The Theatre Show

Following on from last week's interviews with the stars of Disney's The Lion King, currently at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, we speak to Gugwana Dlamini who plays Rafiki and Stephen Carlile who plays Scar. We have a look at the new season at Buxton Opera House, and also at some opportunities for creators of theatre in the fields of dance and playwriting.

Over two episodes, we will be speaking to some of the principal cast members of the first ever UK tour of Disney's The Lion King, which is spending Christmas at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. This week we speak to two of the lions: Carole Stennett, who plays the older Nala, and South African actor Nicholas Nkuna, who plays the older Simba, destined to become the Lion King of the title. We also review three major productions in Manchester city centre: The Lion King at the Palace, Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy's Rats' Tales at the Royal Exchange Theatre and the panto version of Peter Pan starring Knight Rider and Baywatch star David Hasselhoff—aka "The Hoff"—at the Opera House.

Once again, we bring you interviews from the worlds of both professional and amateur theatre in the north west. Kevin Shaw, artistic director and chief executive of Oldham's Coliseum Theatre, talks about this year's panto Cinderella, for which he is co-writer and director, and also about the long-standing panto tradition at the theatre and the stars that it has produced. Mary Pritchard returns to The Theatre Show to talk about the production she is directing for Stockport Garrick Theatre of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, adapted by Rumpole creator John Mortimer. We also review this year's Christmas production from the Library Theatre Company, Arabian Nights adapted by Dominic Cook, at The Lowry in Salford, and look at the line-up for the Library's Re:Play Festival in January and submission guidelines for next year's 24:7 Theatre Festival.

From Wilmslow Guild, director Lee Tipton and his son Callum, who is playing the villain, talk about a traditional Christmas panto with an untraditional storyline set in the English Civil War, The Christmas Cavalier. David Thacker, the artistic director of the Octagon Theatre in Bolton, talks about the achievements and legacy of the theatre's founder Robin Pemberton-Billing and of his own relationship with his predecessor. We review one of the first professional pantomimes to open in the country: Cinderella by Kevin Shaw and Fine Time Fontayne at the Coliseum Theatre in Oldham.

This week, we look back on the life of the Octagon Theatre founder artistic director, who led the project to get the theatre built and was its first artistic director from 1967, who died last weekend at the age of 83. We review the latest Christmas show from the Octagon's team of in-house writers based on J M Barrie's Peter Pan and also Kneehigh Theatre Company's take on the popular Galton and Simpson sitcom Steptoe and Son, which visited The Lowry in Salford last week.

West End star and winner of the I'd Do Anything BBC reality casting show Jodie Prenger talks about the National Theatre production of Richard Bean's hit comedy One Man, Two Guvnors. She is currently starring in the West End production but is taking time out to join the touring cast for two north west dates at the Grand Theatre in Blackpool and The Lowry in Salford. We review the first ever UK tour of American Idiot, a new musical based on the hit album by American punk band Green Day, which is currently at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. Finally, we have a look at the first exciting announcements for the programme of next summer's Manchester International Festival, which were announced last week.

It was announced last week that The Lowry in Salford was the winner of a Peter Brook Empty Space Award for the work done in its Studio to promote and develop new work and new artists. We speak to Studio programmer Porl Cooper to get his reaction to winning the award. We have a look at a new book that looks at the structure and writing of musicals, Julian Woolford's How Musicals Work from specialist theatre book publishers Nick Hern Books, and also at the Christmas shows offered by the main theatres in Greater Manchester over the next couple of months.

In this episode, we review two big productions in the north west and look at some major changes at two of our top regional theatres. The first production is Curtain Up at the Coliseum, a two-night compilation show looking back at 125 years of Oldham Coliseum's history and productions that reopened the theatre last weekend after being closed for several months for refurbishment and essential maintenance. Secondly, Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre has recently opened a rare revival of the Tennessee Williams play Orpheus Descending starring well-known actress Imogen Stubbs. It's all-change at some of Manchester's leading theatres, as the artistic director of Contact Theatre has announced he is to step down next month and there is a bit of a reshuffle in the leadership of the Royal Exchange, which has also announced its spring and summer season for next year.

On this episode we have interviews with two directors from local amateur theatre about plays that have rarely been seen. Valerie Harris from Wilmslow Guild tells us about Heroes by Gerald Sibleyras, translated by Tom Stoppard, which is a fairly new play, and Barry Dixon from Stockport Garrick talks about The Game by Harold Brighouse (who is more famous for Hobson's Choice) which was written in 1913 but was lost until quite recently. We also bring you a review from the UK première of 9 to 5 the Musical with songs by Dolly Parton, based on the 1980 film, which opened at the Opera House in Manchester this week.

