Northampton BID

NMTC – Jesus Christ Superstar
2025-10-31 19:30, 2025-11-01 19:30 (Europe/London) | Royal and Derngate Theatre, 19-21 Guildhall Road, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN1 1DP
Lyrics by Tim Rice and Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. An amateur production by arrangement with The Really Useful Group Limited. What’s the buzz?…. With over 30 productions performed in the Derngate Auditorium, Northampton Musical Theatre Company are excited to be returning once again with the epic musical Jesus Christ Superstar. With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar has wowed audiences for over 50 years. A timeless work, the rock opera tells the story of Jesus in the final days leading up to his crucifixion, but seen through the eyes of Judas Iscariot. The iconic 1970s rock score contains well-known numbers such as Superstar, I Don’t Know How to Love Him and Gethsemane. Don’t miss your chance to experience this unforgettable musical.

Jools Holland
2025-11-02 19:30
Musical maestro Jools Holland and his famous Rhythm & Blues Orchestra return to Royal & Derngate for their 2025 Autumn/Winter tour, with special guest Imelda May.
One of Ireland’s most celebrated artists, Imelda May has had many high-profile collaborations with Jeff Beck, and performed with music legends including Lou Reed, Bono, Tom Jones, Noel Gallagher, and Robert Plant. With a dynamic blend of blues, rock, soul, gospel, and jazz, Imelda’s self-written and produced album Love Tattoo remains the best-selling album by a homegrown female artist in Ireland. Her electric performances promise an unforgettable experience for audiences.
The tour will also mark an exciting new chapter as Ed Richardson is welcomed in as the orchestra’s new drummer, following the retirement of the legendary Gilson Lavis. After starting out together in Squeeze, Gilson became a cornerstone of Jools’ Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, keeping the beat over a span of several decades and retiring with an incredible legacy.
Fans will be thrilled to hear that the shows will once again feature the incredible ‘Queen of Boogie Woogie’ Ruby Turner, as well as the outstanding vocals of Louise Marshall, and Sumudu Jayatilaka. Together with the skillful musicianship of the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, Jools Holland will be performing songs from throughout his career. With a catalogue of classics to choose from, the show is sure to have fans on their feet!

Agatha Christie’s Death On The Nile
2025-11-04 19:30, 2025-11-05 19:30, 2025-11-06 19:30, 2025-11-07 19:30, 2025-11-08 19:30
Bitter rivals. Buried secrets. A love to die for.
On board a luxurious cruise under the heat of the Egyptian sun, a couple’s idyllic honeymoon is cut short by a brutal murder. As secrets that have been buried in the sands of time finally resurface, can the world-famous detective, Hercule Poirot, untangle the web of lies and solve another crime?
Following the sell-out tour of Murder On The Orient Express, this thrilling production will feature reunites writer Ken Ludwig, director Lucy Bailey (Witness For The Prosecution) and Fiery Angel.
Starring as Poirot is Mark Hadfield (Belfast; Outlander; Wallander) who will be joined on stage by Glynis Barber (Dempsey and Makepeace; EastEnders) and Bob Barrett (Murder on the Orient Express; Holby City). This brand-new adaptation of the Agatha Christie classic is not to be missed.

Sh!t-faced Shakespeare® Hamlet
2025-11-04 19:30, 2025-11-05 19:30
Sh!t-faced Shakespeare® have toured the world, broken America, established themselves on London’s West End, won numerous awards, and survived a zero-star review in The Times. In 2025, they will be celebrating 15 years on the wagon with one of the Bard’s most popular tragedies, Hamlet.
Featuring a cast of professional Shakespearean actors, this unique production takes an unpredictable twist each night as one performer is chosen to be deliberately intoxicated for up to four hours before showtime. The rest of the cast must then navigate the play, improvising their way through the unpredictable chaos that springs from their inebriated colleague’s booze-fuelled antics.
Sh!t-faced Shakespeare® ?are excited to once again drunkenly stomp all over the greatest dramatic work ever committed to page in the English language: the story of a privileged whiny lad who goes a bit bonkers and does some stabbings.
“How the hell did they make it to 15 years?!” we hear you cry. Book now and find out!

Michael Rosen: Getting Through It
2025-11-06 19:30
Poetry legend Michael Rosen presents his new one-person show Getting Through It, formed of a double-bill of monologues: The Death of Eddie and Many Kinds of Love.
In The Death of Eddie, Michael recounts the death of his son from meningitis at the age of 18. In Many Kinds of Love, Michael recalls how he contracted COVID-19 and spent 48 days in intensive care. He was put into an induced coma and had a 50% chance of dying.
Getting Through It is a powerful one-person show exploring grief and mortality.

