Event type: Theatre

 

In a society obsessed with youth and beauty, Dorian Gray is offered the ultimate prize: eternal perfection. But perfection comes at a price, one that must be paid in blood.

“What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?”

This bold new adaptation of the classic novel celebrates Wilde’s dazzling wit and dark imagination. Stylish and unsettlingly thrilling, The Picture of Dorian Gray plunges you into a world where charm is currency and the truth always exacts its price.

 

Get in a fight. Cross-dress. Throw on some yellow stockings. Love can make you do the funniest things…! The critically-acclaimed Pantaloons Theatre Company present their own brand of Shakespearean mayhem.

Separated at sea, twins Viola and Sebastian wash up on the island of Illyria, both fearing the other lost forever. Plied pranksters, puritanical pillocks and perhaps even true love await them as they forge their own paths through this new world of fools, jewels, duels and dual-identities.

Family-friendly fun with live music and audience participation!

“If Shakespeare chose a modern company to perform his work then it would undoubtedly be The Pantaloons.” (northwestend.com)

What happens when imagination becomes survival?

Set inside a youth custody classroom, The Animals is a fierce, poetic and deeply human play about identity, anger, compassion — and the stories we tell ourselves to survive systems that refuse to listen.

As philosophy lessons spark unlikely conversations, the young people in the room begin to transform. Chairs become savannahs. Trauma takes animal form. And a monstrous idea — of who society says these young people are — looms large.

This powerful production is brought to life by The Boaty Young Theatre Makers, whose work has already earned national recognition for its ambition, emotional intelligence and fearless storytelling.

In 2023, the company were invited to transfer their production of Innocent Creatures by Leo Butler to the Dorfman Stage at the National Theatre, as part of the NT Connections Festival — an extraordinary achievement for any youth ensemble.

The National Theatre has praised Boaty as ‘incredible collaborators’, ‘ambitious and tenacious theatre-makers’, and ‘exemplary in the way they work with young people’.

Now, they return to the stage — this time in the main performance space at Shakespeare North Playhouse — with a bold, urgent production that asks:

Who gets to be heard?

Who gets written off?

And what happens when young people refuse to accept the roles the world places on them?

Raw, imaginative and unforgettable, The Animals is not just a youth theatre production — it is a reminder of theatre’s power to challenge, to listen, and to change the conversation.

Performed by a company whose work continues to reach national stages

‘This play doesn’t ask for sympathy — it asks for attention. The Animals is about the invisible weight young people carry, the damage done when they’re reduced to labels, and what can change when they’re finally allowed to imagine themselves differently. We’re incredibly proud to be bringing this play to Shakespeare North Playhouse, a venue that has always welcomed us, and to be performing in the Cockpit — letting these voices take up the room they deserve.’ — Laura J Harris, Artistic Director, The Boaty Theatre Company

‘Near Miss’ is set in the cool, chaos of 00s Liverpool where the back drop of a frenzied fake optimism and fantasy cannot last…

Through a piercing vision into her persona within her classroom, the play explores the relentless pursuit of a life more ordinary and cascades the other lives that are hidden or protected within her.

It follows a young wife, mother, teacher running from her past, hiding in her present.

Desperate to maintain the facade of the normality of her life – she contradicts the chaos with her calm and pushes the darkness deep inside.

The hopes and dreams she once had are now a shimmer of light in the distant window of her past.

Will she allow herself to open that window of change? Or is it slammed shut forever?

Oscar Wilde’s classic satire gets a fresh new look in this version by Off Topic Theatre.

The Importance of being earnest revolves around two high society gentlemen, jack and algernon, who have created double lives to escape their social duties. soon, their carefully constructed deceptions come crashing down when both of their romantic interests are Determined to marry a man with the name ernest.

In this playful and vibrant staging of Wilde’s farce, we explore what happens when the traditional rules of Engagement are delightfully upended, revealing even societies most rigid expectations are often the most absurd!

Produced and staged by Off Topic Theatre, this version of earnest updates and builds upon our 2023 performance.