BULL, THE HISTORY BOYS & More Set for Sheffield's Spring 2013 Season; Full Cast of MY FAIR LADY Announced!

Artistic Director Daniel Evans today unveils Sheffield Theatres' spring season for 2013, which includes two world premières - Bull, a new play by Mike Bartlett, and This Is My Family, a new musical comedy by Tim Firth; major revivals of D.H. Lawrence's masterpiece The Daughter-in-Law and Alan Bennett's The History Boys, and Sheffield People's Theatre present their second production, 20 Tiny Plays about Sheffield. Full casting for My Fair Lady, the Crucible Christmas musical is also announced today.

Joining Carly Bawden (Eliza Doolittle) and Dominic West (Professor Higgins) for My Fair Lady is Anthony Calf (New Tricks, Upstairs Downstairs) as Colonel Pickering, Richenda Carey (Monarch of the Glen) as Mrs Higgins and Martyn Ellis (Guys and Dolls, Piccadilly Theatre) as Alfred Doolittle. Completing the cast are Carly Anderson (Ensemble), Chris Bennett (Harry), Nick Butcher (Ensemble), Matthew Clark (Ensemble), John Coates (Ensemble), Adam Dutton (Ensemble), Emily Goodenough (Ensemble), Victoria Hinde (Ensemble), Adam Jones (Ensemble), JoAnna Lee Martin (Mrs Hopkins), Matthew Malthouse (Ensemble), Louis Maskell (Freddy Eynsford-Hill), Laura Medforth (Mrs Eynsford-Hill), Carl Sanderson (Jamie), Nicola Sloane (Mrs Pearce), Stephen Whitson (Ensemble) and Anna Woodside (Ensemble).

The spring season then opens in the Studio with Bull, a new play by Mike Bartlett, one of the UK's most exciting young writers. Award-winning theatre director Clare Lizzimore, who previously directed One Day When We Were Young as part of the Theatre's Roundabout Season, returns to Sheffield to direct this razor-sharp new play about office politics.

Taking to the Crucible stage from Wednesday 27 February - Saturday 23 March is D.H. Lawrence's The Daughter-in-Law. One of the greatest plays of the twentieth century, this new production will be directed by Sheffield Theatres' Associate Director Paul Miller (Democracy) and stars Lynda Baron (Open All Hours, Fat Friends) as Mrs Gascoigne and Claire Price (Company, The Pride) as Minnie.

This is followed by Sheffield People's Theatre, who, after the success of their inaugural production, Lives in Art, present a unique compilation of five-minute plays about Sheffield from Monday 8 - Sat 13 April. 20 Tiny Plays about Sheffield, written by twenty local writers and spanning a range of performance genres, will be directed by Sheffield Theatres' Creative Producer Andrew Loretto (Lives in Art, LeanerFasterStronger).

In May, Alan Bennett's award-winning play The History Boys, one of Britain's funniest comedies full of one-liners and teenage anxieties, will be brought to life by director Michael Longhurst (Constellations, Royal Court and Duke of York's Theatre) in a new production which sees the play staged in the city where it is set.

The season is completed with the world première of This Is My Family, a brand new musical comedy by Tim Firth (Calendar Girls) in the Studio Theatre from Wednesday 19 June - Saturday 20 July. Sheffield Theatres' Artistic Director Daniel Evans will direct Bill Champion as Steve, Janie Dee (NSFW, All's Well That Ends Well) as Yvonne, Evelyn Hoskins as Nicky, Terence Keeley as Matt, Rachel Lumberg (The Way of The World) as Sian and Sian Phillips (Cabaret, Little Dogs) as May. This Is My Family, 20 Tiny Plays about Sheffield and Bull are being supported by local law firm, Hill Dickinson, who are funding new writing and projects at Sheffield Theatres.

In the Lyceum Theatre Sheffield Theatres' world première production of Simon Beaufoy's The Full Monty brings the boys home from Saturday 2 - Saturday 23 February, before embarking on a national tour. Directed by Sheffield Theatres' Artistic Director Daniel Evans, the company includes Kenny Doughty (Stella) as Gaz, Craig Gazey (Coronation Street) as Lumper, Simon Rouse (The Bill) as Gerald, Keiran O'Brien (Nine Songs) as Guy, Roger Morlidge (The English Patient) as Dave and Sidney Cole (Absolutely Fabulous) as Horse.

Moscow City Ballet open the Lyceum Theatre season with one of the world's best loved ballets, Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (Tue 8 - Sat 12 Jan). More sensational ballet follows in March, when Northern Ballet return with an exciting new version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel, The Great Gatsby (Tue 12 - Sat 16 Mar) and dance sensation, Matthew Bourne (Swan Lake) brings another of Tchaikovsky's classics to life in May with Sleeping Beauty (Tue 1 - Sat 25 May).

Blood Brothers, Willy Russell's captivating musical about twins separated at birth, takes to the Lyceum stage in January (Mon 14 - Sat 26) and Soul Sister, a slick new musical inspired by the life and times of Ike and Tina Turner, dances into Sheffield in February (Mon 25 Feb - Sat 2 Mar). The Rocky Horror Show celebrates its 40th year with a rock 'n' rolling production in April (Mon 15 - Sat 20 Apr) and 9 to 5, a brand new musical by Dolly Parton featuring songs from her extensive career, will entertain audiences in the same month (Mon 22 - Sat 27 Apr).

In March, drama fans will enjoy Agatha Christie's thrilling murder mystery, The Mousetrap, when it visits Sheffield for the first time in its sixty year history (Mon 4 - Sat 9 Mar). This is followed later in the season by Olivier award-wining comedy The 39 Steps, based on the Alfred Hitchcock classic (Tue 2 - Sat 6 Apr), the anniversary production of Yes, Prime Minister (Mon 29 Apr - Sat 4 May) and the engaging all-male Shakespeare Theatre Company, Propeller, return with their version of The Taming of the Shrew (Wed 8 - Sat 11 May).

For younger audiences, Spot's Birthday Party (Tue 26 - Wed 27 Mar), The Gruffalo's Child (Fri 12 – Sat 13 Apr) and Rotherham favourites The Chuckle Brothers (Wed 10 April) offer top quality family entertainment.

National Theatre Connections returns in March (Thu 21 - Thu 28 Mar) celebrating young theatre talent with 10 thrilling new plays to be performed by local young companies. Writers, artists and theatre makers from across the North then come together in May to create A Wondrous Place - four brand new short stories inspired by Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle that celebrate the North (Thu 23 May - Sat 1 June).

Sheffield Theatres' Artistic Director Daniel Evans said today, 'I'm delighted that our new season sees the Studio Theatre given over entirely to new work – two plays and a brand new musical, while in the Crucible Theatre we produce two masterpieces by titans of the English theatre, D.H Lawrence and Alan Bennett. I'm also thrilled to welcome Clare Lizzimore and Michael Longhurst, two of the most exciting directors of their generation, to the Crucible – alongside one of my associate directors Paul Miller, whose production of Democracy transferred to The Old Vic Theatre earlier this year. I feel honoured to be able to collaborate with two of the most popular writers of our time, Tim Firth and Simon Beaufoy, both of whom seem able to make us laugh and cry in equal measure. Finally, I'm thrilled that we continue to welcome such a variety of productions to the Lyceum stage and hope our audiences will join us for what I am sure will be another fantastic season.'

The new season at Sheffield Theatres goes on sale to the public on Saturday 17 November from 10.00am. For full details of the new season and to book tickets call the Box Office on 0114 249 6000 or visit sheffieldtheatres.co.uk.

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