Note: the performance on Thursday 2nd Oct is a matinee starting at 1pm. All other performances start at 8pm as usual.

An amateur youth production

Sixth Form pupils from St Columba's College and Princess Helena College, Hitchin in the RSC's version of the classic tale.

Tickets from St Columba's 01727 855185 from 8 September 2008

Performances start at 7:00pm

The Shakespeare Schools Festival and The Abbey Theatre are pleased to present again this celebration of Shakespeare

Sold Out

The settled routine of a small Russian estate is thrown into violent confusion when the head of the household, an ageing Professor, arrives with his beautiful young wife. Hidden hopes, frustrations and desires come to the surface as Chekhov's finely observed characters face up to new directions and missed opportunities. A darkly comic masterpiece set in the 1890s, at once both tender and passionate

Matinee at 3pm on Sat 1 November as well as the evening performance at 8pm.

This musical Western is adapted from the celebrated stage-play and film. 'Calam' dresses like a man, totes a gun and drives the Deadwood City stagecoach. Well-meaning, but disaster-prone, she tries to help the local saloon proprietor out of a jam by promising to fetch a music-hall star from Chicago. A hilarious comedy, it nevertheless has many tender moments and some very famous numbers, including 'Secret Love', 'Black Hills Of Dakota','Deadwood Stage' and 'Windy City'.

An Amateur Youth Production by kind permission of Josef Weinberger Ltd.

Master-farceur Ray Cooney provides an action packed evening of hilarity and narrow escapes in another of his inimitable comedies. Take an MP behaving badly, an attractive scantily clad woman trying to avoid her irate husband, a mysterious dead body and lots of Parliamentary spin - and there is the recipe for a superb drama-filled evening with fun and frolics

This tender and funny play was included on the National Theatre's list of the 100 most significant plays of the twentieth century and a recent revival in the West End starred Clive Owen, and later, Eddie Izzard. Described by Michael Frayn as a "dangerous writer", Nichol's controversial play draws on autobiographical elements as he navigates a fine line between black humour and heart wrenching sadness in his depiction of a family coping with a severely handicapped daughter. Set in the 1960s, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg is a powerful piece of theatre.

Tidemark Theatre has strong links with the CoT and will be well-known to members for their productions of The Regina Monologues and Brian Friel's Faith Healer in 2006/7 as well as for their popular Christmas supper and theatre "do's". This year, the cast and crew of Joe Egg is fully populated with CoT talent including Nick Strudwick who directs, Jon Russell as designer, Ray Palmer as SM ably supported by others including Dorian Brook. The cast includes CoT members Brian Stewart, Rebecca Russell, Jo Emery, Tim Hoyle and Betty Rose.

Another evening of family entertainment from this popular local organisation.

Tickets and further information from the organisers, tel: 01727 761870

This funny and thought-provoking evening, based on the drama created by the Actresses' Franchise League, sheds light on a fascinating aspect of theatrical history. Playing for Power was originally performed in the 1990s in St Albans and Edinburgh with a short American tour. Time and Tide are reviving the show to celebrate two landmarks: the 100th anniversary of the Actresses' Franchise League and the 90th anniversary of women first getting the vote.

The Actresses' Franchise League was formed at the height of the suffrage campaign. The League, supported by the leading actresses of the day from Lillie Langtry to Ellen Terry, commissioned and performed a wide range of entertaining plays, sketches and songs to promote the suffrage cause.

Playing for Power is performed by Julia Porter-Robinson (you may remember her as Julia Hames in Two, Mrs Klein and Steel Magnolias) and Margaret Metcalf.

It's directed by Rachel Metcalf whose last show at the Abbey Theatre was Not About Heroes with Simon Gibson and Richard Crisp.

Performances at at various times (2:30pm, 5:30pm and 7:30pm) on different dates.

A little orphaned piglet brought up by a kindly old sheep-dog, Fly, begins the warm and touching story of Babe and his extraordinary rise to fame. The humorous and sometimes dangerous escapades of this gallant little fellow will delight the whole family, as Babe becomes the toast of the farmyard. This is Christmas entertainment with real heart

SOLD OUT

In this elegant, shrewd and wittily written drama, Frances and Madeleine two clever and self-possessed women now in their sixties, take stock of their lives defined by, and around Martin the lawyer.

