01325 486 555 or visit www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk

*All prices include a £1 restoration levy