Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas future are all very familiar. But in the hands of a dysfunctional family intent on throwing annual fancy dress parties on Christmas Eve under the watchful eye of their matriarch Maggie, seasonal festivities are destined to spiral out of control. Over the course of three Christmases, Maggie, her children Davina and Ben and her granddaughter Grace attempt to have themselves a merry little Christmas but past resentments and recriminations inevitably rise to the surface each time. Surely one year will be full of peace and love and the true spirit of Christmas? Don't bet on it. . .

Popular and much loved Guy Manton is the host of a high rating television panel game. A chance remark subjects him to a torrent of abuse on Twitter

1930s England, Christmas Eve in the manor house of the bumbling aristocrat, Sir Walton Gates and his wife Grace. His daughter from a previous marriage arrives from town with her new companion in tow, the dashing James Washington and added to the mix is Sir Walton's estranged brother Archie, recently returned from years spent in Australia, bringing with him an appetite for mischief and a dodgy accent. Enter England's most confused police officer, Sergeant Pratt, who unwittingly kicks a hornet's nest of English gentility and the evening soon descends into chaos with hilarious consequences. Magic tricks will fail miserably, shots will inadvertently ring out and identities will be confused but can Pratt identify the individual with murderous intent before a body is found? Probably not. . .In the new prequel to the Inspector Pratt Trilogy, Sleighed to Death takes us back to the ignominious start of Inspector Pratt's career and we discover that his early life as a policeman is no less hilarious!

Set in an isolated former hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands, Death Knell follows Henry Roth, a famous playwright and his wife Evelyn, as they await the arrival of his new 'muse' - a charming and charismatic young actor called Jack Willoughby who is determined to secure a role in the playwright's latest production. What starts out as a seemingly innocent audition soon leads to an evening full of twists, turns and eventually . . . murder. Mixing black comedy and shocks of the highest order, Death Knell reinvents the classic thriller genre and will leave audiences breathless and beguiled right up to the final curtain.

When a woman is attacked in a city car park the staff of Faraday Finance, whose offices overlook the car park, fall under suspicion  in particular Brian Heath, who has been picked out at an identification parade and whose first wife died under mysterious circumstances. At first he seems to have an alibi on the night in question, however as the investigation intensifies, Inspector Rudkin is certain of Heaths guilt. The case becomes more complex as the alibis of both his co-worker Ronnie and their boss Morley are called into doubt and everyones motivations are called into question before a startling incident brings matters to an unexpected denouement.

When Mary Lennox is orphaned while living in India, she comes to live at her uncles manor house on the Yorkshire moors, finding it full of secrets. At night, she hears the sound of crying down one of the long corridors. Outside, she meets Dickon, the brother of one of the housemaids and a magical boy who can charm and talk to animals. Then one day she hears about a garden in the grounds of the Manor that has been kept locked and hidden for years. And when a friendly robin helps Mary find the key, she discovers the most magical place anyone could imagine. . .

Poppy is eleven and has attitude. When she finds herself living with her cantankerous grandfather, a man she neither likes or loves all hell breaks loose. Something of a hermit, a man living in the past who sees very little good in anything or anybody, Ken is suddenly and unexpectedly confronted by a tornado of energy who can't sit still and asks too many questions. He is a man with no television, no computer and no patience, and while their relationship is volatile it's also very funny and strewn with moments of real tenderness. Grow up Grandad is an inter-generational story that deals with love and loss, hope and sadness as the relationship between Poppy a Grandad is first thrown together and eventually torn apart.

When Gerry and Judith, a long married couple, rescue Jo from an assault by her aggressive partner ashley, one night in a pub they trigger off a chain of events that even Judith - trained in counselling - cannot control.

No Villain tells the story of garment industry strike that sets a son against his factory proprietor father. It draws very directly on his family life. It opens in the parlour of six room house where the Simons are an immigrant family, once successful but now fallen on hard times. They anxiously await the return of their son from University. A twenty year old Miller exploring the Marxist theory that would see him hauled before the House Un-American Activities Committee years later. This remarkable debut play gives us a tantalising glimpse of Miller's early life, the seeding of his political values and the beginning of his extraordinary career.