Myra DuBois: Cosmic Empath
2025-11-07 19:30
After a barnstorming 2024 which saw Myra sell-out venues across the UK and Ireland with her critically acclaimed show ‘Be Well’, registered empath Myra DuBois returns to the stage with a brand-new show Cosmic Empath.
The empath strikes BACK! Boldly caring where compassion has never cared before. An adventure giving you time (and space) to heal. When questioned on her upcoming tour, Ms DuBois stated:
“Most people would spend some time idling on the shores of some far off semi-private island after enduring the workload 2024 dumped on my plate, but not me! How could I desert my public, right as I need them most? I’ve consulted my own wellness guide, the very Reverend Dr Guru Malcolm, and he tells me that right now every star of the cosmos is looking at me with expectation. I don’t think my new show Cosmic Empath” shall let them down!”
Cosmic Empath sees Myra DuBois questioning where her great gift for compassion comes from. Her up-bringing? Her ancestors? The COSMOS? Who can say? All we know is that with Myra’s trademark killer wit and a singing voice that’s truly like no-one else’s, it’s going to be out of this world!

Attention All Shipping
2025-11-08 19:30
‘Dogger, Fisher, German Bight’: Charlie Connelly brings the shipping forecast vividly to life in this hilarious and moving celebration of an iconic cultural institution. Charlie explores the broadcast’s remarkable history, unlocks its beguiling mysteries and tells riproaring stories of his own adventures among the sea areas, ensuring the forecast will never sound the same again.
How did a weather forecast for ships capture the hearts of a nation, from salty old sea dog to insomniac landlubber? How is it possible for ‘rain later’ to be ‘good’? And where the hell is North Utsire?
Delving into the history of the forecast and the extraordinary people who made it, Charlie explains what those curious phrases really mean, celebrates its wide cultural impact, shares riproaring adventures from his own extraordinary journey through the 31 sea areas – the times he was accused by the media of trying to annex Rockall from the British government and sang sea shanties with Tom Hardy in a Manx hotel bar while Scary Spice pulled the pints – and presents his case for the shipping forecast being our finest achievement.
Inspired by Charlie’s bestselling book, which has sold more than a quarter-of-a-million copies worldwide, this pacy, moving and hilarious show takes you all the way from Viking to South-East Iceland to ensure the shipping forecast will never sound the same again

NC Jazz: O’Higgins & Luft Quartet
2025-11-08 20:00
Dave O’Higgins – tenor sax
Rob Luft – guitar
Jim Watson – organ
Billy Pod – drums
Saxophonist Dave O’Higgins & guitarist Rob Luft may be more than a generation apart, yet are very much of one musical mind. Now recording their 3rd album together, they have been touring with extensively since 2019. The line-up at Northants tonight is the classic organ combo, drawing on influxes from George Benson, Joe Henderson, Grant Green, Michael Brecker and many more as a springboard for Luft’s lush soundscapes & O’Higgins’ impassioned tenor. Joining them on organ is the virtuosic Jim Watson, and the magically swinging drummer form Greece, Billy Pod.

A Day to Remember
2025-11-09 19:30
On a single day in May 1915, nearly 11,000 British and Indian soldiers were wounded or killed during the ill-fated Battle of Aubers Ridge. Among them were hundreds of young men from Northamptonshire, many of whom never made it more than a few metres from their trenches.
Performance poet Toby Thompson presents a powerful reflection on the lives lost during this devastating chapter of the First World War. Through vivid and evocative poetry, the piece delves into not only the brutality of the battle but also the youthful hope of the summer of 1914, and how modern generations continue to connect with the legacy of the Great War.
Featuring a rich soundscape by Buster Grey-Jung, and direction by award-winning theatre maker and Artistic Director Jesse Jones, A Day To Remember brings history into sharp focus through the voices of the present.
Originally commissioned by Royal & Derngate in 2015 as part of a wider project exploring the impact of the First World War on local communities.

The Rat Pack: Swingin’ At The Sands
2025-11-09 19:30
Featuring stars of the West End show The Rat Pack, Live From Las Vegas, this stylish, fully-choreographed show has something for everyone. Including all your favourites such as Fly Me To The Moon, Mr Bojangles and That’s Amore, not to mention the songs you simply cannot help singing along to, such as New York, New York and My Way. Truly emulating the ‘Kings of Cool’, The Rat Pack: Swingin’ At The Sands, will bring flair and class that only Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jnr could.
So take three outstanding singers, add perfectly timed comedy, rousing camaraderie with a pinch of the greatest songs ever written and what do you get? The perfect night’s entertainment with The Rat Pack: Swingin’ At The Sands.

Rave On
2025-11-13 19:30
Rave On is the 50s and 60s musical sensation sweeping the nation.
Featuring leading performers from West End Productions The Buddy Holly Story, Million Dollar Quartet and Dreamboats & Petticoats, Rave On transports you back to the fabulous 50s and swinging 60s in stunningly authentic style.

Charting the meteoric rise of Rock and Roll, Rave On is a thrilling tour through music’s most revolutionary decades. Prepare to be enthralled with an evening of singing along, vibrant vintage costumes, colourful staging and dancing in the aisles! Featuring note perfect renditions of the most loved 50s and 60s songs, Rave On is performed by an incredibly talented, era-obsessed group of musicians. From the emergence of rock and roll at Sun Records in Memphis, to the British Invasion and beyond, this is a musical adventure you won’t want to miss!
Rave On features hits from the likes of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Connie Francis, The Who, Little Richard, Roy Orbison, Lulu, The Beach Boys and many more.
Rave On is a musical experience like no other.

George Lewis: The Best Thing You’ll Ever Do
2025-11-14 19:30
Described as ‘the funniest dad on Instagram’, stand-up comedian George has racked up hundreds of millions of views for his hilarious online sketches about the big things in life, like owning an air fryer, watching a David Beckham documentary, and the excruciating experience of trying to do a jigsaw with your kid.
Now he’s bringing his brand new stand up show to the stage. It won’t just be about parenting though, because he has done loads this year. He’s bought a new hoover, watched some more stuff on Netflix… loads.
Between #makingmemories with his kids, George has also appeared on The Stand Up Sketch Show and Comedy Central Live, written a best selling book (Don’t Panic! All the stuff the expectant dad needs to know) and has supported Romesh Ranganathan, Tom Allen, Russell Kane and Josh Widdicombe on their national tours.
So, activate the parents’ whatsapp groups, dump the kids with whoever is willing to have them, and join George for a brilliant night out.

Amazon’s Got Music
2025-11-15 13:30
Why not come and join us on Sat 15 November for an afternoon of music, dance, and much more with Amazon and some great performers from SEND Schools and Community Partners.
Tickets are £2.50 per person. We will have enterprise stalls and raffle. All of the proceeds will go to the schools and community partners.

Jon Ronson’s Psychopath Night
2025-11-15 19:30
What happens when a psychopath is in power? Could you learn to spot a psychopath? Are you working for a psychopath? Is there a little bit of psychopath in all us?
Following a box-office busting, sell-out tour in 2024, Jon Ronson’s Psychopath Night returns with new live dates.
Sixteen years have passed since Jon embarked on the adventure that became his ground-breaking and best-selling work, The Psychopath Test. Now, the renowned journalist, filmmaker, and author reopens the case with exclusive anecdotes and fresh reflections, taking you on a thrilling exploration of madness and the elusive psychopathic mind.
Join Jon in 2025 for another electrifying journey into the enigmatic world of psychopaths and the perplexing concept of normalcy. In an age where society’s rationality is called into question, Jon will deliver an evening of incisive inquiry, seasoned with his trademark wit and profound insights.
This unmissable show prominently features mystery special guests whose extraordinary, twist-filled true tales are central to the story but not found in the original edition of the book. The less you know about them, the better…
Don’t miss this unforgettable night of revelation, intrigue, and mind-bending insights. With a chance to ask Jon your own questions…book your tickets now before they’re gone!

NMPAT: Youth In Concert
2025-11-16 18:00
Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust presents the first major event of the season, Youth In Concert, with performances by five award winning senior ensembles of NMPAT: County Youth Concert Band, County Youth Choir, County Youth Brass Band, County Youth Big Band and County Youth Orchestra.

Fawlty Towers
2025-11-18 19:30, 2025-11-19 19:30, 2025-11-20 19:30, 2025-11-21 19:30
The ‘Greatest British Sitcom of All Time’ (Radio Times) is back – this time on stage!
50 years since it first graced our TV screens, Fawlty Towers is now a brand-new stage play adapted by comedy legend John Cleese and directed by Caroline Jay Ranger.
Fresh from a sold-out West End season! This laugh-out-loud production was universally acclaimed by every London and national critic, selling out every single performance during its record-breaking West End run.
Join Basil (Danny Bayne), the delightfully bumbling Major (Paul Nicholas) and Polly (Joanne Clifton) and an 18-strong cast as they bring to life all your favourite moments from the show’s unforgettable twelve episodes. With sharp wit, chaos, and calamity at every turn, this is the comedy event of the year!
Secure your tickets now and relive the madness of Fawlty Towers live on stage. It’s a staycation you’ll never forget!

GenFest 2025: Red Rosa
2025-11-20 19:00
Red Rosa, inspired by Kate Evans’ graphic novel, illuminates the remarkable life of revolutionary thinker Rosa Luxemburg. Rosa rose from oppression to become a fearless leader, founding the German Communist Party and challenging capitalism, war, and patriarchy. She lived radically – politically and personally as a Jewish, disabled woman. This project explores her intellectual fire, her humanity, and her relevance today, through historical archives, cats and a little live music. Red Rosa is a call to courage, resistance, and imagination.
no more superheroes. is a bold, boundary-pushing company creating original theatre, digital work and participatory projects that speak to a new generation. We make work that’s urgent, playful and socially resonant. From national stages to grassroots spaces, we’ve partnered with organisations like the National Youth Theatre and the National Trust to nurture creatives and challenge how stories are made – and who gets to tell them.
www.nomoresuperheroes.com

Part of Genfest 2025
Discover the full line-up of performances, workshops and artist one-to-one’s taking place across GenFest, Sun 16 – Sat 22 November. Each event is part of our annual festival celebrating artist development and new work.
View the GenFest Brochure Online here | Find out more about the full GenFest line up here

Annabel Croft: From Tennis Balls to Glitter Balls
2025-11-20 19:30
The beloved former tennis pro turned experienced broadcaster is hitting the road for a brand new tour.
From winning the Wimbledon and Australian Girls’ Tournaments in 1984 to becoming British No. 1 and representing Great Britain in the Fed Cup, Annabel has solidified her status as a national treasure.
After hanging up her racquet, she seamlessly transitioned into the commentary box, captivating audiences as a presenter and pundit for major networks including Amazon Prime, BBC, ESPN USA, Eurosport, and Sky Sports.
Annabel also wowed audiences on the dance floor during her recent thrilling run to the final four on Strictly Come Dancing with her dance partner Johannes Radebe.
In her first ever theatre tour, Annabel invites you behind the scenes of the world’s greatest tennis tournaments, sharing unforgettable moments from her career including interviewing legends like Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. This is an unmissable experience for tennis and dance enthusiasts everywhere!

GenFest 2025: BIOSPHERE
2025-11-21 19:00
Four scientists. One year. Sealed away from the world in The Biosphere – an airtight dome; a great glass ark humming with natural life, technology and ambition. Their mission: to prove life can survive beyond Earth.
But as the atmosphere of their meticulously crafted world begins to change, passions fray and hunger bites, and the line between experiment and existence blur. What will they sacrifice to succeed?
Inspired by the infamous 1991 experiment, Olivia Foan’s BIOSPHERE is a new play about our relationship to nature, technology and the planet we call home.
BIOSPHERE is directed by Olivia Munk and produced by Part of the Main Productions.
Previous praise for THE TINKER, written by Olivia Foan & directed by Olivia Munk at VAULT Festival 2023:

“All the ingredients are in place for a spooky gothic affair, and on the whole this piece from Part of the Main Productions is grandly successful… Olivia Munk keeps things moving at a suspenseful pace, the threat of derailment always coiled in the air but never quite ruptured.” ???? LOST IN THEATRELAND
“Foan has produced a fascinating script which explores the question of belief: confronting what you have chosen to believe in the past to make the present work and what you go on to believe in order to get the result that you desire, no matter what the cost. The story ends with hope, however the end alludes to the darker side of these decisions.”???? THE RECS
Shortlisted for Theatre Royal Haymarket/Masterclass Pitch Your Play competition 2020 and longlisted for Finborough Theatre’s ETPEP Award

Access Enhanced Performance
Audio Described & Touch Tour
This performance will be Audio Described (Touch Tour begins at 6pm). This performance will be described by Jessica Bickel-Barlow

Part of Genfest 2025
Discover the full line-up of performances, workshops and artist one-to-one’s taking place across GenFest, Sun 16 – Sat 22 November. Each event is part of our annual festival celebrating artist development and new work.
View the GenFest Brochure Online here | Find out more about the full GenFest line up here

Garth Marenghi: This Bursted Earth Book Tour
2025-11-21 19:30
“Horror author Nick Steen is having visions… A sinister Black Steeple; eerie lights in the sky that look like
a Catherine wheel but are not remotely a Catherine wheel… Plus a giant skeleton with a moustache. Are
they omens? Auguries? Portenderings of things to come? (Spoiler – yes, they are).
For Nick Steen’s imagination is bursting out of his brain and threatening to burst in turn the entirety of Stalkford.
Can Nick stop the aforesaid bursting? Or have things already slightly burst regardless? And will there ultimately be a grand finale to this three-book series (aka a trilogy) or a more open-ended conclusion in order to leave potential room for further sequels? (That, btw, will ultimately be Garth’s decision.)
From the fevered imagination of Horror Fiction’s Grand Frightener Garth Marenghi, author of Sunday Times-Bestselling Garth Marenghi’s Terror Tome and Garth Marenghi’s Incarcerat, come
three freshly rancid tales of…This Bursted Earth…
“So dense with brilliant jokes that it cannot safely be read while drinking hot liquid” – Inews.co.uk
“puts the ‘boo’ into book tour” – The Guardian
“had the crowd hooting and hanging, insatiably, on every line.” – The Telegraph
Hardback copies of This Bursted Earth will be available for purchase on the day. Be warned: signings
are strictly time-limited. You’ll get no more than one minute with the world’s greatest
Frighternerman, Darkscribe, Doomsage (plus Man-Shee) before you’re moved on and/or manhandled.

GenFest 2025: Writing For Musical Theatre With Darren Clark
2025-11-22 13:00
Darren Clark is a two-time Olivier Award winning composer and lyricist working in the theatre in the UK and internationally. Since beginning his professional career in 2012, he has been commissioned to write music and lyrics for several national touring shows and his work has been heard in London’s West End, at The Royal Shakespeare Company, Off West End, Off-Broadway and in many of the UK’s finest regional theatres.
Following his days as an Otago University student in NZ performing in countless musicals and plays, Darren left NZ for the UK to pursue a career as a songwriter in London town. Following several years on the singer/songwriter circuit and with his band Columbus Giant, Darren began to write music & lyrics for the theatre.
Darren has written the music and lyrics for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which one three Olivier awards in 2025 including Best New Musical and the Off-West End Award for Best Musical Production in 2024. Button is currently running at The Ambassadors Theatre on London’s West End.
Along with Rhys Jennings, he is the inaugural recipient of the Music Theatre International Stiles & Drewe Mentorship Award and his songs have appeared as finalist in the Stiles & Drewe Best New Song Competition on three separate occasions, winning runner-up in 2015. He has been a finalist in the Iris Theatre XMas Factor Awards for the past three years, winning the Iris Theatre Panel Award in 2014, The Audience Runner Up Prize in 2015 and The Audience Award in 2016. His musicals have been licensed in the USA and Australia, his work has been showcased in the national BEAM Showcase in London and NAMT in New York.
Darren was a member of the BML Advanced Song writing Workshop, a weekly development workshop for four years. He is also a member of the MMD Advanced Composer & Lyricist Lab where he continues to learn his craft.
As a teacher and workshop leader Darren has taught at some of the UK’s leading drama schools including The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, The Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, Chichester Conservatoire, Leeds Conservatoire and Rose Bruford.
He is a founding member of Paper Balloon Theatre Company, dedicated to making original theatre for, with and by young audiences. Paper Balloon have now created several shows including Night Light at the Camden Fringe, a UK tour of The Grumpiest Boy in the World by Finegan Kruckemeyer, the utterly bonkers Christmas show Once Upon a Snowflake with the Moscow Puppet Theatre and most recently the original shanty story The Boy and the Mermaid.
Darren is passionate about being part of an ethnically and culturally diverse theatrical future and aims to reflect this in the making of all his theatrical projects. He is the founder of New UK Musicals, a project developed to help get the work of new musical theatre writers into the hands of performers through providing a platform for their sheet music. www.newukmusicals.co.uk

Part of Genfest 2025
Discover the full line-up of performances, workshops and artist one-to-one’s taking place across GenFest, Sun 16 – Sat 22 November. Each event is part of our annual festival celebrating artist development and new work.
View the GenFest Brochure Online here | Find out more about the full GenFest line up here
