As their co-production of Cyrano with Northern Broadsides prepares to open at the venue, the New Vic Theatre today announces their full Summer season. Combining new writing, alongside classic drama and a celebration of a local legend, the season also sees the return of popular production Around the World in 80 Days, which opens at its home at the theatre-in-the-round before embarking on a major national tour.
Following two record-breaking runs in 2013 and 2014, Around the World in 80 Days is back by popular demand and will see New Vic favourites Andrew Pollard and Michael Hugo reprise their roles of Phileas Fogg and Passepartout.
Directed by Artistic Director, Theresa Heskins, the action-packed escapade will run at the New Vic from Friday 23 June to Saturday 8 July before setting off on a national tour, with producers Simon Friend and Kenny Wax Family Entertainment.
Ahead of this, the season begins with Invincible, which will take to the New Vic stage from Tuesday 4 to Saturday 15 April. Produced by The Original Theatre Company and The Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds and written by Torben Betts, this riotously funny comedy looks at the life of one post-recession couple whose new neighbours turn their lives upside down.
Dial M for Murder (Friday 28 April to Saturday 20 May) will see director Peter Leslie Wild (The Archers, BBC Radio 4; Doctors, BBC 1; Inherit the Wind, Seeing the Lights, New Vic Theatre) make a welcome return to the New Vic. Full of twists, turns and suspense, this gripping drama is a masterpiece of writing that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
From Friday 26 May to Saturday 17 June, the New Vic then celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of Stoke-on-Trent’s greatest literary legends, Arnold Bennett, with a new adaptation of his most-loved novel, Anna of the Five Towns. Adapted by Deborah McAndrew and directed by Conrad Nelson, the play tells the absorbing love story of a spirited young woman, set against the backdrop of life in the Potteries.
Theresa Heskins, New Vic Artistic Director, said: “The New Vic is a local theatre with a national outlook, and we want our work to look both inwards and outwards. Hence a play about economically pressured southerners downsizing to the north; a new piece to commemorate a cultural icon; and an adaptation by an American woman of a play written by a Frenchman about a Brit travelling the world. The New Vic’s biggest ever national tour, Around the World in 80 Days is a celebration of difference together with a reminder of what unites us, all told in a joyous piece of theatre which appeals to adults and children, English speakers and non-English speakers, theatregoers and non-theatregoers alike. I’m delighted we will get to share this with our audiences, and audiences all over the country, this year.”
Tickets for the Summer season are on sale now, both online and by telephoning Box Office on 01782 717962.