When famous crime writer Jack Cameron and his wife Susie drown in a boating accident, they are refused entry into heaven - Jack is a card-carrying atheist - so they return to haunt the country cottage where they lived. Life is dull. Their only pleasure comes from spooking the estate agent and frightening away any would-be tenants. Things change when Susie persuades Jack to allow a young couple, Simon, an aspiring crime writer, and Flic, his pregnant wife, to move in. Inevitably Susie and Jack become drawn into their lives, and whilst Simon has writer's block, Marcia, Flic's monstrous mother, is doing her best to separate them. With no hope of success, Suzie calls up her Guardian Angel who, when she arrives, is not the angelic figure one would expect. She tells Jack he can help Simon write his book but by an unorthodox method which causes moments of utter confusion. Christmas arrives, so does a snowstorm, and so does the baby. Then comes a moment of crisis and Jack finds himself doing something that no card-carrying atheist would ever admit to. But will it help?

We're delighted to announce the publication of the latest title from one of the true masters of the pantomime, Norman Robbins! Norman's pantomimes have been delighting the nation for over fifty years and we are thrilled he has joined Josef Weinberger with his new adaptation of The New Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. The show has been written with a flexible number in the chorus to take account of casts large and small, while giving the director tremendous scope to tailor-make each production unique for their own audiences. Join Robinson and a host of zany characters as they set off from Hull in search of riches, only to be shipwrecked on the island of Migrania following a storm brewed up by Davy Jones himself. Davy Jones has put a curse on the island, and it falls to Robinson to devise a way to defeat him in order to free the islanders of the spell and allow Robinson and his friends to return home so that he can marry his sweetheart Polly Perkins and live happily ever after!

When working class David and Amy met upper middle class Robert and Linda whilst holidaying at the San Remo in Spain, their differences were immediately apparent. But, opposites were proven to attract, and a most unlikely romance developed, with hilarious consequences. And now they are back: David more lustful, Amy more cynical, Robert more dangerous, Linda more romantic than ever! With love in the Mediterranean air, holidaymakers watch on in disbelief as deceptions, misunderstandings and preposterous situations unfold, with the love-struck protagonists trying every trick in the book in order to keep their amorous intentions a secret!

ex-england international rugby union player Maggie Deakin is about to step down as coach of the Muddy Cows, but theres a final crunch match to be played. On a soggy Saturday in Yorkshire, Maggie rallies her team to take on the unbeatable New Zealand side, the Black Ferns. Personal battles play out on the pitch as a team of nurses, students, receptionists, lawyers and housewives fight to excel in what was once uniquely a mans world. Maggie faces a side at the top of their game, as well as her own uncertain future. Will her courage and passion win out? Muddy Cows gets inside the world of elite female rugby with crashing tackles, rucking mothers, and real life hookers.

Still single and living at home in his mid-thirties, Tom inherits his fathers telescope along with his passion for stargazing. But between studying constellations, a beautiful woman sunbathing on a neighbouring rooftop catches his eye and, using maximum magnification, he notices a funny-looking mole on her back. Should Tom engineer a meeting to inform her about his concerns? Is it really anxiety about her health or actually a voyeuristic attraction that drives his desire to meet her? And how can he do anything without his inquisitive family getting in the way? The recent death of Toms father has reunited him with his brother and sister, and together with their mother Olive each finds their faith and their interrelationships tested to the limit in this offbeat romantic comedy.

On February 1st Jack Munroe walked out on his job, his wife and his teenage children. Beside his bed was a copy of Hot Sex Tips and Which Caravan magazine. After travelling europe for three months to write his much-promised novel and live the life of an artist, he returns with no novel, no money and no idea why he left. In a world which is just on the edge, are we all losing the plot?

Victor Smiley and his wife Joan have been married for nearly two decades, but each barely recognises the person they wake up next to every morning. Victor is so fed up with his job at the local factory -as well as distracted by his visits to his favourite prostitute, Kamila- that he hardly notices his wife's constant ridicule. Joan has resigned herself to the fact that Victor will never see beyond her double-chin to a new hair cut or outfit. She even puts up with his constant snoring which keeps her up night after night, but only just. For unbeknownst to Victor, Joan is taking her sweet revenge: spending large amounts of money on his credit card, kitting herself out in a sexy new wardrobe to impress her secret lover, Don. But then, as the bills mount, Victor loses his job. Soon he realises that the only way he can achieve his dream of setting up home with Kamila is to get Joan out of the picture, once and for all. But Victor is about to get a nasty surprise, for he's not the only one with murder on his mind . . .

Five very different women sign up for Gabby's pole dancing class at the local village hall. None of them have any idea what lies ahead and each of them have their own reasons for taking up pole dancing whether it be to restore confidence in their body, get a guy, keep a guy, lose weight or embark upon a potential new career. However, when one of the women receives some devastating news, the others soon pull together and decide to turn their new skill into a fund raising event. As each of the women's stories unfold and unravel, they share laughter and tears in this funny, sad and ultimately moving play, a call to all women, celebrating strength through adversity. For all its frothy frivolity, this all-female play genuinely has heart and soul. It's a play for women, about women, that men must absolutely see. If they dare!

