WELCOME BACK: The Swan Theatre in Worcester WORCESTER Live is gearing up to reopen the doors at The Swan Theatre on Wednesday, May 19. This will be the first time this year that the theatre has opened its doors to the public. The first show will be Judy & Liza, the 10th anniversary production which celebrates the life and music of two iconic theatrical talents; Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli. Sarah-Jane Morgan, chief executive officer of Worcester Live, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be reopening The Swan Theatre once again, in line with the government roadmap and under Covid secure conditions, for which we were highly commended by our patrons back in October and December.
A HOST of famous faces are coming to Worcestershire’s theatres when they re-open next month. In Malvern, legendary actor Ralph Fiennes stars in a world premiere adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets in July at Malvern Theatres.. The Festival Theatre will reopen on June 8 with Cold War thriller A Splinter of Ice presented by the award-winning Original Theatre Company. Oliver Ford Davies (Game of Thrones, Star Wars) and Stephen Boxer (The Crown) star in this new play by Ben Brown. To add to this line-up, Jodie Prenger stars in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black’s classic musical Tell Me On A Sunday.
John Hole as many in Worcester will remember him TRIBUTES have been paid to John Hole, one of the driving forces behind putting Worcester’s theatre on the nationwide map, who has died at the age of 81. John was artistic director of the Swan Theatre from 1967-1974 and Ginney Quiney (formerly Hole) said: “John was the eternal optimist. “He was enterprising, had boundless energy, was dedicated, inventive and a jack of all trades (essential in the early days at the Swan). “He was a strong advocate of regional theatre. Above all he believed passionately that theatre should reach out to the whole community. He expanded the already existing Saturday morning children’s story slot into Children’s Theatre with a weird and wonderful set of regular characters, including himself as an ill-starred conjurer with two puppets (Jaspar the Monkey and a rabbit called Sainsbury).