What’s happening in March?

27th February 2020

The shortest month of the year is over, and Mother’s Day is on the horizon – what better time to treat yourself and your loved ones to a trip to the New Vic?

PLAYS

By Arrangement with Edward Snape for Fiery Angel Limited
John Buchan and Alfred Hitchcock’s

The 39 Steps

Adapted by Patrick Barlow from an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon
Directed by Theresa Heskins

Thursday 5 – Saturday 28 March

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!

The New Vic revives its sensational production of The 39 Steps this March, as it brings the hugely popular production back to the stage for audiences to enjoy once more.

Reuniting the cast of Rebecca Brewer, Gareth Cassidy, Michael Hugo and Isaac Stanmore, the thrilling spy drama will return to the theatre in-the-round from Thursday 6 until Saturday 28 March.

The inventive reworking of John Buchan’s classic thriller sees Richard Hannay, upstanding gent and all-round good guy, find himself in a bit of a pickle when he wakes up to discover a mysterious woman in his apartment. Dead. Now on the run, pursued by all manner of suspicious characters, can Hannay evade capture and clear his name of murder before it’s too late? Will he fall in love along the way? And what exactly are The 39 Steps?

ONE-NIGHT EVENTS

LipService: Strangers on a Trainset

Monday 16 March, 7.30pm

Challenging a youth to turn down his music, Irene Sparrow finds herself under suspicion of murder after a train emerges from a tunnel with the young man dead. But this is no ordinary train – each passenger is reading a book and each book is a portal into a parallel universe of train-related crime fiction. With clever use of projection and multiple train sets, LipService: Strangers on a Trainset creates a whistle-stop tour that will leave you bewildered, enthralled, and racing for the refreshment coach.

My Name is Why: In Conversation with Lemn Sissay

Monday 23 March, 7.30pm

Lemn Sissay has read poetry all over the world. He was awarded an MBE for services to literature, and was the first poet commissioned to write for the London Olympics. He is a regular contributor to radio and TV and a prolific speaker, inspiring audiences on a daily basis across the globe. My Name Is Why: In Conversation with Lemn Sissay is a unique opportunity to see him on stage right here in Staffordshire.

Lee Martin for Gag Reflex presents

Ben Hart: Wonder

Monday 30 March, 7.30pm

Described by David Walliams as ‘the living embodiment of magic’, Ben Hart brings his most mind-blowing and exciting magic to the New Vic with solo show Wonder. Funny, subversive, often dark and always amazing, Ben has established a reputation for always creating wonderfully alternative magic.

Music in the Round presents

The Marmen Quartet

Tuesday 31 March, 7.30pm

Music in the Round presents The Marmen Quartet, who enjoyed great success in 2019, carrying away first prize at the prestigious international string quartet competitions in Bordeaux and Banff, Canada. For this concert they present enchanting quartets by Mozart and Beethoven together with Salvatore Sciarrino’s brief but hauntingly beautiful seventh Quartet written in 1999.

And in other news…

New Vic Borderlines presents

Future Perfect Future Imperfect: Hybrids, Scroungers – Or Just Phased Out?

An interactive series of performances, presentations, exhibitions and workshops exploring disabled and ‘re-abled’ humanity in the future is to be held at the New Vic in March.

This free Borderlines-run event, which takes place from 11.00am to 4.00pm on 24 March, is an opportunity to examine the outcomes of research conducted as part of The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Connected Communities funded D4D project Disability and Community: Dis/engagement, Dis/enfranchisement, Dis/parity, and Dissent. The research project investigates the evolving ways in which disabled and non-disabled people express, perform, experience and practice ‘community’.

On the day, participants will be invited to get involved with a variety of workshops including immersive VR experiences, creative crafts, zine making, forum theatre and the opportunity to contribute to an art installation.

Find out more information here.

***Coming Soon***

The Guardian’s chief theatre critic Arifa Akbar chatted to our artistic director Theresa Heskins about adapting Angela Carter’s The Company Of Wolves for the New Vic in this insightful feature, published this week, about adapting novels for the stage. Definitely worth a read, whether you’ve already booked tickets or are thinking of doing so!

Find out more about our production of The Company of Wolves here.