Based on Elizabeth Gaskells Cranford stories, Laura Turners adaptation delightfully brings the rural village to life where etiquette rules, underpinned by a healthy amount of gossip. Applying the ideals of gentility and propriety, the idiosyncratic ways of the women of Cranford are thrown into disarray as modernity encroaches in the form of a new railway line coming harrowingly close. While Cranfords eclectic women strive to stay immersed in the sweet pleasures and sometimes heart-breaking realities of simple village life, it becomes apparent that the world is changing in the face of the industrial revolution, and that Cranford will have to change with it.

Newlyweds Robert and Olivia Chappell have bought a small hotel in the English Lake District, and at the end of their first season they settle down with a drink in front of a warm fire. But their evening is interrupted by the arrival of a rugged hiker seeking shelter from the snow storm outside. Unlike her husband, Olivia senses danger. Could the stranger have anything to do with her own dark past involving a stolen diamond and a dangerous ex-boyfriend looking for revenge? Another male visitor soon appears and Olivias worst nightmare comes true. A desperate fight for survival begins, shedding a very different light on all those involved while ratcheting up the suspense until the very end.

the unlikely heroine of Bakersfield Mist is Maude Gutman, an unemployed, foul-mouthed, Jack Daniels swigging bartender, who lives in a trailer park in the seamy part of town. Events are set off when on a whim she purchases what she considers to be the ugliest painting in a thrift shop for three bucks, but then becomes convinced that it is a Jackson Pollock worth millions. Maude prevails in convincing the foundation that authenticates Pollock-s work to send their straight-laced, no-nonsense, and elegantly attired expert, Lionel Percy, to pass judgment on the work. there is obviously a lot at stake and Lionel has great misgivings since undocumented, and unknown Pollocks rarely surface and the market is flooded with fakes. He knows that there are forgers and charlatans constantly nipping at his heels who are anxious to take him down, and to besmirch and destroy his carefully crafted, hard-earned reputation. Lionel's no light-weight and his opinion is the final word on such matters for he is an instructor in Abstract Impressionism at Princeton University and the former director at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His negative bias is confirmed when the first encounter he has at the trailer-park is with the killer dogs of Maude's neighbor, who literally nip at his heels, as he sprints desperately for his life. Nor is he reassured when he encounters Maude's decorating skills that give the term shabby-chic new meaning. Maude knows that this is her only chance to turn her pathetic life of defeat and grinding poverty around, and that two simple words from Lionel can achieve this. She reaches desperately into her meager and threadbare bag-of-tricks to convince him of the painting's authenticity, as the play becomes a thought-provoking game of cat-and-mouse. Inspired in part by true events, Bakersfield Mist is a provocative and delightful comedy about class distinctions, truth, life, and the meaning of art.
nytheatre.com

A volume of three new pantomimes from the popular and award-winning author Peter Webster now available from Josef Weinberger. Each new version of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and The Snow Queen are written for a flexible number in the cast and chorus to take account of casts large and small. There are suggestions for popular music to accompany each story in performance, however each show allows the director tremendous scope to tailor-make their production unique for their own audiences.

On a moonlit road in Hampstead, Walter Hartright is accosted by a woman dressed from head to toe in white. She asks the way to London and no sooner has Walter directed her than he is overtaken by a carriage in pursuit of the mysterious woman, who has evidently escaped from an asylum. From this single incident, Walter unwinds a thrilling story of abduction, madness, false identity and shameful family secrets. Pursuing questions of identity and insanity along the paths and corridors of English country houses and asylums for the insane, Nicola Boyces adaptation of The Woman in White captures both the Gothic horror and psychological realism of one of the most popular detective stories ever written.

Peter and Ruth have had a long and happy marriage. Or so Peter believes. They both have their own interests  he loves listening to the cricket on the radio, she likes to travel. But all is not well as Peter discovers one afternoon when hes dozing in his deckchair and listening to the final test from The Oval. His wife announces that she has sold the house from under him and shes moving to the coast with her lover. When the new owners move in later that day they discover they have more than they bargained for: an elderly, cricket-loving squatter who refuses to move out of their garden.

