Dukes New Season includes Fairytale and Film

The Dukes has announced plans for a springtime tribute to Lancashire’s greatest film-makers and a fairytale summer outdoors.

The Lancaster theatre is staging Hansel & Gretel And More Tales From The Forest as its latest outdoor walkabout show. Audiences get the chance to discover a world of magic and folklore in Williamson Park from July 4 – August 16. The story of Hansel & Gretel will be central to the production, which will also feature other familiar fairytales, providing a treat for all the family.

A new play celebrating the life and times of Lancashire factory gate film-makers, Mitchell & Kenyon, runs from April 19-May 10. The Life And Times of Mitchell & Kenyon is a co-production with Oldham Coliseum Theatre. It has been written by the Lancaster-based playwright and screen writer Daragh Carville.

Lancaster film projection specialists – imitating the dog – team up with director Amy Leach to tell this unique tale of the birth of modern cinema. The Dukes marks the centenary of the outbreak of World War One with a homegrown production by its Young Actors & Young Company and the return of Northern Broadsides. From March 18-22, Your Country Needs You!(But I don’t need my country…) explores what it means to go to war and what nationalism means to young people now.

From 4 – 8 March, Northern Broadsides present An August Bank Holiday Lark, a moving drama set in rural Lancashire in the summer before World War One begins.

Another touring drama highlight of The Dukes spring season is Filter Theatre’s explosive version of Twelfth Night (11- 15 February). This production sold out during its previous Lancaster run and returns as part of the city’s Season of Shakespeare this spring.

The Dukes also welcomes back the Olivier Award winning play Morecambe, the heart-warming story of Eric Morecambe who was born just five miles away from the Lancaster theatre. Bob Golding plays the iconic comedian on May 20 and 21, just days before the 30th anniversary of Eric’s death.

Following their successful debut at The Dukes this year, Northern Ballet return on 4 April with their ballet for children – Three Little Pigs .