In the spotlight

Back in early December I sat in the Courtyard theatre of the West Yorkshire Playhouse and watched the now familiar sight of the chiefs of the Playhouse talk with the artists who will be bringing their work to the stage this coming year.

There is always something quite melancholy and yet hopeful about the hosting of the new year season launch surrounded by the accoutrements of a Christmas show. In this case it was the set of the brilliant adaptation of the Roald Dahl story The Witches that flanked James Brining and Robin Hawkes as they told us what to expect in 2017.

Bold new takes on familiar works seems to be the order of the season and I can see why the Playhouse bosses have decided on such a programme. It seems, and I don’t mean this to sound derogatory, that things are in a bit of a holding pattern ahead of 2018. That will be the big year, the year the Playhouse begins to undergo what I suspect will be a hugely significant transformation.

For now, though, we have 
classic stories like Romeo and Juliet, The Graduate (argue about its classic status if you like, but the movie is 50 years old this year) and The Grapes of Wrath all coming to the stage over the next few months.

Director Amy Leach, whose career has grown in recent years while directing Christmas shows at the Playhouse, will be in charge of the story of an ancient grudge breaking to new mutiny. Some might wonder at a new version of Romeo and Juliet being brought to the stage, the question mainly being is there anything new to say? Leach, however, remembers seeing a production of the play at the Playhouse and the effect it had on her. Perhaps this new production will do the same for other youngsters?

The big productions I’m also looking forward to, but there are some fascinating little details in the Playhouse’s season when you get down into the minutiae. For example James Brining, the theatre’s artistic director, is not in charge of one of the big productions this year. Instead he will be directing a Courtyard production and a brand new play from Leeds playwright Zodwa Nyoni. The Zimbabwe-born, Leeds- raised writer has been on a steady upwards trajectory for some time now and her new play, Ode to Leeds, will be poetic and uplifting. A love letter to the city where she was raised and the young writers she grew up with, it is a continuation of Nyoni’s maturing.

In Sheffield the city houses the largest theatre complex outside of London with the Crucible, Studio and Lyceum. New man Robert Hastie seems like a good sort and he continues the tradition of actors turned directors running the joint, following Michael Grandage, Sam West and Daniel Evans, who he replaces, into the role of artistic director.

He too will stage a big Shakespeare production. This one, Julius Caesar, will see the new man at the helm. It’s the first time we’ve seen the play in the region’s main houses since the brilliant RSC’s African production came to Bradford in 2012.

It’s going to be interesting if the new man in charge can bring the same power to the play. Hastie will also continue another tradition, 
one of ensuring the theatre’s Studio is one of the most powerful and vibrant around with the venue hosting the regional premiere of Nina Raine’s Tribes in June.

The theatre will also see the return this year of Chris Bush, writing the world premiere of What We Wished For for Sheffield People’s Theatre. Having had great success with previous projects for massive scale performances, I’m sure this will be another great way for people to really feel like the theatre is theirs.

At the impressively refurbished York Theatre Royal I’m really pleased to see that two directors who have really made their mark on York will be combining their power. Katie Posner and Juliet Forster have done great things individually at the theatre in recent years. They are combining to bring a huge production to the stage, Everything is Possible, the story of the York Suffragettes. It sounds like a worthy project, may the wind be at their backs.

Meanwhile artistic director Damian Cruden will be in charge of a new play by Philip Meeks, Murder, Margaret and Me, a look at the real life story behind the Miss Marple movies.

While it doesn’t make its own work (although it did just produce its first panto in December) Lawrence Batley Theatre continues to impress with its eclectic and challenging programme. Have a look at its dance programme – always a thrill. At Theatre Royal Wakefield resident company the John Godber Company continues to do what it does best and takes a sideways look at modern life. The latest offering, The Empty Nesters’ Club, sees Godber tackles the story of the upheaval that occurs when children finally fly the nest. The play opens at the Wakefield theatre on January 25 ahead of a national tour.

The eagle-eyed will have spotted a few obvious omissions to this list. As ever, there is more brilliant stuff happening across the region than we have space for. The region’s receiving houses, the Bradford Alhambra, Leeds Grand, Sheffield Lyceum all look set to have belting programmes.

Then there are a few other production houses not mentioned above. In particular there are the theatres in Hull, including the fantastic Hull Truck, in this their special year and there is the indomitable Northern Broadsides, this year celebrating 25 years of flat vowelled brilliance.

I’ll be bringing you news of both in the coming weeks.

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Julius Caesar: Sheffield Crucible, May 17 to June 10. Can the board at Sheffield keep striking gold? I suspect they’ve done it again with Robert Hastie. We’ll know when we see this.

A Girl in School Uniform (Walks into a Bar): West Yorkshire Playhouse, April 12 to 15. This is the kind of work we’ll see in the theatre when it has a proper studio. I am fascinated to see what this is all about.

Made in India: York Theatre Royal Studio, April 7 and 8: There always seems to be a gem in York’s studio season. This is mine. It’s a story of surrogacy that stretches from London to India.