This musical version of Hansel and Gretel is told by a chorus of birds who become the characters in the story. Money is short. Food is short. Fuses are short. . . Hansel and Gretel's stepmother is jealous and cruel (or is she?) and packs the children off into the wood to get lost - and good riddance. But she doesn't bargain for their courage, nor for the help of their avian friends, Magpie and Robin, self-styled 'Woodland crusaders'. When Hansel and Gretel discover the fabulous (but deadly) Gingerbread House, with its icing-sugar roof and walls of fudge, they appear doomed. the Witch seeks to fatten Hansel up as her Dish of the Day, but is bested by Gretel in the nick of time. A tale of adventure, humour and fun - with just the hint of a moral. A magical show for all ages.

LOST: Its the first day of Scarboroughs summer season and Tom and Chelsea have holiday jobs at the Court Hotel. They love their work  they could watch it all day, especially guests Len and Betty whose fifty year old marriage has run aground on holiday. So when the septuagenarian Palm Court Boys band are delayed, Tom and Chelsea must fill the entertainment slot with their take on Len and Bettys tribulations. FOUND: Its the last night of the summer season, Tom and Chelseas holiday jobs are now a distant memory. Therell be no more nights on the town, beer at the beach huts and surfing on the sea, as he goes back to university and shes headed for the dole. The summer season at the Court Hotel may have brought them together but fate will pull them apart in this funny, sharp and biting modern comedy about the haves and chav nots!

Captains Day at the Seven Lakes Golf Club gets off to a bad start when the mens Captain is indisposed. Club secretary, Simon, relishes the chance to take over but is soon thwarted by the arrival of Vice Captain, Nick, and his girlfriend, Tiffany. Lady Captain, Fran, and enthusiastic but hopeless Barry add to the confusion as a series of disasters mount. With the unexpected arrival of Simons wife, Laura, tensions build and things go from bad to worse. Love or loathe golf, it will never seem quite the same again!

Fran arranges a dinner party and cooks an aubergine parmigiana. Husband Terry fails to turn up because he is searching for a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in Norfolk. This is the last straw in their seven year marriage. Professionals are called in and friends, therapists and even the birds become embroiled in the escalating crisis. A new comedy of marital calamity.

'Bridget Jones' meets 'Nigella Lawson' in this delicious romantic comedy! When London city girl Penelope Hart is suddenly made redundant she seizes the chance to follow her life-long dream - opening a cake shop. She rents a ramshackle commercial property and goes about making her dream come true, helped by bumbling estate agent David, not-so-bright assistant Lizzie and a handsome carpenter named Peter. Penelope soon discovers that running a business is anything but a piece of cake. There are rats in the basement and nobody knows how to find the shop! But Penelope bakes on, and as the business eventually starts to flourish, so does a romance between Penelope and Peter. But then to put the icing on the cake, Penelope's sleazy ex-boyfriend arrives on the scene to tempt her back to the city and back into his arms. A feast of entertainment that will have you laughing on the outside and give you a lovely warm feeling on the inside. Just like you've eaten a piece of cake.

A gripping psycholgical thriller, DEAD RECKONING sees a renowned artist finding himself caught up in a maze of chilling mind games and deceit. When the mysterious Mr Todd arrives at painter Tony Reed's house, Tony is forced to face the past that still haunts him and make a decision that he has only ever fantasised about. This decision leads Reed and his second wife Megan into a terrifying nightmare from which there seems no escape. Who exactly is Mr Todd? Just how far is Tony Reed prepared to go? And who really did kill his adored first wife . . . ?

In this new stage adaptation of the timeless television series, Foggy, Clegg and Compo are reunited for one last adventure. Foggy has designs on winning the affections of Constance, Nora Battys niece and the long-suffering fiancée of the hapless Gifford Bewmont. With the help of Clegg, Foggy invites the ladies around for an evenings entertainment but the duo are unaware that a mysterious flasher is stalking the local community. Gifford has pledged to apprehend the flasher and has mounted all-night patrols in the village. While awaiting the arrival of the ladies, Foggy is dismayed when Compo turns up unannounced and who proceeds to wreak havoc on Foggys careful preparations as Giffords efforts to capture the flasher lead to mistaken identities and even more chaos. When the flasher is eventually unmasked it turns out his intentions are benign but not before our heros are nearly undone by the enveloping madness.

Based on the original characters devised by Talbot Rothwell and Sid Colin for the Frankie Howerd BBC comedy, this hilarious romp through ancient Pompeii brings back all the television favourites in this full-length play seen on a national tour in 2011 starring Damian Williams as Lurcio, Senator Ludicrus Sextuss slave. As Lurcio attempts to deliver his prologue and begin proceedings, hes quickly caught up in the myriad of sexual liaisons in all quarters of his masters house. Why does Ludicrus not leave for the Senate meeting in Rome? Why does his wife return so quickly from the country? Who will take care of the escaped slave girl, Voluptua, and will Nausiuss love poetry improve? Whilst growing chaos ensues, an increasing rumbling is heard in the distance  what could that possibly be? A riot from start to finish.