He was once married to Frances, and had an affair with Madeleine. Then he found a new woman, an American and moved with her to Seattle. Now Madeleine, a retired museum curator, independent and confrontational, suddenly receives a visit from Frances, who has recently found success as a novelist. The two women have only previously met once before and know little about one another. Questions, intrigue, anger and humour fill the air in this richly textured drama. Bitingly funny and often deeply affecting this is an unusual and fascinating evening of intimate theatre

Tomas and Maria perform passionate Spanish flamenco guitar solos and duets with castanets.

Their varied programme includes pieces which are energetic, light and fun, sensitive and soulful. They are known for their relaxed interaction on stage and their simple uncomplicated and sincere expression of this quintessentially Spanish andalucian art form

Set in 1912 , Shaw's comedic masterpiece tells how Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics, in order to win a bet, trains Eliza, a cockney flower-girl, to behave like a duchess and speak beautifully.

At the same time it is a satire on the superficiality of class distinctions. This is made explicit in the character of Dolittle, Eliza's father - one of Shaw's best comic creations, and in the pathetic pretensions of the Eynesford-Hills, a snobbish middle-class family who have fallen upon hard times.

Before the first night in London Shaw was interviewed by a reporter from The Observer who asked him for a few words about the play. He said that it had already been translated into four languages, and had played with unbroken success in seven countries. He added 'There must be something radically wrong with it if it pleases everybody but at the moment I cannot find out what it is'

It has been said that no play anatomises more accurately post war Labour England. It was written by Priestley in the depths of one of the coldest winters on record in 1947 during a period of severe fuel shortages and food rationing. He is reputed to be the inventor of the state of the nation drama and in this play he succeeds in creating a microcosm of British society in those immediate post war years. First produced at The Duchess Theatre in London in 1947 it ran for a year and received critical acclaim and it was very successfully revived at The Orange Tree in 2006 to similar acclaim.

On the face of it the play is the story of a family reunion to celebrate the 65th birthday of Professor Linden, an idealistic historian who has forsaken Oxford to teach in a dreary provincial city and is under intense pressure from the new broom Vice-Chancellor to retire, the idea to which he is totally resistant. His wife is anxious to get away from their dull surroundings and enjoy life in his retirement. The attitudes of the members of the family differ as do their various lives, representing as they do, the differing sections of society in post-war Labour Britain. The domestic crisis which ensues shows us the disparate characters of each member of his family. As usual Priestley creates his characters with masterful accuracy making each of them entirely believable. It is a thought provoking play which, while reflecting life sixty years ago, contains many parallels to the present day.

Suddenly into the idyllic atmosphere of a Tuscan holiday villa bursts a dishevelled, injured man carrying a gun, and claiming to be on the run from agents of the Vatican.

A dangerous lunatic? A criminal? Or might he be genuine? This is the dilemma that confronts four stunned and terrified holiday makers who only moments before had been enjoying a quiet relaxing evening on their beautiful Tuscan terrazzo.

The fugitive claims to be an English academic, an expert in ancient manuscripts. He maintains that whilst working in the Vatican he has uncovered facts that will shake the very foundations of Christianity. He says that he is now in mortal danger from the Vatican authorities who want him silenced at all costs.

The holiday makers have very different attitudes to the shattering implications of the fugitive's story. Academic - or madman? Can he convince them of his story before his would-be captors catch up with him . . .

As you would expect from a playwright of Hugh Whitemore's calibre, this is a thought provoking thriller, exploring deep and fascinating issues.

Performances at 8pm except on Friday when they are at 7:30 and 9:15pm

Hughie by Eugene O'Neill is a one-act play, set in 1920's New York. It presents a beautifully woven hour where the audience comes to know the lives of the two characters, as contact between them is formed and warmth is generated by their fragile human souls.

Erie Smith, a small-time gambler wanders home to a seedy New York hotel after a grief stricken bout of drinking: Hughie, the once night clerk and captive audience for Erie's tall tales, has died

Among many themes the play deals with the exploration of the human spirit and our ability to be optimistic even in the face of adversity.

This very amusing but also touching play was first produced at Hampstead Theatre with Alison Steadman and Linda Bellingham and later transferred to the West End.

