Category Archives: What’s on / Listings

INTERVIEW: Peppa Pig talks ahead of ‘Peppa Pig: My First Concert’ UK Tour

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Peppa Pig: My First Concert is a fun and interactive introduction to a live orchestra will take Peppa Pig fans on a magical musical journey. Peppa visits Glasgow on the 9th and 10th of February.

This production is based on Entertainment One’s popular animated television series, Peppa Pig, and gives children a chance to experience their first concert in a way that is truly meaningful to them. Specially designed for the youngest audience members, this allows them, together with Peppa, to discover an orchestra for the first time. Perfect for little ones, to capture their imagination and introduce them to a whole new world of music.

We talk to our favourite little piggy, Peppa Pig, before she goes back on the road with the second leg of her first ever concert.

My First Concert opens in February – for all tour dates, visit: https://www.peppapiglive.com/my-first-concert.php

So Peppa, are you excited to be going to a concert with your family this summer, and of course to see an orchestra for the first time?

Yes. Oink! Oink! Hee Hee Hee! I’m very excited to visit all these new places and I hope I get to make some more nice friends.

Have you been to a real-life concert before?

This is my first one! I can’t wait to see all the instruments being played on stage and hear all the different sounds they make.

Who are you going to the concert with?

Mummy, Daddy and George will also be there with me. I think we might even get to join in!

What are you looking forward to the most about the concert?

Listening to all the lovely music and joining in on all the songs I already know, like my favourite, the ‘Bing Bong Song’!

What’s your favourite instrument?

My favourite instrument is the French horn. It looks so fun to play and the noise it makes is so loud! I think George is probably going to like the drums the best.

 

  • 9 – 10 February 2020
  • GLASGOW
    Royal Concert Hall
  • 0141 353 8000
  • BOOK NOW

 

WHAT’S ON APRIL: Trigger Happy TV Star Live at Eastwood Park Theatre

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Writer, broadcaster and comedian Dom Joly, best known as the creator of Trigger Happy TV, is coming to Eastwood Park Theatre for his only Scottish date as part of his UK theatre tour.

Dom will be talking about his exploits as a serial globe-trotter and seeker of dangerous travel spots at the Giffnock theatre on Friday 3 April at 7.30pm.

From North Korea to Chernobyl, Dom has visited some of the most unusual places on the planet – including the Australian bush in the 10th series of hit TV show I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here.  He famously attended school with Osama Bin Laden and, armed with a trusty Powerpoint, fans can expect his holiday snaps to serve up a tantalising mix of comedy and a sense of danger.

The best-selling author will also meet Glasgow fans after the show to sign copies of his latest book, The Hezbollah Hiking Club during his first theatre tour since 2011.

Dom said he’s looking forward to the Eastwood Park Theatre show, adding: “I’ve got this collection of weird holiday snaps. And I know there’s that cliché that ‘nobody wants to see anybody else’s holiday snaps’. Well, my holiday snaps are really good. And I’ve got some really good stories with them.

“The theme is travel. The three things I’ll be showing will be my own holiday snaps, holiday snaps from TV shows and holiday snaps from my books.

“So, for instance, when we did Trigger Happy TV, we went to Switzerland and found out our runner couldn’t ski and then I got arrested for impersonating a yeti.

“There’s a snap of me at Chernobyl, thinking: ‘Should I eat the vegetables here or not?’ So when I put all of them together, I’ve got a seriously great holiday show.”

Dom Joly’s Holiday Snaps is part of Eastwood Park Theatre’s packed programme of events, which runs from January – June 2020. The Giffnock theatre has over thirty shows featuring live music, top class theatre productions, comedy, dance and kids’ entertainment.

View the full programme and book online today: eastwoodparktheatre.co.uk/boxoffice or call the box office on 0141 577 4956. Tickets for Dom Joly’s Holiday Snaps are on sale now, priced £15: https://eastwoodparktheatre.co.uk/article/10329/Holiday-Snaps#booknow

NEWS: CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR UK TOUR OF JB PRIESTLEY’S AN INSPECTOR CALLS

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The full cast of the UK and Ireland Tour of Stephen Daldry’s seminal production of JB Priestley’s classic thriller AN INSPECTOR CALLS which runs at Theatre Royal Tuesday 24 – Saturday 29 March, has been announced. 

