The New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich will be celebrating literary classics this autumn as they host plays by Tennessee Williams, Jane Austen and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as they host some of greatest shows currently touring the UK.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a co-production between Leicester’s Curve theatre, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse and English Touring Theatre (ETT), will run at the New Wolsey Theatre from October 12-16.

On a sweltering Mississippi night, the lies are as stifling as the heat. Maggie has fought up from poverty, only to find herself in a passionless, burning marriage. Her husband Brick Pollitt, a former pro footballer, drinks to drown out the hurt he has bottled up inside.

Following the success of Curve’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire, this bold new revival of Williams’ lyrical Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece is a blazing portrayal of what it takes to survive in a society where we’re all desperate to feel free.
Siena Kelly, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Award for her role in Channel 4’s Adult Material at this year’s BAFTAs, will play the role of Maggie, with Oliver Johnstone (All My Sons, Old Vic) as her distant and troubled husband Brick.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is directed by Anthony Almeida, winner of the 2019 Royal Theatrical Support Trust (RTST) Sir Peter Hall Director Award.

Being Mr Wickham
Original Theatre Company’s 2021 tour of Being Mr Wickham, stars Adrian Lukis, who appeared as the dashing but duplicitous George Wickham in the classic mid-90s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that also starred Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth.

It will be on stage at the New Wolsey from October 19-20. Written by Adrian Lukis and Catherine Curzon, is a one-man play about one of Jane Austen’s most charmingly roguish characters.

Adrian Lukis, who returns to the role of Mr Wickham after more than 25 years, said: "Mr. Wickham is blessed with such happy manners as may ensure his making friends - whether he may be equally capable of retaining them is less certain."

The play is set on the eve of George Wickham’s 60th birthday, as he lifts the sheets on exactly what happened 30 years on from where we left him. Discover his own version of some very famous literary events. What really happened with Darcy? What did he feel about Lizzie? What happened at Waterloo? Not to mention Byron…

Adrian Lukis said of the production: "I’m thrilled to be reunited with my old friend, George Wickham. Having spent years defending his dubious reputation, I look forward to finally setting the record straight, with the assistance of the immensely talented Original Theatre Company."

Being Mr Wickham is produced by Alastair Whatley and Tom Hackney for Bury St Edmunds-based Original Theatre Company, the award-winning producer of hit online productions of Birdsong and Apollo 13: The Dark Side of the Moon and stage productions including the 5-star revival of Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art and A Splinter of Ice.

The Hound of the Baskervilles
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated adventure, The Hound of the Baskervilles, will visit the New Wolsey Theatre from November 9-13.

Adapted for the stage by Steven Canny and John Nicholson, this production was first performed at the Octagon Theatre this summer. The classic detective tale gets a brilliantly farcical overhaul in Lotte Wakeham’s acclaimed production which is directed on tour by Tim Jackson (who directed The Season at the New Wolsey in 2019).

A hit in the West End, this ingenious adaptation combines an exhilarating collision of farce, theatrical invention and wonderfully comic performances to offer a brand-new twist on the greatest detective story of all time.

World-renowned detective Sherlock Holmes and his colleague Dr Watson are asked to unravel the mystery surrounding the untimely death of Sir Charles Baskerville. With rumours of a cursed giant hound loose on the moors, they must act fast in order to save the Baskerville family’s last remaining heir.

Tickets for all three shows are available from the New Wolsey’s online box office