Curtain Up

Theatre 

Catch Chris Thorpe’s nuclear disarmament drama A Family Business (1 – 2 Feb, Barnfield). Legendary Welsh storyteller Shôn Dale-Jones then searches for human connection in dark comedy Cracking (9 – 10 Feb, Barnfield). 

During Women’s History Month in March, three schoolgirls stand up to social norms and inspire change in Hannah Lavery’s Protest (11 Mar, Barnfield).

March also brings Miracle Theatre's comical Cornish whodunnit, Hells Bells (21 – 22 Mar, Northcott), while April audiences can unravel Agatha Christie's iconic murder mystery The Mousetrap (15 – 20 Apr, Northcott) during its 70th-anniversary UK tour.

There is locally inspired witch-comedy Hags: A Magical Extravaganza (17 – 18 May, Barnfield), about the last three women accused of witchcraft in the UK, put on trial in Exeter over 300 years ago, through live magic and music.

Musicals

Critically acclaimed Little Mermaid parody Unfortunate (4 – 8 Jun, Northcott) surfaces at the Northcott in summer. The wickedly fresh spin on the ‘real story’ beneath the waves stars Shawna Hamic (Orange is the New Black, Netflix) as Ursula and River Medway (RuPaul's Drag Race UK, BBC) as Ariel.

Family 

All ages can find the perfect pet in Rod Campbell’s Dear Zoo (1 – 2 Apr, Northcott) and there’s a musical stage adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s beloved Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book (10 – 12 May, Northcott), and epic half-term encounters with earth-shattering puppets in Olivier Award-nominated Dragons and Mythical Beasts (28 – 30 May, Northcott). 

Dance

Exeter Northcott opens its new dance season with a digital magic-infused Nobody (5 – 6 Mar, Northcott); Ockham’s Razor transforms Thomas Hardy's Tess (11 – 12 Mar, Northcott) into a feminist circus spectacle. In May, there’s a coming-of-age story through hip-hop dance in Happy Father’s Day (8 May, Northcott). Tensions of English identity are explored  in From England with Love (11 – 12 May, Northcott). Ballet Cymru stage a daring adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo a Juliet (25 – 26 May, Northcott). Closing Exeter Northcott’s new dance season, audiences can experience the untold story of a 1930s Parisian lesbian cabaret with flirtation and flair in The Monocle (26 Jun, Northcott).

Comedy

Watch out for Frankie Boyle (10 Feb, Great Hall), Miles Jupp (21 Feb, Northcott), Melanie Bracewell (22 Feb, Barnfield), Troy Hawke (23 Feb, Northcott), Count Arthur Strong (25 Feb, Northcott), Tom Allen (8 Mar, Great Hall), Dom Joly (8 Mar, Northcott), Tim Vine (23 Mar, Northcott), Georgie Carroll (5 May, Northcott), Rachel Parris (18 May) and Michelle Brasier (31 May, Northcott). 

Talks

Engaging talks from Antiques Roadshow’s Charlie Ross, Charles Hanson, Christina Trevanion and Philip Serrell (30 Jan, Northcott), free solo climber Pete Whittaker (14 Feb, Barnfield), TV survivalist Ben Fogle (12 Mar, Great Hall), Post Office scandal journalist Nick Wallis (20 Apr, Barnfield), adventurer Simon Reeve (26 Apr, Great Hall) and astronomer Adrian West with his stratospherically successful The Night Sky Show (28 Apr, Northcott).

www.exeternorthcott.co.uk