York Theatre Royal Reveals Initial Programming For Their New Season

With their production of Little Women, adapted for the stage by Anne-Marie Casey, currently in rehearsals, York Theatre Royal has announced a brand-new collaboration with Wise Children on North by Northwest, adapted and directed by Wise Children's Artistic Director Emma Rice. Co-produced with HOME Manchester and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, the production opens at York Theatre Royal on 26 March, with previews from the 18 March, and runs at the venue until 05 April before embarking on a UK tour.

Highlights of the visiting programme include Apphia Campbell's Black is the Colour of my Voice, inspired by the life of Nina Simone, and featuring many of her most loved songs; and two productions from English Touring Opera, The Capulets and The Montagues, and Shakespeare's Songs.

CEO Paul Crewes said today, “We are enjoying working with Wise Children on our upcoming production of North by Northwest which will have its world premiere right here in York. Emma Rice's adaptation of this classic Hitchcock thriller will be a real treat for audiences.

“We are also very proud to present our own production of Little Women, adapted by Anne Marie Casey, that is in the final stages of rehearsals, as well as our family pantomime Aladdin with a cast of many York favourites.

“We welcome some brilliant visiting companies in 2024/25 with a wonderfully eclectic programme including opera, dance, music and drama. Book your tickets!!''

Members Priority Booking – opens at 1pm on 11 September with members receiving 10% discount on Main House shows; with public on sale at 1pm on 16 September.

Further programming for the new season will be announced shortly.

A York Theatre Royal Production

in association with Pitlochry Festival Theatre

LITTLE WOMEN

Adapted by Anne-Marie Casey

Presented by arrangement with Lee Dean

21 September – 12 October

Press night: 25 September

Cast: Freya Parks (Jo March), Helen Chong (Amy March), Ainy Medina (Meg March), Laura Soper (Beth March), Nikhil Singh Rai (Theodore ‘Laurie' Lawrence), Kate Hampson (Marmee March), Jack Ashton (John Brooke/Professor Bhaer), Caroline Gruber (Aunt March).

A stunning retelling of a timeless classic from York Theatre Royal – join us this autumn for a new production of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women.

One of the best loved novels of all time, Little Women tells the story of headstrong Jo March and her sisters Meg, Beth and Amy as they grow up in New England during the American Civil War. Follow the March sisters as they pursue their different paths in life – filled with adventure, heartache and laughter.

An uplifting coming-of-age story, Anne-Marie Casey's adaptation brings a fresh new take on the beloved novel set in a time of war and great uncertainty.

York Theatre Royal and Evolution Productions

ALADDIN

By Paul Hendy

3 December 2024 – 5 January 2025

Press night: 5 December

Directed by Juliet Forster

Cbeebies and CBBC's Evie Pickerill, brings her sparkle and flair as Spirit of the Ring in this year's York Theatre Royal pantomime.

York favourite, Robin Simpson (Dame Trott in Jack and the Beanstalk, Mrs Smee in All New Adventures of Peter Pan and Manky in Cinderella) will be returning to play Dame Dolly; and Paul Hawkyard (Captain Hook in All New Adventures of Peter Pan and Mardy in Cinderella) is returning for his third pantomime at YTR as the villainous Abanazar. Sario Soloman (Let It Shine, Grease) stars as the titular hero in his York debut, alongside Emily Tang and Tommy Carmichael.

Aladdin is written by Paul Hendy and directed by Juliet Forster – the creative team behind Jack and the Beanstalk.

Family tickets from £81.

James Seabright presents

BLACK IS THE COLOR OF MY VOICE

by Apphia Campbell

26 February

After critically acclaimed international performances including an award-winning season at Adelaide Fringe 2024, Seabright Live is bringing Black is the Color of my Voice to York Theatre Royal for one performance only.

Written by Apphia Campbell, it is inspired by the life of Nina Simone and features many of her most iconic songs performed live. The show follows a successful jazz singer and civil rights activist as she seeks redemption after the untimely death of her father. She reflects on the journey that took her from a young piano prodigy destined for a life in the service of the church to a renowned jazz vocalist at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement.

The 2025 tour follows numerous sold-out UK dates and a 2024 Australian tour to Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe where the show won the overall Best Theatre Award.

Originally from the United States, Apphia Campbell wrote Black is the Color of my Voice in 2013 and it has since toured the UK and had acclaimed seasons in Shanghai and New York. In 2019, she made her London West End debut with the show at Trafalgar Studios. Her other show, Woke, now reconceived as Through The Mud, created with Meredith Yarbrough, won a Scotsman Fringe First and a Highly Commended in the Amnesty International Awards, and was shortlisted for The Filipa Bragança Award and Scottish Art Club Theatre Award.

English Touring Opera present

THE CAPULETS AND THE MONTAGUES

1 March

ETO returns to York Theatre Royal with a tale of two households, both alike in dignity, and two lovers, doomed by the conflict between their families. Bellini's The Capulets and the Montagues is a gritty re-working of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, where loyalty and love are put to the test amidst political violence, set to exquisite Bel Canto peratic music that brings the story's tragedy to the fore.

Sung in Italian with English surtitles.

English Touring Opera present

SHAKESPEARE'S SONGS

28 February – 1 March

Throughout the centuries, composers have been influenced and inspired by Shakespeare's plays and poetry. Mixing puppetry and performance in a new theatrical staging with a collection of songs inspired by Shakespeare performed by singers and a chamber ensemble, ETO's new production tells the story of a life and all its trials and triumphs and explores the timeless appeal of Shakespeare's words and characters to composers and audiences throughout history.

Sung in the original language with English surtitles.

A Wise Children, York Theatre Royal, HOME Manchester and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse co-production

Alfred Hitchcock'S NORTH BY NORTHWEST 

Adapted and directed by Emma Rice

It would be strange, would it not, if, in a city of seven million people, one man were never mistaken for another...

But that is exactly what happens to Roger Thornhill, reluctant hero of North by Northwest, when a mistimed phone call to his mother lands him smack bang in the middle of a Cold War conspiracy. Now he's on the run, dodging spies, airplanes and a femme fatale who might not be all she seems. 

Emma Rice takes on film legend Alfred Hitchcock in this riotously funny reworking that turns the original thriller on its head. With just six shape-shifting performers, a fabulous ‘50s soundtrack and a LOT of hats, this dazzling production plays with the heart, mind and soul. Join us for a night of glamour, romance, jeopardy and a liberal sprinkling of tender truths.

Based on the Turner Entertainment Co. Film North by Northwest

Produced by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures and Kay & McLean Productions

North by Northwest is a 1959 film, produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason.

Emma Rice is the Artistic Director of Wise Children and is an internationally respected theatre-maker and director. For Wise Children she has adapted and directed The Buddha of Suburbia, Blue Beard, The Little Matchgirl and Happier Tales, Wuthering Heights, Bagdad Café, Angela Carter's Wise Children, Enid Blyton's Malory Towers and Romantics Anonymous. As Artistic Director of Shakespeare's Globe: Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Little Matchgirl (and Other Happier Tales). Rice worked for Kneehigh as an actor, director and Artistic Director, creating critically acclaimed productions including: The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, The Wild Bride, The Red Shoes, Cymbeline (in association with RSC), A Matter of Life and Death (in association with National Theatre), Brief Encounter (in association with David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers Productions), Don John (in association with the RSC and Bristol Old Vic), Wah! Wah! Girls (in association with Sadler's Wells and Theatre Royal Stratford East for World Stages), and Steptoe and Son. She received the Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre award at the 2019 UK Theatre Awards.  

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