The news is depressing, but there is an antidote – a trip into theatreland, where the funnies come thick and fast in the month ahead. There is some grit too, though, for those requesting it. Pulse’s Sammy Jones has the round-up…
If we carefully step over Picture You Dead at Milton Keynes Theatre, simply because all you need to know on that show is a couple of inches to your right, we’ll start this month’s theatre sweep with the arrival of Rob Beckett (May 11).
The comedy A-lister is also a Radio 2 host, shares a major Podcast with fellow funnyman Josh Widdecombe and entertains with those Rob and Romesh Vs Sky shows.
Rob once got smashed on Tequila with the boys in Queens of the Stone Age. We’ve been there ourselves. It’s not pretty, not clever, but it’s certainly fun. At the time.
This tour, Giraffe, is a big nod to that time when our Bobby Beckles went to the Brit Awards in a blow up Giraffe costume. A tall story? Nah, it’s true!
Strictly’s Nikita Kuzmin is out on the road for the first time as a solo artist. In Midnight Dancer (May 13) the glitterball chaser invites you to a fairytale ball like no other. The story of star-crossed lovers, embellished by sequins and those off the scale dance moves.
Welsh National Opera enjoys a three day stay (May 15-17) with performances of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and the new production, Britten’s Peter Grimes.
A tale of mystery, prejudice and tragedy set to a melodic score, this opera follows the story of fisherman Peter Grimes as he grapples with his inner demons when his coastal town community turns against him. Over the course of this opera, Peter’s fragile mental state unwinds and eventually collapses following a tragic incident. Tenor Nicky Spence takes on the intense lead role.
An Inspector Calls (May 20-May 24) has bagged 19 major awards, and been enjoyed by a worldwide audience of more than five million.
JB Priestley’s work powerfully dramatises the dangers of casual capitalism’s cruelty, complacency and hypocrisy, and is a compelling and haunting thriller.
Traveller Simon Reeve will take you To The Ends of the Earth (May 28) with his show full of stories, surprises, thrills and laughs.
He wants to encourage you to step out of your comfort zone, take some risks and embrace the wider world. We could all use some of that.
The bonkers and brilliant Harry Hill (May 30) has New Bits & Greatest Hits for you, with the demise of the SCART lead, The Culture Wars, the differences between crab sticks and rhubarb and the origins of Tiramisu all getting air time during the show.
At The Stables, Kate Butch presents Wuthering Sh*tes (May 2).The comedy crossdresser has penned a jukebox musical based on the songs of Kate Bush, and now she needs your help to get Bush! to Broadway.
Kate will run up that hill and deliver more cloudbusting than you can shake a stick at. This sounds like a lot of fun, even if it has been described as ‘kind of like if Mamma Mia! had a nervous breakdown.’
Don’t Listen to Me says Kane Brown (May 15), while Sara Pascoe (May 19) delivers a tour preview with I Am A Strange Gloop, and the funnies keep on coming with the Screaming Blue Murder Comedy Club (May 21). Take a seat as compere Andrew Bird introduces Mark Maier and Kate Lucas.
Patrick Monahan is the Talkinator (May 30). Right now, the world is awash with how AI is taking over humans. Monahan says he is the only man who can out-talk chat-bots and robots. Wind him up and watch him go…
Wolverton Gilbert & Sullivan Society ask that you have Patience at Stantonbury Theatre (May 7-10) for a musical romp through the ridiculous, ‘where poetic affectation meets earthly desires.’
Patience was G&S’s sixth operatic collab, a satire on the aesthetic movement of the 1870s-1880s which pokes fun at fads, superficiality, vanity and hypocrisy.
It also wraps up the 50th anniversary year for the WG&S. One would expect a few bottles of fizz to be cracked open in celebration of that milestone.
The Play’s The Thing Theatre Company brings kitchen sink drama A Taste of Honey to the stage (May 14-17).
This play – with the relationship between a mother and daughter being one of the main themes – comments on, and puts into question, class, race, age of sexual consent, gender, sexual orientation and illegitimacy in mid-twentieth-century Britain.
Some of you might remember the lauded film from the early 60s, which starred Rita Tushingham and Dora Bryan. Support local theatre, folks.
Book your seats: MK Theatre: atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes
The Stables: stables.org
Stantonbury Theatre: stantonburytheatre.co.uk
