New Season Announced At Salisbury Playhouse

Wiltshire Creative is premiering Barney Norris's new adaptation of Lorca's Blood Wedding as part of its spring 2020 season followed by major revivals of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Hay Fever plus star-studded productions of Shirley Valentine and Dial M For Murder.

Barney Norris has set his adaptation of Blood Wedding (6-22 February) in the present day in the Wiltshire village of Edington. The Wiltshire Creative co-production with Up In Arms follows a young couple as they prepare for their wedding day. The emergence of a figure from the past leaves the bride-to-be questioning who really is the love of her life. The cast includes Jeff Rawle (Harry Potter And the Goblet of Fire and Drop the Dead Donkey).

Edward Albee's compelling black comedy Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (26 March-11 April) was made famous in the 1960s by the film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The Wiltshire Creative co-production with Bristol's Tobacco Factory Theatres follows two American couples over the course of a late-night drinks party where toxic domestic games ultimately entangle them all. The cast includes Mark Meadows (Tartuffe, Tobacco Factory Theatres).

Noel Coward's brilliantly entertaining comedy Hay Fever (22 April-16 May) is one of Coward's best loved plays, set in an English country house in the 1920s. It follows the outlandish behaviour of four eccentric members of the Bliss family who have each invited a guest to spend the weekend at the house. It is a Wiltshire Creative production directed by Artistic Director Gareth Machin.

The season in the Main House continues with Claire Sweeney (Brookside; Benidorm) starring in Willy Russell's Shirley Valentine (25 February - 7 March). Tom Chambers (Holby City, Casualty and Strictly Come Dancing) and Sally Bretton (Not Going Out) lead the cast in the iconic murder mystery Dial M For Murder (10-14 March) and the outstanding and unforgettable play The Kite Runner returns to Salisbury direct from the West End (17-21 March).

A packed programme in The Salberg includes Theatre Temoin with Feed which follows what happens when a photo goes viral after it's unwittingly posted online (23-25 January). In You're Not As Funny As Your Father (30 January-1 February) Andrew Secombe reveals what it was like growing up as the son of much loved comedian Harry Secombe.

Also in The Salberg, Polly: The Heartbreak Opera is a viciously satirical not-quite-musical about love, loss and revenge (3-4 April).

Family theatre in The Salberg includes Roald Dahl and the Imagination Seekers (27 & 29 February), a theatrical exploration of Roald Dahl's best loved stories including The Twits, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG and, for Easter, Spontaneous Potter (8 April), an entirely improvised Harry Potter comedy play with live musical accompaniment.

As part of its commitment to presenting shows outside of its venues, Wiltshire Creative will present multi award-winning musical comedian Jay Foreman's Even More Brand New Disgusting Songs for Children (and Grown Ups) at venues in Bemerton and Tidworth.

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