Liam Brennan will play Inspector Goole, Christine Kavanagh Mrs Birling, Jeff Harmer Mr Birling, Alasdair Buchan Gerald Croft, Chloe Orrock Sheila Birling, Ryan Saunders Eric Birling and Diana Payne-Myers Edna. The cast is completed by Michael Ross, Portia Booroff, Elissa Churchill and Jonathan Davenport.

Liam Brennan’s theatre credits include Richard III and Twelfth Night at Shakespeare’s Globe, and Diary of a Madman at The Gate, for which he was awarded Best Actor at the Edinburgh Festival in 2016.

Christine Kavanagh’s National Theatre credits include Man and Superman and Albert Speer and the National Theatre UK Tour of Hedda Gabler. Her West End credits include The Importance of Being Earnest at the Harold Pinter Theatre. With the Royal Shakespeare Company Christine has performed Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing. Her other credits include A Doll’s House, Travesties, She Stoops to Conquer and The Rivals.

Jeff Harmer’s credits include playing Berrard in the national tour of Bird Song. His other theatre credits include Fox on The Fairway, Out Of Order, Donkey’s Years, Romeo & Juliet and As You Like It.

Alasdair Buchan’s West End credits include Urinetown: The Musical at the Apollo Theatre and St. James’ Theatre and Richard III and The Pride both at Trafalgar Studios. His further credits include Seanse at The Other Palace, playing Sherlock Holmes in the UK Tour of Sherlock Holmes at the Crimson Cobbles and the UK Tours of Night Must Fall, A Little History of the World, The Importance of Being Earnest, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me and The Lost World.

Chloe Orrock’s credits include playing Sybil Vane in The Picture of Dorian Gray and PC Abrahams/Nurse Davis in Too Much Punch for Judy both Upstairs at the Gatehouse. Chloe has performed her new spoken word short play Of Sirens and Other Monsters at the Pleasance Theatre in Islington and the Brockley Jack Theatre.

Ryan Saunders’ West End credits include playing Freddie Beanstock in Hobson’s Choice at the Vaudeville Theatre and Sweet Bird of Youth at the Old Vic. His further theatre credits include the UK Tours of The Mousetrap, The History Boys, The Madness of George III, Mrs Warren’s Profession and Shards and playing Clifford Bradshaw in the English Theatre of Frankfurt production of Cabaret.

Diana Payne-Myers’ credits include Strange Fish, Boxes and Le dernier chaperon rouge.

Since 1992, Daldry’s production of AN INSPECTOR CALLS has won a total of 19 major awards including four Tony Awards and three Olivier Awards. It has played to more than 4 million theatregoers worldwide and is the most internationally-lauded production in the National Theatre’s history.

Written at the end of the Second World War and set before the First, AN INSPECTOR CALLS is a compelling and haunting thriller. The story begins when the mysterious Inspector Goole calls unexpectedly on the prosperous Birling family home, shattering their peaceful family dinner party with his investigations into the death of a young woman.

JB Priestley’s brilliantly constructed masterpiece powerfully dramatises the dangers of casual capitalism’s cruelty, complacency and hypocrisy.