Dependable Miranda and her ex-husband, the smooth-talking, charming and utterly unreliable Guy are thrown together in distressing circumstances when their faithful aging family pet takes a turn for the worse. Reunited over the dog basket, Guy and Miranda soon discover they haven't 'moved on' quite as smoothly as they'd imagined. When they are joined by their family friend James, who rarely sees a stick without getting the wrong end of it, and Martin, the vet and a long time admirer of Miranda, the scene is set for some startling home-truths as this rapid-fire foursome mines laughter and touching observations in equal measure. Will this be the end of Guy's hopes of a reunion with Miranda, or the beginning of an unlikely romance? And has Guy really discovered a love for his old dog that he failed to find during his marriage?

Canaan thought hed left a violent and dangerous past behind when he and his son arrived from Zimbabwe, until new case worker Martha decides to re-examine his refugee status and hes forced to fight for their lives for a second time. But when lives depend on it, is the truth always the best story to tell? As he opens up his past, Martha moves from trusting his word to suspecting him of lying and as this psychological thriller progresses she begins to confront terrible events happening in her own life  but are either of them who they seem and is the truth ever a simple story?

Adapted from Carlo Collodis timeless adventure of the puppet who yearns to be a real boy, Colin Wakefield and Kate Edgar magically bring Old Italy to life with an evocative score, colourful costumes and exotic locales  including the sinister Land Of The Toys and the interior of a gigantic whale. This beloved childrens classic, devised for a company of actor/musicians but easily played by off-stage musicians instead, amazes and delights as Pinocchio gradually discovers the dangers of selfishness and the importance of honesty, told with all the hallmarks of traditional pantomimes in this fantastic adventure to delight all ages!

My Dog's Got No Nose takes us on a journey through the events surrounding a stand-up comedian's first ever performance. Before picking up his microphone and venturing into the limelight, he regales stories and tales about his life and experiences. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes poignant and often laugh-out-loud hilarious, he shares his soul reminiscing about his early career as a furniture-salesman-turned-photographer, love, marriage, and ambitions. His debut is the fulfilment of a lifelong dream where stand-up comedy, unrequited love, animal lovers, facts of life, sibling rivalries and mercy killing are just some of the elements covered in this very funny and bittersweet story, as we discover that both the man and the performance are not quite what they seem.

We all want to be happy. But what if it keeps slipping through our fingers? Paul is a former happiness guru and as a young man wrote self-help books and appeared on TV as 'Mr Happy'. But now his marriage has failed, his career as a serious novelist is faltering and his ex-wife has remarried a wealthy advertising executive. All he can think about is the state of his health, the size of his mortgage and the expensive monthly payments on his iPhone. Mr Happy is not happy. But if anyone can claw happiness back, surely he must be the man?

Oskar lives in the state hospital in Andernach, Germany. He keeps the other patients in order, jokes with the staff, sings opera and tends to a fine collection of plants in the conservatory. And then, in the bleak winter of 1940, a dark visitor arrives. Two holes are dug into the ice of a frozen lake and Oskar has a decision to make. . .To live. . .Or to die.

A View from the Bridge ". . . is a tragedy in the classic form and I think it is a modern classic. . . the central character is a long-shoreman who, though his mind is limited and he cannot find words for his thoughts, is an admirable man. . ..When two of his wife's Italian cousins - submarines they are, in the waterfront argot - are smuggled into this country, he makes room for them in his home. Gratefully they move in among his wife, his children and the teen-age niece whom he has brought up and whom he has come to love, he thinks, as a daughter. And now the stage is set for tragedy. One of the illegal immigrants has a family in Italy for whom he is working; the other young, extraordinarily handsome, and exceedingly blonde, is single. He wants to become an American, and he falls in love with his benefactor's niece. If he marries the girl he will no longer have to hide from immigration officials. A monstrous change creeps up on the kind and loving uncle. He is violently opposed to this romance and is not intelligent enough to realize that this opposition is not motivated, as he thinks, by a dislike of the boy and a suspicion that he is too pretty to be a man, but by his own too intense love for his niece. Not even the wise and kindly neighborhood lawyer can persuade him to let the girl go. This is an intensely absorbing drama, sure of itself every step of the way. It makes no false moves, wastes no time and has the beauty that comes from directness and simplicity"
New York News