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Northern Theatre News
March 2026 - Week 1
Anthony Cawood
March 04, 2026
March 2026 - Week 1
Welcome to Northern Theatre News!
Another week and another show! More Shakespeare, this week we have the RSC’s Hamlet at the Bradford Alhambra - check out our review!
This week is our usual mix of listings, news, competitions and more. I’d love to hear your feedback. So let me know what you’d like to see featured (or not!) in future editions of your newsletter.
Enjoy, and see you in the stalls!
News roundup
First up, news from Chester…
This summer, Storyhouse in the Park will transform Grosvenor Park into a cultural playground for two months, packed with open-air theatre, live comedy, Moonlight Flicks cinema nights, yoga sessions, murder mysteries, street food celebrations and family activities, alongside four major theatrical productions.
The 2026 Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre season, presented by Storyhouse, will run from 27 June to 6 September. Tickets are on sale on Friday 27 February at 12pm priced from £20.25 for Storyhouse Members / £22.50 non-members.
I mentioned this last year, but now it’s a reality!
Victoria Wood’s long-standing friendships, love of the Lake District and close connection to The Old Laundry Theatre in Bowness-on-Windermere comes full circle, as the intimate theatre has now been renamed THE VICTORIA WOOD THEATRE in honour of the much loved and talented star.
There’s also a new Victoria Wood musical that brings her genius music and lyrics back to life, FOURTEEN AGAIN, using songs from her Victoria Wood Song Book Lucky Bag! With a book by Tom MacRae writer and lyricist of the global hit Everybody’s Talking About Jamie!
Coming in May to a renamed theatre near you!
Subscriber giveaway
£50 monthly prize giveaway
Every month we give away a £50 Theatre Token to one of our subscribers, usable at over 250 venues across the UK (including loads in the North). Just stay subscribed and you’ll be in the draw.
Congrats to Maria Garrick who is our January winner!
What’s on over the coming weeks
North East
Newcastle’s Theatre Royal has TINA - The Tina Turner Musical 3 - 14 March followed by Hamlet 31 March - 4 April.
Live Theatre in Newcastle has Shuggy Boats 6 - 21 March
Over at Northern Stage we have Noughts & Crosses 27 Feb - 7 March followed by I, Daniel Blake 20 March - 4 April
Sunderland Empire has Woman in Mind 4 - 7 March followed by Blood Brothers 17 - 21 March.
North West
Liverpool Empire has Dear England 3 - 7 March followed by Priscilla Queen of the Desert 9 - 14 March.
Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse has The Memory of Water 25 Feb - 14 March, War of the Worlds 4 - 7 March, and then The Constant Wife 10 - 14 March
Palace Theatre in Manchester has Mamma Mia! 3 - 21 March.
Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester has Road 13 Feb - 14 March
Home in Manchester has Tim Key 5 -7 March followed by Crime and Punishment 19 - 21 March.
Still in Manchester, Hope Mill Theatre has Vignettes 4 - 8 March followed by The Fire Raisers 11 -15 March
Over to Blackpool and the Grand Theatre has the RSC’s Hamlet 24 - 28 March.
Over in Chester at The Storyhouse we have Macbeth 6 - 21 March and we have a Q&A with Jamie Sophia Fletcher who has adapted and directed this new version of the classic.
The Lowry, in Salford has Don Quixote 5 - 7 March and then Showstopper! The Improvised Musical 5 - 7 March and then Opera North’s Marriage of Figaro 12 - 14 March.
Shakespeare North Playhouse has Two by Jim Cartwright 6 - 28 March.
Dukes in Lancaster has Sherlock Holmes: The Hunt for Moriarty 10 - 14 March followed by I, Daniel Blake 14 - 16 March.
Octagon Bolton has Macbeth 4 - 28 March.
Yorkshire & Humberside
Leeds Grand Theatre has Gentleman Jack, the brand new Ballet, 7 - 14 March followed by TINA - The Tina Turner Musical 17 March - 4 April.
Leeds Playhouse has Small Island 11 - 28 March has Pied Piper 12 - 14 March and then War of the Worlds 25 - 28 March.
Bradford’s Alhambra has RSC’s Hamlet 3 - 7 March - check out our review -followed by Derren Brown’s Only Human 10 - 14 March and then The Woman in Black 17 - 21 March.
