Matthew Kelly (photo: Dan Wooller)
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Matthew Kelly leads History Boys in Sheffield, Bellingham is Passionate Woman

Sheffield Theatres' artistic director Daniel Evans has announced further details for 2013, which includes productions of The History Boys, Tim Firth's new musical This is My Family and a major revival of Kay Mellor's A Passionate Woman starring Lynda Bellingham.

As previously announced, the season opens in the Crucible, from 16 May to 8 June, with Michael Longhurst's revival of Alan Bennett's multi-award winning play The History Boys.

The cast includes Matthew Kelly as Hector (the role created at the National Theatre by Richard Griffiths), alongside: Ross Anderson (Rudge), Oliver Coopersmith (Posner), Nicholas Day (Headmaster), Tom Rhys Harries (Dakin), Regé-Jean Page (Crowther), Edward Judge (Timms), Joshua Miles (Lockwood), Edwin Thomas (Irwin).

Set in a Sheffield Grammar school in the 1980s, The History Boys questions the purpose and means of education. In a school where the headmaster cares only about exam results, a bunch of excitable sixth-form boys go about their pursuit of the important things: sex, sport and a university place.

Next up, from 19 June to 20 July, the Studio will host This Is My Family, a new musical comedy written by Tim Firth (Calendar Girls) and directed by Evans.

Starring Bill Champion, Evelyn Hoskins, Terence Keeley, Rachel Lumberg and Siân Phillips, the show centres on a teenager who enters a writing competition to win a holiday for her dysfunctional family.

Passionate Woman & Winter's Tale

In September, the Lyceum will stage a revival of Kay Mellor's A Passionate Woman. Running from 10-21 September, the production is directed by Mellor and will star Lynda Bellingham as the titular Betty, alongside Christopher Timothy and Peter McMillan.

The 1992 play centres on a woman who finds herself torn between three men in her life - a husband she's never really loved, a son she's about to lose and a man she had a passionate affair with over 30 years ago.

A Passionate Woman is the second co-production between Sheffield Theatres and David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers following The Full Monty, and will embark on a national tour after Sheffield.

Rounding off the season in the Crucible is Paul Miller's new production of The Winter's Tale, which runs from 2 October to 2 November.

Miller, an associate director at Sheffield, has previously directed revivals of True West, Hamlet, Democracy (as part of The Michael Frayn season, and also Old Vic) and The Daughter-in-Law (currently in the Crucible).

Also announced today is that Sheffield Theatres' recent production of Mike Bartlett's Bull, staged in the Studio Theatre in February, will transfer to the 59E59 Theaters in New York as part of the Brits Off Broadway Festival.

The production, which runs at the Off-Broadway Theatre from 22 April to 2 June, will star original cast members Adam James, Eleanor Matsuura and Sam Troughton, with director Clare Lizzimore at the helm.

Artistic director Daniel Evans said of the new season: "I'm delighted to announce details of our forthcoming work in Sheffield. Whilst this is undoubtedly a challenging time for us, having received our third round of local authority cuts in as many years, it's crucial that we continue to celebrate the essential part Sheffield Theatres plays in making Sheffield a vibrant place to live."

- by Theo Bosanquet

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