| Absurd Person Singular | May 22 2012 - May 26 2012 | A knock-dead funny, brutally well constructed farce of drink, desolation and class warfare from Britain's master of satire. In this hilarious dark comedy we eavesdrop on three couples over three successive 1970s Christmas Eves: the social climbing Hopcrofts in their gadget-filled kitchen, the relationship-troubled Jacksons in their neglected fourth floor flat and the laconic Brewster-Wrights in their Victorian style home. Add a mad dog, a dirty oven and some inappropriate party games and the result is classic Ayckbourn at his very best. Not suitable for children under 5 years of age. "Alan Ayckbourn has the writer’s supreme gift of being able to successfully coat the wryly bitter pill of social comment with a delicious confection of drollery….An exquisitely funny play" The Stage |
| Look Out! - Southampton's Titanic Story, in song | Jun 9 2012 | To mark the centenary this year of the sinking of RMS Titanic, three Southampton songwriters have collaborated to tell the story in song, music and spoken word. Look Out! relates the events leading up to the tragedy, and the aftermath, from Southampton's perspective, mainly through the eyes of the crew, and in particular Fred Fleet, the lookout who first saw the iceberg. It is performed by White Star Line-Up comprising the composers, and local singers and musicians. Concessions available at £10 |
| Sweet Charity | Jul 10 2012 - Jul 14 2012 | Did you ever have one of those days ... that was perfect? Come and discover the romantic misadventures of Charity Hope Valentine, the gregarious, gullible and guileless girl who repeatedly gives her heart and her dreams to the wrong men. Accompanied by a host of outrageously colourful characters and a show-stopping score featuring The Rhythm of Life, Dream Your Dream and Big Spender this musical promises to be an evening to remember for all the family. Footlights Youth Theatre (“known for its dance routines and comic capers, as well as high production values, lavish costumes and excellent performances” - Southern Daily Echo) combines forty of the area’s most promising and exciting theatrical protégés aged between seven and eighteen. |
| Habeas Corpus | Jul 17 2012 - Jul 21 2012 | Twenty two years after RAODS first performed it, we now return to this hilariously entertaining, bawdy picture postcard comedy that combines the fast-paced fun of a classic farce with Bennett’s unmistakably dry Northern wit. Not suitable for children under 12 years of age. |
| Oliver! | Aug 15 2012 - Aug 18 2012 | Who doesn't know the story of Oliver Twist? Lionel Bart's version of the story has been with us since 1960, and was made world famous by the 1968 film. Food Glorious Food, I'd Do Anything, You've Got To Pick a Pocket Or Two - the list of famous songs goes on and on. Not suitable for children under 3 years of age. A RAODS YOUTH PRODUCTION Family Tickets (2 adults, 2 children) available for £30. |
| The 39 Steps | Sep 13 2012 - Sep 15 2012 | Fresh from a week's run at the Minack Theatre in Cornwall (see www.minack.com), this play is an hilarious adaptation of the Hitchock film of the John Buchan Novel.
The dashing Richard Hannay has been framed for murder. Can he track down the real murderers and solve the mystery of the 39 steps before the police catch him? Set in the 1930s, our hero deals with femmes fatales, assassins, spies, mad professors and a host of colourful characters. Multiple parts are played by three of the actors ( at least 30 between them). The action is fast and furious with an accent on physical comedy - with chases on the Flying Scotsman steam train and under the Forth Bridge. Also featured are a bi-plane crash, car chases and a death defying finale at the London Palladium!
Will Richard Hannay triumph against the odds and solve the riddle of the 39 steps?
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| Anorak of Fire & My Brilliant Divorce | Sep 25 2012 - Sep 29 2012 | An evening of 2 monologues, – both in the Alan Bennett tradition of mixing life’s laughter and tears. In the first, a young trainspotter lets us into his secrets, and his world. And in the second, in a part memorably performed by Dawn French, we follow the rocky (and at times hilarious) road travelled by a divorcee.
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| Love Off The Shelf | Oct 23 2012 - Oct 27 2012 | John and his assistant, Mary, are working on a biography of a pre-Pre-Raphaelite rogue. A project with great literary merit, perhaps, but hardly a money-spinner. To keep the wolf from the door both John and Mary request, unbeknown to each other, instructions from True Love Publishers on how to write and sell romantic fiction. Love Off the Shelf parodies every cliché of the romantic novel genre as the two stories come to life before our eyes — the interactions of their characters mirroring the ever-more-complicated relationship between John and Mary. Occasionally the fictional characters rebel against the constraints put upon them by their creators, but, in the end, despite the tongue-in-cheek treatment doled out by the authors, romance is the winner all round. Love Off the Shelf is a feast for romantics and cynics alike! TICKETS NOT ON SALE YET |
| An Ideal Husband | Nov 13 2012 - Nov 17 2012 | Set over 24 hours in London in ‘the present day’ (1895 – when it was written), Wilde’s comedy includes blackmail and political corruption. But, he also said about the play “No one should be entirely judged by their past”.
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| The Flint Street Nativity | Dec 3 2012 - Dec 8 2012 | A class of 7 year olds perform their nativity play — squabbles arise as Gabriel wants to play Mary, the Star grumbles he's not a proper star like they have at NASA, Herod won't stop waving to his mum, and then the stick insect escapes. The cast of adults play both the children and their parents. "There are moments when you may wet yourself laughing". Alfred Hickling, Guardian
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