Bradford Playhouse has Calendar Girls 11 - 14 March.
York Theatre Royal has The Secret Garden - The Musical 17 March - 4 April.
The Grand Opera House in York has Death on the Nile 3 - 7 March followed by Bluey’s Big Play 19 - 22 March.
Hull New Theatre has Friends! The Musical Parody 2 - 7 March followed by Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 10 - 14 March.
Hull Truck Theatre has The Grand Babylon Hotel 10 - 13 March.
Over in Sheffield at the Lyceum we have Legally Blonde 3 - 7 March, followed by Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile 10 - 14 March.
The Playhouse has Living 14 March - 4 Apr.
The Crucible has The Ladies Football Club 28 Feb - 28 March
Northern Theatre News reviews
When we’re lucky enough to be invited to press nights we add the review to the very next newsletter! Here are the shows we’ve seen recently.
Gravité: The Men’s Cologne That Lasts All Day
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Ticket offers not to miss!
Not so much of a ticket offer this time, but an offer to get an additional theatre fix from home with Marquee TV. They have a ton of theatre, opera, concerts and ballet, and they are running a new offer where your first month is subscription is just £1.
Theatre competitions
They’re not all northern, but when they’re not they do involve a hotel stay too, good luck! All are free to enter and run by 3rd parties (not me!), and I will keep them in each newsletter whilst the entry date is still valid.
Theatre spotlight
Harrogate Theatre
 Harrogate Theatre by DS Pugh, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons  Frances Darlington frieze - HT website  Auditorium now - from HT website  Auditorium in the past - from HT website  Entrance - from HT website  Entrance as Grand Opera House - HT website  Spudgun67, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons  External at dusk - HT website | Opened in 1900, as the Grand Opera House, it is one of Yorkshire’s true theatrical highlights. Designed by Frank Tugwell, it was built with Victorian grandeur in mind; with gilded plaster mouldings, electric lighting throughout, and dressing rooms with hot and cold running water (revolutionary at the time!). The theatre opened its doors 13th Jan 1900, with a gala in aid of Boer War soldiers, followed just a couple of days later by its first pantomime, Dick Whittington, which played to a packed 1300 seats. The theatre was scented back then too, so as audience members took their seats they would have smelt Erasmus Perfume by the Erasmic Soap Company. Over the decades, the theatre attracted stars of the highest calibre. Legends like Sarah Bernhardt, a young Charlie Chaplin, Ken Dodd and more. Local sculptor Frances Darlington added a beautiful relief frieze to the foyer in the early 1900s, still admired today. By the 1930s, cinema and radio were pulling audiences away, so then manager William Peacock and his daughter launched the White Rose Players – one of the UK’s first weekly rep companies. Performing a new play every week, they kept the stage alive with around 45 shows a year until the mid-1950s, when the rise of television saw audiences drop once again. In 1955, the curtain fell. But just three years later, it rose once more, saved by local backers and reborn as Harrogate Theatre under charitable trust. A full restoration in the 1970s ensured its long-term future, and the stage played host to a diverse mix of touring drama, comedy and music – including an intimate gig by none other than David Bowie. And where would any vintage theatre be without a haunting or two? Ask staff and they’ll tell you about Alice, the peppermint-scented ghost who’s said to occupy the stalls – believed to be the heartbroken spirit of a jilted lover, her presence even inspired a centenary play and a ghost hunt or two. Today, Harrogate Theatre is thriving once more. It programmes shows not only on its own stage but also across the town’s Royal Hall and Convention Centre. A booming youth theatre, set-building workshop, and a renewed community focus means that at 125 years old, it remains a vital, living part of the town. A theatre with endless stories to tell, a ghost in the wings, and a future as bright as its past. (Youtube videos) |
Theatre index
I’ve collated an index of all the northern venues I could find, it’s broken down by region so you can find the ones nearest you.
Do let me know if I’ve missed any.
Courses & training
I’ve had a few reader requests to add theatre related courses/training to the newsletter, so when/if I find any I’ll feature them here.
If you know of any more just let me know and I’ll include them
That’s it for this week
I’d love to know what you think about this newsletter, what we could do to make it better, and what else you’d like to see.
Thanks for reading and subscribing, and please spread the news.
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