Newly announced shows now on sale at Theatre Royal Bath

Theatre Royal Bath has announced a host of new shows now on sale in its 2022 Season including thrilling plays, classic comedies, stunning operas and new musicals added to the already packed season running throughout 2022.

One of the UK’s best-loved actresses, Olivier and Tony Award winner Lindsay Duncan stars with Hilton McRae in a new production of August Strindberg’s The Dance Of Death at Bath’s Ustinov Studio from 19th May to 4th June. Adapted by Oscar winning playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Strindberg’s powerful play sees a couple approaching their 40th wedding anniversary on an isolated island, only for their insular lives to be threatened by the arrival of a newcomer. In the same month, Hollywood stars Patrick Duffy and Linda Purl visit the Main House from 16th to 21st May in the classic Broadway thriller Catch Me If You Can. Dallas legend Patrick and Happy Days star Linda join Coronation Street baddie Gray O’Brien to lead the cast in this gripping mystery of a new bride who mysteriously disappears in the Catskill Mountains.

Celebrating seventy years since its premiere, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap has become the longest running show of any kind in theatre history. Making a welcome return to Bath from 21st to 26th November, seventy years to the week since its first ever performance, The Mousetrap is the genre-defining murder mystery from the best-selling novelist of all time. Taking a more light-hearted look at mystery novels are the award-winning Mischief, whose calamitous country house crime caper, The Play That Goes Wrong, returns for the Easter holiday from 20th to 24th April, and Bath’s own New Old Friends bring the world premiere of their latest comedy thriller Crimes On Centre Court to the Theatre Royal stage from 24th to 28th May. 

English Touring Opera present a new poetic production of one of the most popular of all operas, and a lively comic Russian fantasy over two nights at the end of May. Appearing on 30th May, Rimsky-Korsakov’s musical satire The Golden Cockerel is followed by Puccini’s legendary story of young love in 18th century Paris, La Bohème on 31st May.

London Classic Theatre follow the success of last year’s Absurd Person Singular with a revival of another classic comedy. Visiting Bath from 1st to 4th June, Boeing Boeing by the master of French farce, Marc Camoletti, follows the exploits of Bernard, a successful architect with three fiancées, who he keeps apart as they work for three different airlines with three different schedules. But the launch of a new super-fast jet, and the arrival of an old friend throws Bernard’s carefully constructed plans into chaos. 

Other shows already announced and featured in Theatre Royal Bath’s new brochure include a plethora of smash hit Broadway and West End musicals. The UK’s first ever professional touring production of Alan Parker’s Bugsy Malone opens in Bath appearing from 2nd to 23rd July, and an imaginative new production of the Stephen Sondheim classic Into The Woods, co-directed by original Monty Python member Terry Gilliam and Leah Hausman, opens at the Theatre Royal appearing from 19th August to 10th September.

The story of one of the most remarkable songwriters of their generation is told in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical which tours to Bath from 17th to 26th March, while the songs of the legendary Bob Dylan have been adapted to tell a heart-breaking story of family and love in 1930s America in Girl From The North Country which plays the Theatre Royal from 4th to 8th October. Closer to home, the success story of Cornwall’s most unlikely ‘buoy band’ is celebrated from 1st to 5th November in Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical, based on the true story of the Cornish singing sensations. Bath’s own award-winning amateur company Bath Operatic and Dramatic Society return to the Main House for the first time since March 2020 performing their production of Gershwin’s classic Crazy For You from 3rd to 7th May and one of the most famous musicals of all time, Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers returns next month for a run of eight performances from 8th to 12th March.

Olivier Award winners Griff Rhys Jones and Janie Dee star together in the devastatingly funny An Hour And A Half Late from 16th to 26th February. A special one-off post-show performance on Friday 25th February will see Janie Dee and her pianist Stevie Higgins return to the stage to present an eclectic mix of songs and stories from Janie’s glittering West End and Broadway career, in An Hour And A Half Later.

Casting has been announced for comedy whodunnit Cluedo, which appears from 25th to 30th April with Coronation Street and EastEnders star Michelle Collins as Miss Scarlett and Midsomer Murder’s Daniel Casey as Professor Plum. Royal Shakespeare Company regular, Geoffrey Lumb, recently seen in the West End in Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and The Light is confirmed to join Mathew Horne (Gavin & Stacey) and Keith Allen (The Pembrokeshire Murders) as they star in Harold Pinter’s modern classic The Homecoming which opens in Bath appearing from 30th March to 9th April. The following month from 10th to 14th May, TV stars Judy Flynn, Sara Crowe and Abigail Thaw are joined by award-winning stage performer Rina Fatania as a hapless team trying to escape from Sheila’s Island in Tim Firth’s sparkling new comedy.