An Inspector Calls

Theatre Royal,Glasgow

Tue 24 – Sat 28 Mar 2020

Tue-Sat 7.30pm

Wed, Thu, Sat: 2.30pm

www.atgtickets.com/glasgow

NEWS: SCOTTISH OPERA YOUNG COMPANY PRESENTS STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S THE FROGS IN APRIL

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Scottish Opera Young Company brings Stephen Sondheim’s zany and rambunctious musical comedy  The Frogs to Glasgow for two performances this Spring at the Royal Concert Hall’s New Auditorium, on the 8 and 9 of April. This is the first time the company has taken on a piece from the world of music theatre.
Glasgow’s much-loved writer, director and pantomime dame Johnny McKnight (Last One Out, 2013) directs Sondheim’s rarely performed screwball musical, with Jonathon Swinard, Young Company’s Artistic Director, conducting the young performers, who are aged 17 to 23. The Young Company, which staged Gluck’s Orfeo & Euridice in 2019 to great acclaim, is joined by professional musical theatre performers Darren Brownlie and Neil Thomas. Scottish Opera Scenic Artist Neil Haynes provides the set design with costumes by Aileen Sherry.
Adapted by Burt Shevelove from the one act comedy by Aristophanes, with music and lyrics by Sondheim, the composer of Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods, The Frogs tells the tale of the Greek God of music and wine, Dionysus. He has had enough, and the political landscape is torturous, with fake news giving him fatigue. The people have stopped believing in beauty and truth, but he is convinced he can change things, embarking on a treacherous journey to the Underworld to bring back George Bernard Shaw from the dead and save civilisation through the power of art. Will he overcome his fear of syncopated singing frogs to reach his final destination? Will William Shakespeare out-poet Shaw? And will Dionysus ever pull off that faux-fur outfit given to him by his step-brother Herakles?
Director Johnny McKnight said: ‘The Frogs is a real treasure amidst the catalogue of the genius that is Stephen Sondheim. The music is deceptively complex and couched within a script that borrows from Comedia dell’arte, traditional music hall and farce. It seeks to entertain through the surreal and mischievous whilst also hiding underneath the narrative something very prescient for our time – when our leaders are failing us and hiding the truth who will speak to and for us? It’s a brilliantly funny book with hilarious lyrics, and I think it will offer not only a great night’s entertainment but a fantastic challenge for our Scottish Opera Young Company to sink their teeth into.’
Scottish Opera Young Company Artistic Director Jonathon Swinard, said: ‘Sondheim’s music for The Frogs is amphibiously ambitious and toad-tappingly catchy – Scottish Opera Young Company’s staging of this sophisticated score is smarter than even the most excessive sibilance can express!’
New Auditorium, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall 
8 & 9 Apr, 7pm 
Tickets £12/£5 (Under 26s) 
0141 353 8000

WHAT’S ON FEBRUARY: Whatever Happened to The Jaggy Nettles

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It’s 1978. Unemployment and violence darken every Glasgow close, Scotland have been knocked out of the World Cup, Grease is at the top of the charts and seminal Scottish punk band The Jaggy Nettles are imploding.

Whatever Happened to the Jaggy Nettles? is performed by the Citizens Theatre’s WAC Ensemble, Scotland’s first care experienced theatre company. The company aged 18 – 26 have been working with the Citizens Theatre to create this exciting new play written by Martin Travers and directed by Guy Hollands with original new songs performed live on stage.

12 – 15 February 2020 at Scottish Youth Theatre, Glasgow

 

WHAT’S ON JANUARY: The Memory of Water coming to Eastwood Park Theatre this month.

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Giffnock Theatre Players upcoming production The Memory of Water is coming to Eastwood Park Theatre in January 2020.

The Memory of Water is a comedy that explores the memories of three sisters on the eve of their mother’s funeral. They bicker and reveal the conflicts of the past and its grip on the present. The patterns and strains of family relationships and the distortions of their memories are only too clear – especially when their dearly departed mother ‘appears’!

A ghost story? Not really.

A tragedy? Of sorts.

A comedy? Absolutely! – laughter is as much a guest at this funeral as grief.

The Memory of Water won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy in 2000.

“A deeply felt, richly funny study of the pervasive powers of the past.” – Michael Billington, The Guardian

“The play offers a superb mix of wild humour and bruising emotion.” – Daily Telegraph

The Memory of Water runs at Eastwood Park Theatre, Rouken Glen Road, Giffnock, G46 6UG in Glasgow’s Southside from 22nd to 25th January 2020 at 7.30pm, with a matinee performance at 2.30pm on Saturday 25th January.

Tickets are £15 (£13 concessions available) and may be purchased by phoning 07518 201 756 or 0141 577 4956, or by emailing tickets-gtp@hotmail.co.uk or online at www.eastwoodparktheatre.co.uk/boxoffice (online booking fee applies).

Also available at the theatre’s box office.

For further information and for all the latest news from Giffnock Theatre Players, please visit the website at www.giffnocktheatreplayers.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/giffnockplayers, or on Twitter at twitter.com/giffnockplayers .

For over 70 years Giffnock Theatre Players has been a major player in amateur dramatic circles. Comedian Rikki Fulton was an early member and appeared in our very first production. For most of that time the club has presented 3 productions each season, and for 45 of those years, have staged them in Eastwood Park Theatre. The range of productions is staggering – comedies, whodunits, period dramas – and past productions include The Diary of Anne Frank, The Matchmaker, Dial M for Murder, Calendar Girls, The Steamie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Blithe Spirit, All My Sons and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

NEWS: WHYTE & MACKAY GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2020 PROGRAMME

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• WMGICF turns eighteen in style with over 500 shows at 60 venues and over 140,000 tickets on sale

• Comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short usher in the festival with a curtain-raising performance at the SSE Hydro

• Jimmy Carr, Stewart Lee, Arabella Weir, Frankie Boyle, Jerry Sadowitz, Trevor Noah plus many more set to appear.

 

The Whyte & Mackay Glasgow International Comedy Festival (GICF) reveals its full programme, as this hugely popular event in the city’s cultural calendar returns 12 – 29 March 2020. 60 venues across Glasgow are taking part – the most ever in the festival’s history.

 

The eighteen-day comedy extravaganza features international stars Trevor Noah, Steve Martin and Martin Short at the SSE Hydro and performances from household names including Jimmy Carr, John Shuttleworth, Dane Baptiste, Arabella Weir, Stewart Lee and Fascinating Aida.

 

It’s a bumper year for home grown talent with Janey Godley, Susie McCabe, Jim Smith and Jerry Sadowitz all gracing the stage of the King’s Theatre. Other top Scottish acts appearing across the festival include Rob Florence and Iain Connell in ‘Uncles’ at the Tramway, Craig Hill, Phil Differ, Fern Brady and Alan Bissett at Oran Mor, Frankie Boyle at the Stand, Elaine C Smith at Oran Mor, Phil Kay at Blackfriars, Darren Connell at The Stand, and Des Clarke at the Garage.

 

Comedy fans on the look out for critically acclaimed stand up can catch rising stars at a series of specially programmed venue takeovers. At the Old Hairdressers, Berk’s Nest present a line up including Desiree Burch, Jordan Brookes, Mawaan Rizwan, Sophie Duker; and Gilded Balloon are bringing Jayde Adams, Micky Overman and more. ARG are popping up in Blue Arrow and the Hug & Pint with a line up that features Evelyn Mok, Mat Ewins, Adam Hess and Annie McGrath. Local cult favourites CHUNKS descend on the State Bar promising Richard Brown, Planet Caramel, David Callaghan, and a gender-swapped live read of the screenplay to the 1995 Paul Verhoeven film Showgirls.

 

As well as stand up shows in some of the city’s biggest venues and intimate gigs in pubs, the Whyte & Mackay Glasgow International Comedy Festival features plays, sketches, improv, film and comedy for kids. This year’s theatre line up includes a brand new play from Chris McQueer at the Tron, Jason Manford in whodunnit Curtains at the King’s, and A Play, A Pie and A Pint at Oran Mor. Families can head to the Tall Ship, the Scottish Mask & Puppet Centre, and The Stand to catch laughs for little ones.

 

Other shows offering something a little bit unusual include a dog-friendly comedy club at Drygate, Hoppy Days beer tasting with comedy, Ray Bradshaw signing his show in BSL live as he performs, a drag parody of First Wives Club, and a special free show of dementia-friendly comedy at the Fred Paton Day Care Centre.

 

Events take place every day throughout the festival and tickets for all shows are on sale now, with some performances already selling out.

 

Sarah Watson, Whyte & Mackay Glasgow International Comedy Festival Director, said: “We’re so excited to launch GICF 2020 with our biggest and most international programme to date. To have a comedy icon like Steve Martin performing at the event with Martin Short is just amazing, but to also feature Trevor Noah in the same year – well it’s just a dream come true.  They’ll set the tone for the festival’s eighteenth year as we welcome performers from all over the world, while also shining a spotlight on all the incredible Scottish talent that can be found in Glasgow in March.”

 

Ruairi Perry, Head of Blended Whisky Brands at Whyte & Mackay, said: “For the 3rd year running it is an absolute pleasure to partner with the Glasgow International Comedy Festival! We’ve had a very busy year as a brand, having celebrated our 175th year by launching our new look smoother bottle and also a ‘lighter spirit drink’ at 21.5% ABV – ideal for those looking for a brilliant tasting spirit but with lower alcohol.

 

There’s nothing light about the programme for this year’s festival – it’s packed again with top class acts from Scotland and around the world. It is amazing to see record number of venues involved across the city in 2020 with a fantastic blend of new talent and household favourites on offer. As a whisky born and bred in Glasgow, we are very proud that festival goers will be enjoying a dram or 2 of Whyte & Mackay whilst enjoying a great laugh & night out. Slàinte!”

 

Councillor David McDonald, Depute Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of Glasgow Life, said: “Whyte & Mackay Glasgow International Comedy Festival is always a keenly anticipated highlight of the city’s cultural calendar and this year the programme is guaranteed to be hugely popular. Glasgow has produced some of the finest comedians who have ever taken to the stage and has welcomed some legendary performers and this year the Whyte & Mackay Glasgow International Comedy Festival ensures that legacy continues.”

 

Keep up to date with all the latest news by registering at glasgowcomedyfestival.com and follow on Facebook and Twitter @glasgowcomedy.

 

 

WHAT’S ON MARCH: Trevor Noah’s tour is heading to Glasgow

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Award-winning comedian Trevor Noah is bringing his Loud & Clear tour to the UK in 2020. The show will visit Glasgow on Friday, 20 March at the SSE Hydro.

The most successful comedian in Africa, and host of the Emmy® award-winning The Daily Show, Trevor Noah has sold out shows over five continents and has written, produced and starred in eight comedy specials.

Don’t miss Trevor live in the UK.

In 2018, The Daily Show won a GLAAD award for Outstanding Talk Episode, and received nominations for a Writers Guild Award (Comedy/Variety Series) as well as two NAACP Image Awards, for Outstanding Talk Series and Outstanding Host in a Talk or News/Information Show. Noah also won Best Host at the 2017 MTV Movie & TV Awards, as well as a 2017 Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Variety Series for his hosting role on The Daily Show – Between The Scenes.

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah received three 2018 Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Variety Talk Series, Outstanding Interactive Program and Outstanding Short Form Variety Series. Trevor recently received the 2019 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series, as well as nominations for Outstanding Talk Series, Outstanding Variety Show, and Outstanding Host in a Talk or News/Information Show.

Born in South Africa to a black South African mother and a white European father, Noah has hosted numerous television shows including South Africa’s music, television and film awards. In April 2018, Noah launched The Trevor Noah Foundation, a youth development initiative that enhances youth preparedness for higher education or entry into the workforce. Noah’s vision is a South Africa that advances because each generation builds and must grow beyond its predecessor. Through a partnership with Microsoft, the foundation is able to provide under-resourced schools with the opportunity to use technology as a tool to enhance the learning experience, as well as increase digital literacy beyond the classroom.

TICKETS

Glasgow – www.thessehydro.com

www.trevornoah.com

TWITTER: @Trevornoah

WHAT’S ON FEBRUARY: SCOTTISH OPERA PREMIERE OF JOHN ADAMS’ ICONIC NIXON IN CHINA TAKES PLACE IN FEBRUARY AT THEATRE ROYAL GLASGOW

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The Scottish Opera premiere of John Adams’ Nixon in China takes place on February 18. Following three performances at Theatre Royal Glasgow, this new co-production with The Royal Danish Theatre and Teatro Real Madrid transfers to Festival Theatre Edinburgh for two further dates. 