The action takes place in one bedroom at two different times in the 1950s. Six year old Tony inadvertently catches his dad Louis in bed with his mistress, just as his wife is about to give birth. The skeletons that subsequently get shoved into the bedroom cupboard only come to light almost fifty years later in the present day, as Tony and his estranged younger brother Reggie come back to their childhood home, accompanied by their wives Sheila and Elizabeth, for Louis' funeral. Reggie is a top lawyer and his wife Elizabeth a top jewellery designer - and they have two designer teenage children too - a boy and a girl both high achievers in their exams. Tony, by contrast, has always had to struggle and he and his wife Sheila have a daughter with Down's Syndrome. But there's much more to their rivalry and animosity than mere envy and what impresses here is not the revelations in the plot, which are not hard to second guess, but the psychology behind their deep-seated effects on the brothers and their wives. Underpinning all the relationships in the play is the importance of Jewish roots and the tension between being born Jewish and converting, between marrying-out and converting-in, starting with Louis, a Jew with a wife who is a convert and a Jewish mistress.

This event is part of the St Albans Festival

Nancy Kerr and James Fagan are well known as a duo for which they won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award 2003. Nancy's earthy and exquisite fiddle and viola playing dances with the striking rhythmic texture of James's guitar-bouzouki, while their rich singing both as soloists and in harmony evokes the stories of the songs they choose and write. Robert Harbron is widely considered to be the finest concertina player of his generation and is much in demand both as a soloist and in his many partnerships with other musicians. Nancy Kerr, James Fagan and Rob Harbron started to work together as a trio in 2007. Both their debut CD 'Station House' and live performances have won them considerable acclaim.

'This is a joy to listen throughout, from the sheer beauty of Nancy's fiddle playing to the great story telling in song, it is the sound of three consummate musicians delighting in their art. Beautiful tunes, wonderful songs and tremendous musicianship.' Martin Simpson.

This event is part of the St Albans Festival

We are pleased to be presenting a programme of three of Beckett's shorter plays, representing the finest of his work over the course of three decades.

Play (1963) is one of Beckett's most challenging works. Buried up to their necks in large urns, a man and two women separately recount their history under the relentless prompting of a single interrogative light. The play is made up of short, occasionally fragmented sentences spoken in a rapid tempo throughout.

Footfalls (1976) is an affecting, haunting masterpiece in which a woman, May, obsessively paces a narrow strip of floor while conversing with her mother's disembodied voice. Footfalls is divided into four parts, separated by chimes, which grow fainter in each sounding. Beckett's intention was to dramatize deterioration with visual and aural diminuendo with May addressing her mother at various stages in their lives. The whole play is brilliantly paced with not an extraneous second, step or chime. The title suggests Eliot's Burnt Norton : Footfalls echo in the memory.

Krapp's Last Tape (1958), an elegiac reflection on memory and lost love, is one of Beckett's best-known and most popular plays. Every year on his birthday Krapp records his impressions of the preceding year. Now sixty-nine, he listens back to his younger self and ponders a lifetime of failed aspirations.

This event is part of the St Albans Festival

Myths, Legends and Fairy tales as you've never seen them before. Don't myth it!

Neil Simon revisits his smash hit comedy, creating an even funnier version for an all-female cast!

The story opens with a group of women playing their weekly game of Trivial Pursuits at the messy home of Olive Madison. She offers two types of sandwiches, brown or green (the green ones are either very new cheese or very old meat). But where is Florence Ungar, the missing member of the group? Soon they find out. Florence's marriage has broken down. In an act of immense kindness Olive takes Florence in. 'Everything will be fine.'

Of course, the last thing it can be is 'fine'. Florence's compulsive neatness, her moose-call sinuses and her insistence on punctuality, drive Olive to the point of breakdown in a way that only Neil Simon can write.

If you want a really fun evening, book early!

An amateur youth production by senior pupils of St Columba's College and Princess Helena College, Hitchin

Life x 3 is a modern comedy of manners. Two guests, who the host is anxious to impress, arrive twenty-four hours before they are expected for a dinner party. Each of its three scenes are given a cleverly different shift in characterisation and emphasis which results in three very different witty and amusing outcomes.

Look out for the evil Kazeer an absolute bounder, helped by his assistant Botch an absolute berk!

Will Aladdin finally get the girl of his dreams or will Kazeer usurp the throne and assume complete power?

