The Market Place Theatre in Armagh is the place to be this summer as it launches its June to August programme crammed full of light-hearted comedy and drama, chilled out musical performances, loads of entertainment for the little ones including the massively popular Summer musical, and not to mention the now annual John Hewitt Summer School.
Here’s just an outline of what’s available to enjoy during those long summer evenings.
The kids will be absolutely spoilt for choice this season. Cahoots NI are back in June with their mind-blowing production ‘Danny Carmo’s Mathematical Mysteries’ – a spectacular show where Maths, Theatre and Digital Technology collide to create a fun and interactive performance proving that understanding maths can be fun! There will also be not one, but two Family Super Saturdays, the first in July with Clydebuilt Puppet Theatre’s ‘The Elves & The Shoemaker’, where one good turn deserves another, in this magical story of kindness that will delight the little ones. August’s Family Super Saturday offering will be ‘The History Of Tom Thumb’, an escapade of gigantic proportions in a world where everything is larger than life and ten times more exciting.
Families will also be delighted with this Summer’s incredible musical, ‘Annie’. Prepare to sing along to all the unforgettable classics like ‘Hard Knock Life’, ‘Easy Street’ and of course ‘Tomorrow’, as the story of the little orphan girl unfolds. A show no-one should miss, you can bet your bottom dollar that you’ll love it.
There’ll be laughs aplenty with some fantastic stand-up comedy and comedy drama. The multi award-winning Brassneck Theatre Company are back with ‘Che Guevara’s Night Off’, the laugh-a-minute tale of the world’s most wanted man’s night in Ireland. Join Che and the locals for a wild night’s craic with fiddles, fugitives and a drop of the black stuff.
The craic continues with ‘Handbag Positive’, where two middle age friends find themselves back in touch in a local A & E department, pondering their teenage years, exchanging stories and insults, and wondering why they ever liked each other.
Summer wouldn’t be summer without a helping of Sam Cree comedy, which this year comes in the form of ‘Separate Beds’, a hilarious evening’s entertainment from the pen of Ulster’s favourite playwright. The usual pot-pourri of characters, each with their own story to tell and their own crisis in hand, combine to create the perfect comedy classic.
The end of the summer will see the end of the Maggie Muff trilogy, as ‘Maggie’s Feg Run’ arrives in Armagh. This time Maggie and Big Sally-Ann are on their way to Benidorm on a ‘Feg Run’ to smuggle home cigarettes to sell. Sun, sea, sangria and sticky Vicky! Sure what more is there to want? This is the one you’ve all been waiting for!
Don’t forget the musical performances this summer with chilled out jazz from the Bourbon Swing Jazz Band, some of the most exciting contemporary traditional music around from ‘Buille’ and a delightful new twist on the performance of poetry in ‘A Poem For A Song’.
For details of all events can be found online at www.marketplacearmagh.com, and tickets for can be booked by contacting the Box Office on [028] 3752 1821.
And to keep up-to-date with the latest news at the Market Place Theatre, you can follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/marketplacearmagh) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/mptarmagh) where you will find all the latest information, special offers and video previews.