Stay in Bath and See A Spellbinding Show At Bath’s Theatre Royal

A couple of weeks ago we mentioned that the 2016 Bath Literature Festival had released its programme of events online and was now taking bookings. Well, keeping on the literary theme we’ve been having a look at the new show that will soon be taking to the main stage at Bath’s Theatre Royal.

Since January the 12^th a recent adaptation of William Golding’s famous book Lord of the Flies has been playing to packed audiences. Now, as we wave goodbye to a story from one best-selling author, we can welcome work from another best-seller which has also been transformed fantastically into a work for the stage. 

From the 19^th to the 24^th of January the Olivier Award nominated, sell out West End hit, Hetty Feather will be coming for a stay in Bath. It is based on the book by well known childrens author Jacqueline Wilson, in which a girl who has been abandoned at the Foundling Hospital goes on a mission to find her real mother. Along the way she braves the streets of Victorian London and discovers the wonders of the squirrel house and Tanglefields Travelling Circus. 

The show has been described by the Evening Standard as “a family show that has it all…utterly magnificent”, and the Daily Telegraph said that it was “Ingenious. Hetty Feather gives Matilda a run for its money.” High praise indeed, but well deserved as it blends original live music, beautiful storytelling, and circus skills, including trapeze and aerial hoop work, to stunning effect. We’re definitely looking forward to seeing it.

Bath is no stranger to excellent theatre. Ever since Bath became the first city outside of London to be granted a Royal Patent (the first Bath Theatre Royal was established in Orchard Street, it moved to it’s current home in Sawclose in 1805) it has been renowned as one of the most important stops on a production’s tour. In 1789, around the time that the guesthouses that make up Dukes Hotel were built, leading lights of the theatre world Sarah Siddons and John Henderson were acting in Bath. Ever since those first Georgian celebrities Bath has seen some of the world’s most famous names gracing it’s stages.  Sir Derak Jacobi and Maggie Smith to name but two.

The Theatre Royal isn’t Bath’s only theatre though. There’s also Bath Spa’s University Theatre, Burdalls Yard, Bath University’s theatre, Komedia, The Rondo Theatre, and The Mission Theatre. One classic production coming to The Mission Theatre this month is Blithe Spirit – from Tuesday 26^th to Saturday the 30^th, while at The Rondo Theatre fans of pantomime can see Mother Goose, and shortly after that will be Dicken’s Evening - another for the literature fans. 

We hope we’ll see you soon for a stay in Bath so you can visit one of our theatres. We’re a little biased, but in our opinion it’s an excellent way to spend a cold winter night!