PATRICK MARMION: From Shirley Valentine to The Score – mark your diary for a bumper year of theatre
PATRICK MARMION: Look at the stars that will light up the stage in 2023! From Sheridan Smith as Shirley Valentine to Brian Cox’s Bach: bookmark your diary for an extraordinary year of theater
With the holidays fading in the rearview mirror and more weeks of gloomy winter to survive, why not cheer up by jotting down a few dates in your diary? Against the trend, 2023 looks like a really exciting year for the theatre. Here are Patrick Marmion’s top tips. . .
JANUARY
LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS LEMONS
Aidan Turner and Jenna Coleman star in Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons
Poladark’s Aidan Turner joins Victoria’s Jenna Coleman in Sam Steiner’s 75-minute romantic comedy about a couple in a world where they can’t speak more than 140 words a day.
January 18 to March 18, Harold Pinter Theatre, London (lemons theplay.co.uk).
FEBRUARY
SHIRLEY VALENTINE
Sheridan Smith makes her full return to the West End in Shirley Valentine
Sheridan Smith makes her full return to the West End in the title role of the Willy Russell comedy. It is, of course, the story of a working-class housewife from Liverpool who finds romance on a Greek holiday.
February 17 to June 3, Duke of York’s, London (shirleyvalentine onstage.com).
MARCH
A LITTLE LIFE
The latest proposal from Ivo Van Hove, high priest of the theatrical avant-garde, is an adaptation of Hanya Yanagihara’s international bestseller about the lives and loves of four New Yorkers. The all-star ensemble includes Happy Valley’s James Norton, Bridgerton’s Luke Thompson, Zach Wyatt from Netflix’s fantasy The Witcher and Omari Douglas, who recently stole the show as Cliff Bradshaw in the West End revival of Cabaret.
March 14-18, Richmond Theatre; March 25 to June 18; Harold Pinter Theatre, London (atgtickets.com).
APRIL
THE REASON AND THE KEY
Mark Gatiss plays John Gielgud in Jack Thorne’s play about Gielgud’s 1964 New York production of Hamlet, starring Richard Burton. Johnny Flynn (Operation Mincemeat, Emma) stars as Burton, who has just married the world’s number one diva, Elizabeth Taylor (Tuppence Middleton). Sam Mendes directs.
Starting April 20, Lyttelton, National Theatre, London (020 3989 5455, nationaltheatre.org.uk).
MAY
MS. DOUBTFIRE
The musical adaptation of the Robin Williams film, seen for the first time in the UK in Manchester this year, moves to the West End. The show is directed by Broadway veteran Jerry Zaks and features Gabriel Vick in Williams’ famous role of the divorcee who dresses as a woman, disguises himself as a nanny and deploys an excruciating Scottish accent to withhold access to her beloved children. .
Starting May 12, Shaftesbury Theatre, London (020 7379 5399, mrsdoubtfiremusical.co.uk).
JUNE
THE PILLOW
Lily Allen stars with Steve Pemberton of TV’s The League Of Gentlemen in Martin McDonagh’s black comedy about police in a totalitarian regime investigating a series of murders of children. Matthew Dunster directs.
Starting June 10, Duke of York’s, London (pillowmanplay.com).
ONE MORE FOR LUCK. . .
MARKER
Brian Cox plays Johann Sebastian Bach in the play by actor Oliver Cotton
Brian Cox, the monstrous patriarch of HBO’s Succession, stars as Johann Sebastian Bach in actor Oliver Cotton’s play about a meeting between the composer and Prussian monarch Frederick II in 1747, directed by Sir Trevor Nunn. Cox is also slated to appear in Eugene O’Neill’s drama Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Dates and venue have yet to be announced.
October 12-28, Theater Royal, Bath (01225 448844, theatreroyal.org.uk).