Almost 100 years ago, on 29th September, 1922, the Münchner Kammerspiele presented the world premiere of Trommeln in der Nacht (Drums in the Night) – the first play by Bertolt Brecht that was ever put on stage. Little has remained of that remarkable evening except for a few photographs and director Christopher Rüping keeps wondering what the world premiere might have looked like. Determined to use theatre as a time machine, he decides to try and recapture the spirit of the original without turning his production into a museum piece. He starts off by copying the style of almost 100 years ago, reviving the cast of a bygone era, thereby reinventing the world premiere.

Courtesy of Julian Bauman.

A lifeless block of wood turns into a living being – A talking cricket acts as a conscious – A wishing star doubles as a beautiful fairy – And a monstrous whale swallows half of the company. This could only be a Disney story. But it’s not your traditional fairy tale that often occupies the family-centred company’s creations. There’s no princess that needs saving from a fire breathing monster; no, this story is instead based on a puppet who longs to be a real boy – whose nose grows longer each time a new lie is told.

Courtesy of Manuel Harlan

The Christmas panto maestro is back with another slapstick comedy that is sure to brussel your sprouts and leave you feeling thoroughly festive this season. Berwick Kaler and his trusty cast never fail to entertain both babies and bairns with his absurd fashion sense and outright lunacy, but that is surely what has made him a Yorkshire icon for so many over the years.

Courtesy of York Theatre Royal.

“I don’t believe the word love has ever meant the same thing twice.” The stars shine bright and so do our desires. Navigating a 17th-century opera house, 1936 Worcester, San Fernando Valley, 1979 and the Moon 2223, Forward Arena present their examination of queer history in Callisto: A Queer Epic. After a critically acclaimed, sold out run at the Edinburgh Fringe, the production lands at the Arcola for a second time.

Courtesy of Forward Arena.

Iqbal Khan mightily takes the reigns of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra at the Barbican as part of the RSC’s transfer of their Rome season. An explosion of colour and ceremony is aided by Robert Innes Hopkins’s brilliant stage design, allowing the drama of the piece to stir with its uncompromising power dynamics. This tragedy of affairs, corruption, revolt and war translates with ease, Khan and the cast have done well to make the Bard’s work feel approachable yet hold its dynamism.

Courtesy of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Amidst the gloom of the slave trade in the latter part of 19th century America, a musical revolution within the Deep South would grip the minds and souls of its population. A melting pot of French, Spanish, Haitian, Cuban and West African culture; New Orleans would give birth to an exciting movement incorporating improvisation and individuality. Jazz music has inspired generations; Louis Armstrong, Miles Davies, Billie Holliday and Ella Fitzgerald amongst others shaping the genre. Clarke Peters’ Five Guys Named Moe celebrates New Orleans Vivacity. Louis Jordan’s music and lyrics, is a nod to a genre that would unite a people rather than divide.

Courtesy of Five Guys Named Moe.

The annual (but far from traditional) Leeds pantomime is back with a bang this year, as we’re transported to the magical realm of the giants in Paul Holman Associates’ production of Jack and the Beanstalk. Filled with classic panto tomfoolery and shenanigans (and plenty of jokes for the adults, too!) it’s one not to be missed this festive season.

Courtesy of Paul Holman Associates.

A heart-warming and breath taking retelling of a timeless classic, Sally Cookson’s take on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe brings the tale to life in a truly theatrical manner. Cookson has left no stone unturned when looking for ways to reinvent the well-loved Narnia, treating us to stunning musical numbers, physical theatre, audience participation and aerial acrobatics all rolled into one immersive masterpiece.

Courtesy of the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

La Soirée translates as ‘the evening’ in the English language. The title, jovial sounding, doesn’t give too much away, this forming the show’s appeal. Returning for its 14th year at the newly refurbished Aldwych Theatre, the audience favourite offers its usual brand of the unusual and the outlandish.

Courtesy of La Soiree 2017/2018.

Accept. Enjoy. Merge. Glorify. Glorify. Glorify. (Timothy Leary). The Virgin Suicides was the 1993 debut novel by acclaimed American writer Jeffrey Eugenides. Set in a Detroit suburb during the 1970s, the fictional story centres on the lives of five teenage sisters who are raised by fanatical Catholic parents: Cecilia (13 years), Lux (14 years), Bonnie (15 years), Mary (16 years), and Therese (17 years). After the youngest girl makes an initial suicide attempt, her sisters are placed under close scrutiny by the parents, eventually being completely confined to their home. The girls seek to escape their imprisonment but their parents thwart their efforts and isolate them even more from the outside world, thereby destroying their dreams and suffocating their spirit. The girls all commit suicide within a year.

Courtesy of Judith Buss.