WhatsOnStage winner Michael Grandage directs Dawn French solo tour

Following his success at the WhatsOnStage Awards on Sunday, Michael Grandage has announced his next project – directing Dawn French's first ever solo tour 30 Million Minutes.

The show, which opens in Sheffield in June, is based on on French's life and career and will see the award-winning comic and author "take audiences through the various lessons life has taught her, and the things she knows for sure".

French said: "I am enjoying the fact that I can't categorise exactly what it is, but it's somewhere between a monologue, a play, and an autobiographical slide show with a few funnies thrown in. At last, I have one of my three genie wishes granted, which is that I finally get to work with Michael Grandage.

"The other two wishes are as yet unfulfilled. They are secret obviously, but suffice to say, one is about Barack Obama in Speedos. The other is about me in speedos, with cheesecake involved… Enough said."

Grandage won best director at the 2014 WhatsOnStage Awards, one of four gongs his 15-month season at the Noel Coward Theatre picked up.

The tour, which is produced by Phil McIntyre Entertainments and the Michael Grandage Company, will visit:

5 – 8 June Sheffield: Lyceum

10 – 12 June Glasgow: Pavilion

13 June Derby: Assembly Rooms

14 June Buxton: Opera House

15 – 16 June Llandudno: Venue Cymru

18 – 20 June Birmingham: New Alexandra

25 – 28 June Brighton: Theatre Royal

29 June Plymouth: Theatre Royal

2 – 6 July Bradford: Alhambra

9 – 13 July Dublin: Olympia

16 – 20 July Cardiff: New Theatre

23 – 24 July Crawley: Hawth

25 – 27 July Reading: Hexagon

30 July – 2 August Dartford: Orchard