A thrilling new stage adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm features puppetry by Toby Olié from the team behind War Horse, and design by four-time Olivier Award winning Bunny Christie. Directed by Robert Icke, whose production of Orwell’s 1984 was a hit in the West End and on Broadway, this innovative take on the world famous fable comes to Bath from 1st to 5th March. The following month on 17th and 18th April, national treasure Barry Humphries takes audiences on a revelatory trip through his colourful life and theatrical career in his new show The Man Behind The Mask. An intimate, confessional evening with the creator of Dame Edna Everage, Sir Les Patterson and many more colourful characters promises some highly personal, sometimes startling, occasionally outrageous and always entertaining stories. Also in the Spring, Michael Morpurgo’s World War One story Private Peaceful is given a powerful new ensemble retelling in a new production adapted by Simon Reade which visits Bath from 12th to 16th April. 

This autumn, the stage version of UK movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel comes to the Theatre Royal from 28th November to 3rd December, with star casting to be announced. It’s never too soon to start planning for Christmas, and this year sees Bath panto legend Jon Monie return for his twentieth Bath pantomime in the much-loved magical tale of Aladdin appearing from 8th December to 8th January 2023.

The Ustinov Studio’s Visiting Company Season brings a variety of comedy, drama and music in the coming months. On 19th February, Jennifer Irons brings Yukon Ho!, her funny, bizarre and (mostly) true one-woman, cabaret-style guide to surviving an unbelievable life in Canada’s frozen north to Bath. On 25th and 26th February, the infamous story of the Red Barn Murder from the summer of 1827 is given a spine-tingling retelling in The Ballad Of Maria Marten; and the unlikely bond between an Australian executive, determined to become the first female Indian CEO in Australia, and an older Chinese migrant who works as her cleaner, is explored in acclaimed drama RICE from 24th to 26th March. Mark Ravenhill’s Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat, an epic cycle of short plays exploring the personal and political effect of war on modern life, will be staged by Bath Spa Productions at the Ustinov Studio from 10th to 12th March.

International hit Black Is The Color Of My Voice, inspired by the life of Nina Simone and featuring many of her iconic songs performed live by Florence Odumosu, visits Bath from 30th March to 1st April, followed by a joyous blend of laughter and Lindy hop in Swing Sister Swing on 2nd April. At the end of the month, Bristol poet, musician and performer Lady Nade makes her Ustinov debut showcasing her third album Willing on 30th April, hot on the heels of her UK Americana Award nomination.

The Egg Theatre’s renowned programme of children and family shows include Pebble On The Beach, M6 Theatre’s lively mix of dancing, singing and puppetry for ages 3 to 9 years from 18th to 22nd February; magical interactive dance show Club Origami, for ages 3 to 6 years, on 23rd February; the stunningly visual Little Murmur, for ages 7 and over, on 26th and 27th February, and on 5th March, The Dark, the story of a brave young boy’s journey to meet and befriend the darkness in the basement, for ages 5 and over.

Wild Words welcome young eco-warriors to their glorious puppet show The Super Greedy Caterpillar, for ages 5 and over, on 12th and 13th March, and later in the Spring, Underwater is a beautiful dance theatre show for babies aged up to 2 years and their families from 17th to 19th March. Josephine, The Egg’s acclaimed celebration of performer, campaigner and icon Josephine Baker, returns for one day only on 26th March, for ages 8 and over; followed by How To Save The Planet, an energetic and fun solo show for young teenagers about the rush of taking climate-positive actions into your own hands on 29th March, for teenagers aged 13 and over.

Wriggle Dance Theatre present their interactive dance, digital projection and live music show Squidge, for ages 3 to 8, from 31st March to 2nd April, and the Theatre Royal Bath Theatre School are devising their own version of the classic pied piper story in Hamelin, for ages 6 and over, to be staged from 12th to 14th April. The much-loved book Handa’s Surprise is brought to life by Egg favourites Little Angel as a Half Term treat for ages 2 to 5 years from 31st May to 4th June, and Bath Spa Productions present Rats’ Tales, mixing traditional European fairy tales with some brand-new stories by ex-Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, from 9th to 11th June, for ages 8 and over.

In May, the students of Bath Theatre Academy showcase their newly honed skills in two productions for audiences over the age of 12, The Sweet Science Of Bruising from 19th to 21st May, and Stephen Sondheim’s darkly comic Sweeney Todd from 26th to 28th May.

Lunchtime Special Events include popular TV presenter and best-selling novelist Alan Titchmarsh launching his latest novel, The Gift on 4th March and historian Alison Weir’s final book in the Six Tudor Queens series, recounting the story of Henry VIII’s last wife, Katherine Parr: The Sixth Wife on 29th April. Sara Crowe, appearing onstage in the evening in Sheila’s Island, will be in conversation on Friday 13th May, about her illustrious stage and screen roles, and flourishing career as a novelist; and Bath writer Jane Turner, who turned from international business woman to life-affirming novelist whilst bringing up a family, discusses her debut novel The Way From Here on 20th May. 

Events organised by the Theatre Royal Bath Fundraisers include the Fundraisers’ Annual Lunch at Lucknam Park Hotel with guest speaker Simon Shepherd at 12 noon on 15th March and a sold-out cruise through the magnificent Avon Gorge in Bristol with a live commentary on board the Tower Belle Boat at 11.30am on 24th May.

Tickets for all shows and events at the Theatre Royal Bath can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk