Spring theatre highlights in the North

The best in theatre this season

Preview by The Skinny North | 27 Feb 2017

Spring theatre in Leeds

Ah, spring. New life, new love, new jerks dicking you around. Celebrate the mood of the season with the world premiere of Northern Ballet's Casanova, choreographer Kenneth Tindall's exploration of the man behind the scandalous legend, which promises to expose a story 'so sensational you won't believe it's real' (Leeds Grand Theatre, 11-18 Mar). 

At West Yorkshire Playhouse, we're intrigued by the sound of TANK, an award-winner at last year's Edinburgh Fringe about an American scientist who, in 1965, lived with a dolphin for ten weeks to try to teach it to speak English. Learn more about this controversial experiment in an intimate production in the Barber Studio (3 Apr). 

And don't miss the chance to see a brand new dance company make its debut, as artist Didy Veldman launches her Umanoove troupe with a piece exploring society's endless search for fulfilment. An intricate full-length work, The Happiness Project has been made in collaboration with violinist and composer Alexander Balanescu, who'll perform live alongside the four dancers (The Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre, 26 Apr).

Fresh ideas in Liverpool 

Liverpool Everyman has long led the way in educating young theatrical talent. This year, they take things further with The Everyman Company – 14 resident actors performing five entirely home-produced plays, right through to the summer. The Company have taken their cue from recent world events, harnessing a sense of urgency to produce plays that they feel carry a message of "magic, meaning and humanity." This season, catch Fiddler on the Roof (until 11 Mar), The Conquest of the South Pole (24 Mar-8 Apr)  and The Story Giant (13-29 Apr).

Meanwhile on the Playhouse stage, Paul McGann stars in Moira Buffini's Gabriel (4-8 Apr), a tense drama set in Nazi-occuped Guernsey where a stranger washes up on the shore, changing everything for a family held captive.

Bold stagings in Manchester

If you're one to get all moony over Michael Fassbender as Rochester in the 2011 version of Jane Eyre (we've all been there), you can take those emotions to the stage with the National Theatre's touring production of Charlotte Brontë's classic novel, which comes to the Lowry, Salford (8-15 Apr)

But it's really all about Paul Auster this season, as spellbinding creative direction company 59 Productions bring an adaptation of the US author's so-called 'unadaptable' novel City of Glass to the stage (HOME, 4-18 Mar) – we caught up with 59 Productions to find out their plans for adapting Auster's debut. Speaking of great American talents, as Laurie Anderson fans we're really excited to hear her score for Robert Lepage's one-man show about two estranged brothers, The Far Side of the Moon, at the Lowry (1 & 2 Apr).

Finally, there's the fantastic SICK! Festival, which tackles our pressing physical, mental and social challenges through theatre, film, comedy and more. Among many highlights, don't miss 'football-dance-theatre explosion' Michael Essien I Want to Play As You..., a piece confronting the issues facing young African players who come to Europe hoping that football will be their route out of poverty (Contact Theatre, 24 Mar).

For more recommendations and to find out what's on, head to theskinny.co.uk/theatre