A show designed for all the family performed by the RARE St Albans Group

8pm Thu- Sat, and addional matinee performance at 3pm on Sat 31 October

It's Mum's wedding anniversary, and despite the fact that Dad has been dead for some years, her three sons are obliged to gather for the annual celebration at the family home. Mum is a Matriarch from Hell! Evil, wicked, malevolent and fantastically possessive, this one-eyed widow is used to getting her way by any means that delivers the desired outcome. When she can't exert her authority over her sons by normal means, Mum blackmails them with her knowledge of the skeletons in their closets. This is black comedy at its best.

Tickets for children 14 and under only £5 for every performance. Weekday performances at 7.30pm, weekend matinees at 2.30pm and 5.30pm. See Book Now for performance times

TREASURE! A golden hoard of doubloons, double guineas and pieces of eight hidden away by a ferocious pirate on a remote island.

Billy Bones has the secret map, marked with three red crosses. Blind Pugh and Black Dog are following him, Long John Silver and his parrot are closing in. Will Jim Hawkins escape, will Lady Trelawney and Captain Smollett arrive in time?

This is high adventure on the high seas. Robert Louis Stevenson's classic gripping yarn is given full dramatic treatment by Phil Willmott, in a thrilling, wonderfully unusual version which retains all the swashbuckling vigour of the original with added excitement and lots of yo ho ho.

Stand by to expect the unexpected when you sail with us aboard the Hispaniola to TREASURE ISLAND.

Wilhelm Furtwangler, arguably the greatest conductor of his generation, was at the very height of his powers in 1933, when the National Socialist Party gained control in Germany. Many musicians left the country, given no choice if Jewish, or, in the case of many non-Jews, choosing exile as a form of protest against the regime. Some prominent musicians, however, decided to remain in Germany, Furtwangler among them. He continued to make great music and his influence upon European culture never waned throughout the period of the Third Reich.

When the war ended, Furtwangler was accused of being a Nazi sympathiser, and appeared before a Denazification Tribunal in 1946. Although pronounced 'clean', many felt that the findings of the tribunal were based on insufficient evidence, and doubts about Furtwangler's innocence have remained in the minds of some, even to this day.

In Taking Sides Furtwangler faces preliminary interrogation by an American army major, a man with little or no cultural sympathy or understanding -- a self-confessed philistine. From the start of the play he is intent on nailing the man he dismissively refers to as the 'bandleader'.

The exchanges between the two men are compelling, the drama intense.

A comedy variety show written and performed by Mark Chappel, Tom Hadden and Jonathon Nice.

For tickets contact Mark Chappel on 01296 488431 during the day and 07767358179 during the evening.

Ticket prices are £4 for Students and £5 for Adults

A classic comedy to warm the heart on those cold winter nights! This funny, intelligent and tender play centres on Henry Hobson and his eldest daughter, Maggie. Henry owns a successful boot-making business, but leaves the running of it to Maggie while he goes out drinking with his friends all day. Maggie's plan to find a husband for herself and her two sisters forms the basis of a delightful story, which has at its heart some very relevant messages: the dangers of alcohol abuse, the effects of class snobbery, and the benefits of education as the best route out of poverty.

This well-loved play has been delighting audiences for generations and is certain to continue doing so for many more. Be sure to book your tickets early!

Note: Curtain up at 7:30pm

Gaetano Donizetti had written 25 of his 70 or so operas when fame came to him with L'elisir d'amore which he tossed off in just 14 days!

It has since become the most often performed of all his works. Based on Scribe's Le philtre, it tells of the rivalry between penniless Nemorino and the swaggering Sgt. Belcore for the affections of well-to-do Adina.

Then "Doctor" Dulcamara arrives selling a "love potion" (as in the Tristan legend but many years before Wagner came along). Nemorino thinks this will solve the situation but that would be too simple. Delightful melodies, comic situations, romantic sentiment, colourful set and costumes, talented singers, chorus and band - They're all there for a happy evening in the theatre.

Ticket prices:Tue. To Thu. £16.00, Fri. & Sat. £18.00, 21 & under £10

Seymour, an orphan and a nerd, is taken in and given a job by Mr Mushnik, the owner of a rundown florist shop in a seedy part of town. Seymour spends his time doing menial tasks and dreaming of the shop assistant, Audrey. One day, just after an eclipse of the sun, Seymour discovers a strange plant. He buys it and names it Audrey Two. While caring for Audrey Two, Seymour discovers the plant's rather unique appetite. The plant grows and grows, as does Seymour's infatuation for Audrey, but who will get her first?

