Chaos and comedy at the Royal & Derngate

An exciting line up events is on offer at the Royal & Derngate this spring. Fans of last year’s knockout Moby Dick will welcome the return of Spymonkey with their new production Oedipussy, plus there is a new stage production of the delightful Ladies in Lavender. It is followed by Festival of Chaos, a trilogy of new adaptations of classic plays (two world premieres and one European premiere) and there’s a packed programme of top touring shows including the musical Grease and the hugely successful National Theatre production of JB Priestley’s An Inspector Calls. Comedy highlights include performances by Jimmy Carr, Omid Djalili and Chris Addison, while among the great entertainment for all the family comes Cinderella on Ice and Moscow State Circus. As well as a fantastic choice of music, there will be dance events to suit many tastes, including some of top choreographer Matthew Bourne’s early work.

Oedipussy is an outrageous no-holds-barred subversion of the Greek tragedy, directed by Kneehigh’s Emma Rice (Brief Encounter). This is a tale of forbidden lust, accidental incest, violent murder and the ultimate dysfunctional family. Oedipussy takes to the Royal stage from Feb 3-18.

An evocative and heart-warming story of unfulfilled dreams and unrequited love (based on the hit film by Charles Dance starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith), Ladies in Lavender tells the tale of two sisters Ursula and Janet living in a close-knit fishing village in 1930s Cornwall.

Festival of Chaos, which runs from May to July, will be directed by Royal & Derngate’s Artistic Director Laurie Sansom. It features new interpretations of Euripides’ The Bacchae, Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding and Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, and explores the forgotten power of Dionysus, inviting him back to tear apart the comfort and conventions of our material world. Played out across the ages, and across continents, the Festival takes us from the birthplace of the Olympics and a money-hungry city increasingly out of touch with its roots through to a claustrophobic 19th Century Scandinavian household, via the poverty of rural Spain.

Direct from the West End comes Bette and Joan telling the hilarious backstage story of the making of the movie Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, starring renowned actresses Anita Dobson and Greta Scacchi as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

Fans of musicals can also look forward one of the greatest musicals of all time, Rodgers and Hamerstein’s The King and I starring Ramon Tikaram as The King and Josefina Gabrielle as the British governess brought to the court of Siam to tutor the King’s children. There’s also Grease and an all new rock ‘n’ roll musical Save the Last Dance For Me

For more information about the full programme for the spring season visit www.royalandderngate.co.uk. To book tickets, go to the website or call the box office on 01604 624811.