Key North East Openings this February

OPENING 5 February 2010, A Ghost Walk opens at the York Theatre Royal with a cast including James Wilkes and Dominic J. Allen. A new devised piece from Edinburgh Fringe neo-veterans Belt Up, YTR’s resident theatre company. Belt Up use their brilliant inventive madness to shake up a traditional walking ghost tour about the city. Wear winter woollies and expect to be thrilled. The season continues until 5 March.

OPENING 11 February 2010, An Enemy of the People is revived at the Sheffield Theatre Crucible with a cast including Sir Anthony Sher and Lucy Cohu. When Dr Stockmann makes a discovery that threatens the inhabitants of his home spa town, his attempts to spread the news are discouraged and thwarted by the people he hoped to protect. This revival of Christopher Hampton’s 1997 version of Ibsen’s 1882 classic will include the largest community cast seen on the Crucible stage. Daniel Evans directs. The season continues until 20 March.

OPENING 24 February 2010, And A Nightingale Sang runs at the Stephen Joseph Theatre with a cast including Katherine Dow Blyton and Jack Bennett. In wartime Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the eccentric Stott family find their own way of coping with the war, with the aid of some fantastic musical numbers from the forties. BBC’s Sarah Punshon directs. The season continues until 6 March.

OPENING 25 February 2010, Absent Friends opens at the Harrogate Theatre with a cast including Steven Pinder and Samantha Giles. Diana’s afternoon tea party stirs up simmering tensions, in Alan Ayckbourn’s dark tragicomic 1974 play. Nikolai Foster directs. The season continues until 13 March.