Mad Blood Stirring’ is an unusual theatre in education programme by Shropshire-based Pentabus Theatre Company. An Elizabethan actor and his apprentice move from plague-ridden London to the provinces with a production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. But the apprentice disagrees with the actor’s interpretation of this new play and draws the audience into an exploration of the plot, language, social conventions of the time and modern themes of the play. Pentabus tours this play in Shropshire and Worcestershire to the end of the term. For details of this and other programmes, call education officer Andrew Bannerman on 01584 856564.
‘Kaahini’ is a play about being young and Asian in Britain today, written by Maya Chowdrey and presented by Birmingham Rep Theatre Company. Through three friends, the play explores issues around identity in the face of parental expectation, communication and honesty in families and friendships. It tours schools and colleges in the West Midlands until April 3. Ring Birmingham Rep for details on 0121 236 4455.
Playbox Theatre, composed of children and young people, tours a production of Diane Samuels’ award-winning ‘Kindertransport’. April 1: Solihull Arts Complex (0121 704 6962), April 2: Aylesford School, Warwick (ring Playbox Theatre on 01926 512388), April 3: Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton upon Trent (01283 516030).
In another challenging choice for youth theatre, Fulham-based Lost Youth Theatre kicks off its spring season with Voltaire’s ‘Candide’ in a new adaptation by Murray Gold. Performances run from March 25 to 28. Bookings on 0171 381 6151.
Graeae, the only professional theatre company of disabled people in Europe, tours Jim Cartwright’s ‘Two’ in and around London and the South-East until mid-April, where it winds up at the Oval House, SE11 from the 7th to the 18th. The comicpainful two-hander set in a bar will be simultaneously signed in British Sign Language. For details and tickets, tel: 0171 267 1959.
The theatre premiere of ‘An Opera for Terezin’ by Liliane Atlan is being performed and directed by students of the University of Glasgow’s Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies. This evocation of the Holocaust set in a fictional future runs until Sunday at the James Arnott Theatre in the University’s Gilmorehill Centre. For details, ring the University’s media information department on 0141 330 4240.
