This Spring, the New Wolsey Theatre will present the premiere of a brand new musical OUR BLUE HEAVEN in celebration of 40 years since Ipswich Town’s Historic FA Cup Victory from Fri 4 May to Sat 26 May
With a hasty wedding, a first birth and missing tickets to contend with, will our mad-keen Ipswich fans make it to the Final? Can the Town navigate the frozen pitch at Bristol Rovers, the rioting Millwall supporters at the Den, dodgy refereeing at Villa Park and make it all the way to Wembley? Created from the heart-warming memories of super blues fans themselves, with a live soundtrack of chart hits from ’78, join Bobby and his Blue Army on this nostalgic trip down Wembley Way.The production opens at the theatre exactly 40 years on from the win – a moment when Ipswich united to celebrate success as the underdog and became victorious. With funding raised from the community and local businesses, this production will really be a show drawn from the local community, for the local community!
Next year will also see the New Wolsey Theatre collaborating again with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch to produce Patrick Hamilton’s Rope, running from Wed 7 to Sat 17 March.Based on a 1920’s real life case, this dark classic was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1948 and remains to this day one of the most tightly coiled of thrillers. Chilling and spine-tinglingly gripping, this production will be co-produced with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, who last collaborated with the New Wolsey for the classic Ealing comedy The Ladykillers this Autumn.
Nottingham Playhouse Theatre will produce the third Ramps on the Moon touring production, Our Country’s Good which will tour to Birmingham, Nottingham, Leeds, Sheffield and London. The production will arrive in Ipswich from Wed 28 March to Sat 7 April. Both a comedy and powerful drama, Our Country’s Good tells the extraordinary true story of a group of convicts and a young officer who rehearse and perform a play – Australia’s first theatrical production. With opposition from the officers and a leading lady who may be hanged, the odds are stacked against them.
Our Country’s Good is a touring production made in co‑production with Ramps on the Moon, whose previous collaborations over the last two years include the comedy hit The Government Inspector and a critically acclaimed version of The Who’s Tommy. The production features the creative use of audio description, captioning and British Sign Language interpretation. For more information visit rampsonthemoon.co.uk
The New Wolsey Theatre and fingersmiths co-produce John Godber’s award-winning comedy Up ‘n’ Under. The Wheatsheaf Arms amateur rugby league team have never won a game. They don’t have enough players and they have no kit. Can Arthur, our hero, coach them to beat the mighty Cobblers Arms in the cup final? The production, showing from Wed 7 Feb to Sat 10 Feb, will be given a fingersmiths’ spin featuring a cast of Deaf and hearing actors using British Sign Language and spoken English.
Oliver Award-nominated actress Josette Bushell-Mingo mixes story and song as she draws together tales from the life of Nina Simone and her own extraordinary career from Tue 20 to Thu 22 Feb with Nina – A Story About Me and Nina Simone.
Snapdragon Productions and The Watermill Theatre present an award-winning, punchy new musical that race through the dark and damaged world of post-war London: a brand new Britain bombed to bits by the Blitz, belts tight with austerity, but ripe and ready for revolution with Teddy from Mon 19 to Sat 24 March.
Mark Goucher and David Ian present a Cheltenham Everyman Theatre production Quartet. A charming tale of four ageing opera singers, this brand-new revival of the bitter-sweet comedy Quartet, from Oscar-winning writer Sir Ronald Harwood and directed by the New Wolsey Theatre’s Artistic Director Peter Rowe, will run from Mon 26 Feb to Sat 3 March.
A collaboration from Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and Selladoor Productions will mark the 80th anniversary of the Kindertransport and 25 years since the play was written by Diana Samuels. This deeply moving and timely modern classic will take to the New Wolsey Theatre stage from Tue 17 to Sat 21 April as a part of its National Tour in 2018.
From Tue 24 to Sat 28 April, English Touring Theatre Company will return following the success of Silver Lining and Rules For Living in 2017, with a bold revival of Tennessee Williams’ timeless masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire. Stanley Kowalski’s entire way of life is threatened by the arrival of his anxious, seductive and fiercely clever sister-in-law Blanche. This raging portrayal explores what is means to be an outsider, in a society where we’re all desperate to belong.
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