FEED ME!

So scarily funny and goose-pimply that children from 3 to 93 will hug themselves with delight

Tickets £9 full price, £7.50 concession, £7 parties.

To book, phone 01727-860217; or email admin@theatrix.co.uk or book online at www.theatrix.co.uk

This delightful family show follows your favourite Dr Seuss characters -- Horton the Elephant, Gertrude McFuzz, Mayzie La Bird, the Cat in the Hat, and many more -- on a musical adventure inspired by over 15 of his books.

An amateur youth production

Tickets £7 - £8.50.

One of the greatest of all Greek tragedies, savage, comic and intensely lyrical The Bacchae powerfully dramatises the conflict between the emotional and rational sides of the human psyche.

The magnetic young Dionysos, icon, hedonist, god returns home with his cult of female followers to exact his revenge, unleashing the full force of female sexuality on the city. But this is only the beginning of a chain of events that reflect upon the nature and consequences of the human condition.

WARNING: Adult content, strong language and sexual reference. Not suitable for under 13s.

Winners of three awards at the Welwyn Drama Festival 2010 including Best New Play and Best Actor.

"Rebecca Russell is a writer to watch" The Scotsman (Delicates and Smoke, Pleasance Edinburgh)

Alongside the production of The Colours of Kenny Roach, Tidemark is pleased to host an exhibition of work by Claire McInnerny and Alice Moloney whose art is featured in the play. The exhibition will be open immediately before and after each performance and entry to the exhibition is included as part of the ticket price. Works may be available for purchase or commission.

The hospital is run by Duncan Maguire who is keen to make his hospital, Pipworth Manor, THE hospital for Z -list celebrities, unscrupulous politicians or, for that matter, anyone prepared to pay.

At first, Duncan's covert operation 'ORTEGA' appears to be going smoothly that is until disgruntled ex-employees, unexpected 'guests', deranged maintenance men and a clergyman with a penchant for solvent-based adhesives lead to a number of complications. Duncan's attempts to salvage the hospital's and his own reputation become increasingly desperate, frentic and ultimately, all in vain.

Originally staged by the Company of Ten in July 2008, the show will be a reprisal of those four female monologues with an additional monologue that was not included in the original line up. The 2008 production played to packed houses, and received standing ovations for the performances, and was, in the words of the critic, 'entertainment of the highest order'. Bombshells was written by Joanna Murray-Smith, a Melbourne-based playwright, screenwriter and novelist. Her plays have been produced all over the world.

Bombshells is a series of portraits of women who are barely coping with modern life. Witty, humorous and poignant, the characters struggle sometimes hilariously, sometimes tragically, to bridge the chasm between the wilderness of their inner worlds and the demands of the outer worlds. Humour in the end, is their saviour.

Tickets are on sale for £15 and this price includes a free glass of wine and some light refreshments before curtain up. Tickets can be purchased via the box office (01727 857861) or online at www.abbeytheatre.org.uk. Guests are asked to arrive at 6.45pm to enjoy the free refreshments, and curtain up is at 7.30pm.

Bosom Buddies ( a registered charity) was founded to dispel the myths and taboos surrounding radical breast surgery undergone by women as a result of a diagnosis of breast cancer, or being at high risk of contracting the illness, for preventative reasons.

Amateur youth production by pupils of St Columba's College and Princess Helena College.

Moving, witty and thought provoking, this award-winning partly autobiographical drama is a superb example of the best of modern American theatre.

Not The Complete Works, but a Shakesperience for an audience of all ages to enjoy.

Booking on 01727 860217 or admin@theatrix.co.uk.

Victorian anxieties about immigration, unemployment, radical politics and loose morals still have vibrant echoes today.

Most of the characters have something to hide but Jekyll's struggles with his own demon have a gripping and poignant intensity.

Meet the long-suffering Bob Cratchit and his loving family, Scrooge's nephew Fred, and the jolly, generous Fezziwigs. Witness the supernatural visits from Jacob Marley and those famous Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

Enjoy the festive atmosphere at the Abbey Theatre, where this lively, colourful family production really will get you into the Christmas Spirit!

Tickets from £5. Performances on different days at 2:30, 5:30 and 7:30 pm (see Booking Form for details)

Inaugural concert featuring performances from local young jazz musicians and vocalists in big band and small group combos.

