On the surface An Inspector Calls is a gripping ‘whodunit’, but this simple analysis belies the carefully constructed building of suspense, the depth of each character and the pervasive moral message in this iconic play.

At the Marcia Blaine School for Girls in Edinburgh Miss Jean Brodie teaches her favourites, the "creme de la creme", to follow an alternative curriculum, one which celebrates beauty, secrecy, conspiracy and anti-establishment views.

The Next Stage adult company is celebrating its 15th Birthday with a Champagne Cabaret in the Theatre Upstairs 1st – 3rd October at 7.30pm. The audience will be treated to an evening of monologues, sketches and play extracts to showcase the many talents Next Stage has to offer.

Everybody thinks Lily Morgan is very ordinary and rather dull. They are all wrong. As Lily prepares to audition for the part of Lady Macbeth in the school’s forthcoming production, she has a fight on her hands.

Ironically Amadeus is not so much a play about the brilliant composer Mozart as it is about the contemporary, but mediocre court composer, Antonio Salieri. The unsubstantiated rumour that Salieri poisoned Mozart is the thrust of the play.

Ironically Amadeus is not so much a play about the brilliant composer Mozart as it is about the contemporary, but mediocre court composer, Antonio Salieri. The unsubstantiated rumour that Salieri poisoned Mozart is the thrust of the play.

The first play in Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy introduces us to Arnold Beckoff. Arnold's life revolves around his stage performances, in which he dazzles audiences with his drag queen act and heartfelt renditions of torch songs, and his occasional visits to a gay bar in New York City called The International Stud.

The company's third production of 2009 is 'Kindertransport' by Diane Samuels. One of a series of plays especially chosen in the company’s 15th birthday year to enable some of the many talented youngsters who are part of Next Stage‘s Youth Theatre to collaborate with the adult company.

Two of Next Stage’s most accomplished actors return to the intimacy of The Theatre Upstairs with this delightful play about a literary love affair between an American writer Helene Hanff and an Englishman, Frank Doel, who works for the antiquarian book shop Marks & Co.

A dingy apartment over a haberdashery shop in a poor part of Paris forms the backdrop to this domestic tragedy. Thérèse is trapped in a tedious marriage to her sickly cousin Camille, and is watched over by her oppressive mother-in-law.

Set in the general store of a Southern American town, Orpheus Descending simmers with small-town gossip, scandal, rivalries and speculations. Lady, trapped in a loveless marriage and scarred from the violence and thwarted passions of her past, is awaiting the death of her husband Jabe.

This year is the fiftieth anniversary of Shelagh Delaney’s ground-breaking New Wave realist play – A Taste of Honey. This moving and funny ‘kitchen-sink’ drama was written by a young woman from Salford, where the play is set.

David Mamet’s brilliant play for two actors is a treat for all thespians and theatregoers. It charts the relationship and rivalry between the old pro, Robert, and the young aspiring actor, John.

This delightful version of C.S.Lewis’s well-loved tale takes the audience on a magical journey to the land of Narnia, with four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. Entering Narnia through the back of an old wardrobe, they discover that this strange new world lies under the spell of the White Witch.

Festen - The Celebration - is a shocking play. It contains swearing, violence, anti-social behaviour, racism, prejudice and has child abuse as it’s central theme. But none of these are the reason that the play is “shocking”.

Living in the retirement backwater of the Isle of Wight, Madeline Palmer’s comfortable daily routine is shattered by the arrival at her flat of Frances Beale. The two women have only met once before but their lives are inextricably linked by their love of the same man, Frances ex-husband, Martin.

A hilarious series of related plays, Intimate Exchanges is a superb example of Ayckbourn’s brilliant craftsmanship and ability to intrigue and challenge his audience.

Blending tragedy and comedy together in the most disconcerting manner, the mordant wit of Ibsen’s play is still as compelling and as daring as its intriguing heroine.

The Talking Heads monologues depict several stages in a character's decline from an initial state of denial or ignorance of their predicament, through a slow realization of the hopelessness of their situation, and progressing to a bleak or ambiguous conclusion

Alan Ayckbourn's 69th play Improbable Fiction is an hilarious comedy featuring an amateur writing group, where everyone has at least one book in them, but is having problems getting it out.

Set in a run-down boarding house run by Meg and Petey, the play centres on Stanley, an indolent and reclusive ex-professional pianist who has taken refuge in the house.

In Mindy's Restaurant on Broadway some of Damon Runyon's most colourful 'guys and dolls' struggle to make a little green parrot - the only witness to a baffling high society murder - reveal the identity of the hitman or femme fatale 'whodunit!'

An insightful and hilarious exploration of what life can be like for a 40-something, suddenly single woman, My Brilliant Divorce is wittily observant, achingly funny and heart-wrenchingly real. 

This fast-paced, sizzling adaptation of Roald Dahl's enduring classic is fun entertainment for all the family. A vibrant and talented cast drawn from Next Stage Youth will enthrall their audience with this stylish, imaginative production.

Based on Philip Pullman’s trilogy, His Dark Materials, this brilliant adaptation by Nicholas Wright is a play in two parts. It is essentially a love story in which the leading characters, Lyra and Will, meet as young teenagers from different worlds.

Based on Philip Pullman’s trilogy, His Dark Materials, this brilliant adaptation by Nicholas Wright is a play in two parts. It is essentially a love story in which the leading characters, Lyra and Will, meet as young teenagers from different worlds.

Fed up with playing Trivial Pursuit and watching re-runs of Dynasty and Murder She Wrote, Yorkshire couple Elsie and Norm decide to go for a bit of culture and stage some Shakespeare in their living room.

One of Potter's best known and best loved plays, Blue Remembered Hills follows the adventures of a group of 7 year olds one summer's day in war-time Britain - 1943. They fight, they play, they argue, bully, romp, joke, and cry - but these 7 year olds are all played by adults.
 

Felix Humble’s father has just died, Flora, his mother, wants to marry George, his ex-girlfriend’s father, Felix can’t decide what to do with his father’s ashes and his stutter has returned.