This week, we review the "world première" of the Bill Naughton play Lighthearted Intercourse at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton, compiled by director David Thacker from ten different drafts of the script left by Naughton when he died 20 years ago. We also review JB Shorts 8, another collection of six new 15-minute plays by experienced TV scriptwriters at Joshua Brooks in Manchester. We bring news of a special award nomination for The Lowry's Studio for their work on bringing through new work, and also at some events for writers over in Liverpool: the Write Now and Everyword Festivals.

This week we review two productions in the region. We will have a look at the opening production in the season from Manchester's Library Theatre Company at The Lowry in Salford of The Heretic by Richard Bean, writer of the multi-award-winning comedy One Man, Two Guvnors, which takes on the subject of climate change. We also review the Royal Shakespeare Company's production, directed by the next RSC artistic director Gregory Doran, of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, set in a modern African dictatorship, which is also at The Lowry. Finally we will preview the next JB Shorts, now on number 8, which once again brings an evening of 15-minute plays by experienced TV scriptwriters to Joshua Brooks in Manchester.

This week, we have a look at the season from September through to February at the Contact Theatre, Manchester's specialist theatre for young people. We also look at a couple of theatre-related books. Getting Directions by Russ Hope takes the reader inside the rehearsal rooms of professional directors working in the modern theatre and John Byrne's Writing Comedy tries to equip budding writers with the tools both to practise their craft and to establish careers for themselves.

Regular Theatre Show guest Peter Garsden tells us all about the latest production from Macclesfield Majestic Theatre Group of Kiss Me Kate by Cole Porter, soon to appear at MADS Theatre in Macclesfield. We review three professional theatre productions, two of which feature guests from last week's show: the double bill of the play I'm Frank Morgan and film The Watcher, both by Joe O'Byrne, at the Octagon Theatre Studio in Bolton; Little Howard's Big Show at Waterside Arts Centre in Sale; The Country Wife by William Wycherley at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.

Award-winning animator Howard Read talks to The Theatre Show this week, as does his most famous creation, 6-year-old animated comedian and star of BBC TV's Little Howard's Big Question, Little Howard. Their stage show comes to Waterside Arts Centre in Sale this weekend. We also speak to local writer Joe O'Byrne about his highly-acclaimed series of plays and films set in the fictional housing estate of Paradise Heights. He will be bringing a play and a film based around his character of Frank Morgan to the Octagon in Bolton this Friday.

David Thacker, the artistic director of the Octagon Theatre in Bolton, gives us a very detailed rundown of the new season at the Octagon, which started this week and runs until next summer. We also hear from David Glindon, who is directing Entertaining Angels by Richard Everett at Stockport Garrick, which opens this weekend. We bring you a review of the Out of Joint and Octagon co-production of a revival of Our Country's Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker at the Octagon, directed, like the first production nearly 25 years ago, by Max Stafford-Clark. Plus we give details of a roadshow later this year offering workshops for anyone interesting in entering the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, based at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre.

Kevin Shaw, the artistic director of Oldham Coliseum Theatre, tells us about the last season "on the road" as the theatre was refurbished with the company's first ever outdoor production and UK tour plus a residency at nearby Grange Arts Centre. He also tells us about the refurbishments and some welcome enhancements for audiences. Kevin also talks about the first season back at the theatre, starting with the panto. We also speak to Carla Stokes, a guest director for Heald Green Theatre Company, who is directing Tim Firth's Calendar Girls.

After the playwright told us about the play on last week's Theatre Show, we review the special benefit performance of Cathy Crabb's new play The Bubbler at the Black Lion in Salford. The rest of the show consists mainly of smaller news items, including what's on in the local amateur societies during September, opening shows at the main professional producing houses in Greater Manchester for the autumn season, open events at Waterside Arts Centre in Sale and Blackpool's Grand Theatre, auditions for young people for the panto at Oldham Coliseum and much more.

North west playwright Cathy Crabb tells us about a special benefit performance of her new play The Bubbler, set against the backdrop of the riots last year, at and in aid of the Salford pub and fringe arts venue The Black Lion, which was broken into last week. We review four of the six plays in the summer season at Theatre by the Lake in Keswick: Great Expectations, Roma and the Flannelettes, A Doll's House and Bedroom Farce. Plus we have a brief look at the autumn and winter season at Buxton Opera House.

Reviews of the final four plays in this year's 24:7 Theatre Festival: Firestarter, Transit of Venus, Goldfish and the Octagon prizewinning play from a student of University of Bolton Towers of Babel. We also review a new DVD of Shakespeare's Sonnets, on which every one of the sonnets is performed in specially-commissioned films by leading actors and Shakespeare specialists.

This week's show is mainly devoted to reviews from this year's 24:7 Theatre Festival, as we review 7 of the plays and mention a couple of others that are featured at this year's event.