It will also feature some special guest musicians.

Directed by Andy Badalley and Bob Power

Tickets £5

Matinee at 2.30pm on Sunday 13 February. No performance on Monday 14 February.

Able to entertain with their ability to handle complicated multi-part harmony numbers mixed with a selection of humorous songs and routines, Con-Fusion can also rock with the best, having provided many hours of up tempo dance for weddings and birthdays.

For more information, see the Con-Fusion website

Join us on Tower Hill to find out what happens to the prisoner in the Tower, and the Merry Man and his Maid

Combining live performance with unique film footage, singer and television personality Isla St Clair presents this delightfully nostalgic, poignant and humorous look at the effects of music in wartime. As well as performing a selection of popular songs Isla tells the stories behind them. Joining Isla is film maker Patrick King who gives a fascinating and humorous 'behind-the-scenes' look at the making of their award winning documentary films. Using film clips they illustrate how songs and music played an important part in people's daily lives: for boosting morale, for propaganda or for just reminding people of better times during some of the darkest days in our history.

Eyes Front! is a rich blend of story and song, poignancy and pathos, humour and heartache which results in a light hearted family show that is both informative and wonderfully entertaining.

Matinee at 3pm on Saturday 16 April as well as evening performance

A progressive rock band in Prague and the music of Pink Floyd symbolise the resistance for the young people.

The Festival of New Playwriting provides a showcase for new plays by playwrights from Herts, Beds and Bucks. The plays will be performed on the Main Stage at the Abbey Theatre. The plays and productions will be judged by independent adjudicator Philip Osment, who will adjudicate on the each evening's plays at the end of the evening. Awards for the best play and production will be presented on the final night.

Philip is a writer, director and actor. His plays include The Dearly Beloved, What I Did in the Holidays and Flesh and Blood. He is a special writer because not only can he write, he also generously shares the secrets of his craft.

TUESDAY 21 JUNE, 7pm
Making Waves by Anne Stafford Murray
A late middle aged/recently retired couple arrive for a day out on the beach at an English resort on the south coast. Their peace and tranquillity are soon disturbed by news of a dream property coming under serious threat of demolition. Sparks start to fly among family members at odds over a large piece of wood. At the end of the day, what price dreams? (The Company of Ten)

Smashed by Benita Cullingford
When a party of 26 ladies from a British writing society hires a French chateau for the week, anything might happen. Five of the ladies are amateur thespians. The action of the play follows the first three days of their holiday, while they plan to entertain the rest of the party with a play. Although gallantly led by producer, Miranda, rehearsals become chaotic. There are too many distractions! (The Company of Ten)

WEDNESDAY 22 JUNE, 7pm
The Visitation by Jane Fookes
A pleasant lunchtime visit to Dad - what could possibly go wrong? (The Company of Ten)

Silent Ambition by Jo Coleman
Documentary researcher Roz is determined to prove that St Albans-based film-maker, Arthur Melbourne-Cooper, was a champion of early British cinema. As well as producing silent movies and animations, Melbourne-Cooper opened Hertfordshire's first purpose-designed cinema, the St Albans Alpha Picture Palace, on London Road. During the course of the play, which is set in the modern day, Roz's research into Melbourne-Cooper's achievements brings him back from the past. Although a century divides them, they are united by a shared understanding of the pressures of work on family life. As Roz learns more about Melbourne-Cooper she is forced to reassess her own priorities. (The Heritage Players of St Albans Operatic Society)

The Home Front by Janette MacEwan
Ivy, an elderly widow who has been all through the Blitz in London in the last war, moves out of the house into the old Anderson air-raid shelter in the garden from which she will not be budged. Ivy has fallen out with her son-in-law, big time, causing her daughter to have a breakdown and leaving the two adult grandchildren to cope with this bizarre situation. Inevitably, after breaking her hip, Ivy ends up in a nursing home where she meets Norman who was a navigator on bombers in the war and they get on like 'a house on fire' until . . . (The Company of Ten)

THURSDAY 23 JUNE, 7pm
The Man at the Door by Ian Jordan
Rich, a young writer struggling to follow up early success, sits at his blank computer. There is a knock at the door. In comes Jay, an embittered and politically incorrect salesman, seeking help. The two soon strike up a very unusual friendship that has serious implications for Rich's relationship with his girlfriend Abby. Suspicious of her boyfriend's new best buddy Abby begins to ask the question: is this man all he seems? The Man at the Door is a play about friendship, judgment, and creativity. (All Actors Are Psychotic)

