Your Midlands and Shropshire am dram guide

Being a self-confessed ‘Renthead’ as fans of the show are affectionately known, I cannot resist watching this show over and over.

I was pleased therefore to see that new group in the Stourbridge area, Unity Productions, is performing Rent from March 18 to 21 at Stourbridge Town Hall. And it’s a talented cast of well-known local performers.

Cy Wooldridge takes the role of Roger, with Laura Stanford as Mimi, Dan Wright as Mark and Adam Partridge as Angel.

The story of Rent is a sad one, both on stage and off.

On stage the show follows the ups and downs of a year in the life of a group of impoverished, artistic friends living in Manhattan’s East Village.

Mark, an aspiring filmmaker, struggles to find his place in the world; his roommate Roger, an HIV-positive musician, wonders how he will leave his mark before he dies.

Mimi and Angel look for true love as they face the harsh reality of life as HIV-positive young people, while the business-like Joanne seeks fidelity from her wild-child performance artist girlfriend Maureen.

The group’s dreams, losses, and love stories weave through the musical’s narration to paint a stunningly raw and emotional portrait of the gritty Bohemian world of New York City in the late 1980s, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.

Meanwhile off stage, the author and composer Jonathan Larson completed his masterpiece, but sadly passed away unexpectedly the morning of Rent's first preview performance off Broadway and so never saw this unique musical’s success.

For tickets, visit www.seaty.co.uk or visit the Unity Production Facebook page. Proceeds from the show will go to the Georgina Unit at Russell’s Hall Hospital.

On a happier note, there’s no better show for a young performer to cut their teeth in than Lionel Bart’s Dickensian musical, Oliver!

My own son, Alastair, made his stage debut in Oliver! at the age of eight and he has never forgotten it.

Coleshill on Stage will be holding a launch night for their production of this classic musical on March 16, an audition workshop for children on March 23 and then adult auditions for the show on March 30.

For more information and the venue details, visit the group’s Facebook page or call 07935351539.

Even after a century, the works of Oscar Wilde remain popular both for amateur and professional theatre.

Sutton Arts Theatre group has chosen to perform An Ideal Husband, one of his best-loved works from March 19 to 28.

Written in 1895, this comedy is none time specific and can therefore easily be updated and brought into the present day, although I don’t know if this is what the group has chosen to do.

Sir Robert Chiltern is a respected government official and a loving husband. His friend, Lord Arthur Goring however, is a notorious womaniser who lives a life of casual lounging, meaningless flirtations and multiple illicit affairs.

But when old acquaintance Laura Cheveley arrives in London to stir up trouble, the lives of the two men become increasingly complicated and intertwined and their true natures are revealed.

For tickets, visit www.suttonartstheatre.co.uk or call 0121 355 5355.

At the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham from March 21 to 28, you can catch a production of the comedy A Bunch of Amateurs by Nick Newman and Ian Hislop.

Keen to boost his flagging career, fading Hollywood action hero Jefferson Steele arrives in England to play King Lear in Stratford, only to find that this is not the birthplace of the Bard, but a sleepy Suffolk village.

And instead of Kenneth Branagh and Dame Judi Dench, the cast are a bunch of amateurs trying to save their theatre from developers.

Jefferson’s monstrous ego, vanity and insecurity are tested to the limit by the enthusiastic am-dram thespians. As acting worlds collide and Jefferson’s career implodes, he discovers some truths about himself – along with his inner Lear.

For tickets, visit www.crescent-theatre.co.uk or call 0121 643 5858.

The senior group at the Birmingham Rep is presenting the classic play by William Golding, Lord of the Flies from March 27 to 28, with performances at 7.30pm nightly and a 2.30pm Saturday matinee.

A plane crashes on a deserted island and the only survivors are a group of students. Whilst they live in a paradise of bright, exotic birds and dark blue seas, their dreams are inhabited by a terrifying beast.

Lord of the Flies is a tale of isolation, power, identify and violence.

Directed by Rebecca Deeks, assisted by Jasmin Hylton this is another excellent production by this talented group.

For tickets, visit https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/young-rep-seniors-lord-of-the-flies.html or call 0121 236 4455.

From March 19 to 21, the Drama and Theatre Arts Department of the University of Birmingham is presenting George Orwell’s Animal Farm, directed by Little Earthquake at George Cadbury Hall, Selly Oak.

A pig has a vision about a new way of life, a fairer, freer world in which all animals are equal.

The rebellion that follows against their vicious human masters seems to make everyone’s dreams come true. Until the milk and the apples start mysteriously disappearing.

Soon, a new ruling class emerges from within the ranks of the revolutionaries — a ruthless elite who will trample over anyone and anything standing in their way.

As the standard of living goes down and the list of casualties goes up, the real cost of taking back control becomes chillingly apparent.

For tickets, visit the group’s Facebook page or call 0121 414 5676.

Finally this week and massive well done to the friends of am dram performer Mitchell Bastable, who you may remember sadly passed away in August 2018.

The group who produced a festival in his name, aptly called Mitchfest have now raised a total of £12,500 for The Stroke Association in his memory.

On behalf of everyone out there in am dram land, thank you guys.

That’s all for this week. Please send me all your news and good quality colour photos to a.norton@expressandstar.co.uk, call me on 01902 319662 or follow me Twitter @AlisonNorton or Facebook.

Break a leg!