John Fulljames, Director of Opera at The Royal Danish Theatre, directs an exciting cast including Eric Greene as Richard Nixon, Julia Sporsén (Ariadne auf Naxos 2018) as Pat Nixon, Mark Le Brocq (Anthropocene 2019) as Mao Tse-tung, and Hye-Youn Lee (La bohème 2017) as Madame Mao. The conductor is Joana Carneiro, Principal Conductor of the Orquestra Sinfonica Portuguesa at Teatro Sao Carlos in Lisbon. Designs are by Dick Bird, who last worked with Scottish Opera on The Mikado in 2016. 

Adams’ work, a collaboration with poet and librettist Alice Goodman and theatre director Peter Sellars, is inspired by Nixon’s much-publicised 1972 visit to China, the first time an American president had journeyed there. Hailed as the pioneer of a new kind of ‘docu-opera’, in his eclectic score Adams’ mixes a huge range of sounds from pre-recorded electronics to live passages echoing Wagner and Johann Strauss, alongside jazz references and big band sounds that evoke the 1930s of Nixon’s youth. Featuring fascinating archive footage from the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum and The Richard Nixon Foundation, the opera, which premiered in 1987, is as much about the private moments as the public during the historic trip. It explores the experience of the wives as well as the husbands, and memory versus fact. 

Director John Fulljames said: ‘Nixon in China is a classic opera; Nixon is a hero of Verdian complexity and Madame Mao’s vocal fireworks ranks alongside those of the Queen of the Night. This is a spell-bending score which established John Adams’ as one of the great twentieth century opera composers and put American opera on a world stage. Although the events of President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to Chairman Mao in China have passed into history, this tale of the staging of global politics at the birth of the live media age feels more potent than ever. With a cast led by Eric Greene as President Nixon, and Julia Sporsén as Pat Nixon we have a great team to stage this myth about the ultimate powerlessness of the most powerful people in the world.’  

Those who wish to discover more about how the production was created can attend Nixon in China Unwrapped, one-hour tasters delving further into the show, as well as Pre-show Talks. Audience members with a visual impairment can enjoy the full opera experience at audio-described performances, which have a live commentary describing the action on stage without compromising the music. 

Cast List 

Richard Nixon Eric Greene  

Mao Tse-tung Mark Le Brocq  

Chou En-lai Nicholas Lester 

Pat Nixon Julia Sporsén

Henry Kissinger David Stout  

Chiang Ch’ing (Madame Mao) Hye-Youn Lee  

First Secretary to Mao Louise Callinan  

Second Secretary to Mao Sioned Gwen Davies

Third Secretary to Mao Emma Carrington 

 

Creative Team 

Composer John Adams

Libretto Alice Goodman 

 

Conductor Joana Carneiro

Director John Fulljames  

Set & Costume Designer Dick Bird 

Lighting Designer Ellen Ruge  

Projection Designer Will Duke 

Sound Designer Cameron Crosby

Original Choreographer John Ross

Revival Choreographer Nathan Johnston  

Associate Projection Designer Hayley Egan

 

 

Performance Diary 

 

Theatre Royal Glasgow, 282 Hope Street, Glasgow G2 3QA

Tue 18 Feb, 7.15pm

Thu 20 Feb, 7.15pm

Sat 22 Feb, 7.15pm 

 

Nixon in China Unwrapped 

Fri 21 Feb, 6pm 

Nixon in China Pre-show Talk

Sat 22 Feb, 6pm 

Nixon in China Touch Tour

Sat 22 Feb, 6pm 

Nixon in China Audio-described performance 

Sat 22 Feb, 7.15pm 

 

Festival Theatre, 13–29 Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9FT

Thu 27 Feb, 7.15pm

Sat 29 Feb, 7.15pm 

 

Nixon in China Unwrapped 

Fri 28 Feb, 6pm

Nixon in China Pre-show Talk

Sat 29 Feb, 6pm 

Nixon in China Touch Tour

Sat 29 Feb, 6pm 

Nixon in China Audio-described performance

Sat 29 Feb, 7.15pm 

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