Famous Island by Katie Smith
When tax changes and divorce laws conspire against an unsuspecting millionaire, there is only one option left: to have his death faked and to be transported to a secret tropical destination called Famous Island, where the rich and famous live out the rest of their lives in peace away from the real world. What follows is a series of encounters with several supposedly deceased celebrities, along with romantic and dramatic adventures. (Knebworth Amateur Theatrical Society)

Refreshing the Tree by Derek Rhodes
Sometime in the future; a dangerously unstable time. A cottage, deep in the English countryside, lashed by a storm. Two women give shelter to a seriously wounded man. But this is not just any man, this is a special man: a very special man. Are they putting themselves in danger by harbouring him? Then two other men are driven to the cottage looking for shelter, and perhaps something else. (The Company of Ten)

FRIDAY 24 JUNE, 7pm
Other People's Lives by Mial Pagan
Mick, an anarchist, opens a new squat in Brixton and with it a fresh chapter in the lives of a group of political activists with varying ideals and visions of the world. The breadth of their beliefs creates frictions which simmer constantly but are tolerated and kept in check by the closeness of their relationships. Then Alan, a manipulative outsider, arrives to expose the fault lines between them and snap the fragile bonds that keep the group together. His actions and the corrosive effect of Mick's personal demons test unity, friendship and idealism to destruction. (The Company of Ten)

Four-Fifths of a Fiver by Jan Haniff
After graduation the five friends each took a piece of a five pound note and promised to meet up in twenty-five years. That day has come but only four can return. The other is dead. As their reunion progresses the friends are shocked to discover their departed friend was not quite what he'd seemed. (The Company of Ten)

This performance will be followed by an adjudication on the evening's plays by Philip Osment and the announcement of the winners of the three awards.

SATURDAY 25 JUNE, 7pm
Performances of the winning plays of the three Festival awards:

The Tony Sidoli Award for Playwriting
The Best Play by a Playwright Under 25
The Best Performance of a Play in the Festival

The performances will be followed by the presentation of the 2011 Abbey Theatre Playwriting Festival Awards. The Tony Sidoli Award will be presented by his sister, Sylvia Sidoli. The other awards will be presented by Paul Davidson, chairman of the Abbey Theatre Trust.

The studio provides an intimate setting for this skilful stage adaptation of Thomas Hardy's bittersweet story "On the Western Circuit." Firmly rooted in late Victorian "Wessex", this is a drama which still resonates for us all in the 21st century.

The Company of Teens was founded over ten years ago and has gone from strength to strength, winning awards at local drama festivals, and they consistently present a high quality of work.

Tickets will cost £8 (£5 concessions, and £priority for CoT members) and are available through the box office (until 9 July), online, and on the night at the door

This poignantly romantic comedy follows their unique relationship as it unfolds over two decades. Inevitably, over time Doris and George are changed by events in the world around them and by the circumstances in which they find themselves; sparks fly, it is the stuff of high drama. The constant factor in everything, however, is their unchanging love for each other.

Funny and touching, the play traces the complexities of human relationships, on a nostalgic trip through the politics and changing morals and manners of the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Relive those years in the delightful company of these two fascinating characters.

Throughout the show, Ian performs a multitude of different tricks, demonstrating these secrets. He ranges from sleight of hand to traditional conjuring props to reading minds, but all have one feature in common: they are all performed with laughs galore. Of course, even if you know what to look out for, it doesn't necessarily mean you will catch Ian out - but at least he gives you a sporting chance.

Performances at 2.30 and 5.30 on 17, 18, and 27 December, and 7.30 on 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 28 December.

A medley of scenes from plays from all ages and influences plus improvisations, sketches, adaptations on themes from plays, stories, films, books and musicals, all wrapped up in our own plays. So, plays within plays performed by Theatrix students and tutors.

Unreserved seating in the Main theatre. Public full price (£9) and concession tickets (£7.50) available from the Abbey Theatre box office. Group tickets, season tickets and reduced price tickets for Theatrix students and parents are only available from Theatrix. Online: www.theatrix.co.uk; email admin@theatrix.co.uk; telephone - 01727 860217.