All our shows | Derby Theatre

Puss In Boots

Bringing this much-loved children’s story to life, Puss in Boots is the perfect opportunity for your little ones to enjoy live ballet, music and theatre.

28 May

The Union Awards: Education 2019

The Union Awards: Education is a celebration of student led excellence in learning and teaching. The event gives staff and students the opportunity to reflect upon all the achievements of the past academic year and celebrate together.

29 May

Brainiac Live! Science Abuse

Based on the original TV Show and celebrating its 10th Anniversary live on tour, Brainiac Live! is back... More mischievous than ever before! Expect exploding dustbins, combusting microwaves and loads of live daredevil stunts.

30 May

The BonBons Cabaret On Tour

Did you leave a good job in the city? Are you sick of working for the man every night and day? Well pour yourself a cup of ambition, yawn, stretch, and come alive because heaven really is a place on earth! Be a drag, be a queen, get out the shoes that were made for walking, for tonight we are going to do it our way!

30 May

See-Through

All you need is a camera, an internet connection and something to say. Last year, 34% of young people voted YouTuber as their top career choice. Claire was intrigued. She decided to have a go. An edited, unedited, live, pre-recorded, reality show that invites you to see behind the camera.

31 May

Ruby Wax: How to be Human

Ruby Wax invites you to use more of your mind for compassion, instead of just chasing what’s ‘better’, like a hamster on a wheel. With a little help from monk Thubten Gelong, who explains how the mind works, and neuroscientist Ash Ranpura, who explains where everything that makes us ‘us’ can be found in the brain.

31 May

Flaming Beats

Follow HEAT Academy through an entertaining performance for all the family to enjoy. You'll find a mixture of styles from Ballet, Musical Theatre, Commercial, Tumbling to a spectacular Aerial Silks performance and much more...

2 June

University of Derby Graduate Fashion Show 2019

This year's Fashion Show, showcases more than ever before, a roster of passionate responses to cultural activity shaping fashion and other connected areas of cultural expression and creativity.

5 June

Open Mic

Our open-mic nights are a great opportunity for all performers to try out a range of work with other like-minded artists.

6 June

Derby Book Festival: Commemorating D-Day

Giles Milton’s bold new history, D-Day: The Soldiers' Story, narrates the day's events through the tales of survivors from all sides. This special Derby Book Festival event will also include music and dance from the period to commemorate this historic event.

6 June

Derby Book Festival: Melvyn Bragg in conversation

Derby Book Festival welcomes broadcaster, author and parliamentarian, Melvyn Bragg (Lord Bragg of Wigton) to their fifth Festival.

7 June

Derwent Brass: Stage & Screen

Derbyshire’s finest brass band Derwent Brass returns to the theatre with an evening featuring some of the very best music from your favourite movies and musicals including West Side Story, Les Misérables, Star Wars, The Incredibles and much more.

8 June

Reginald D Hunter: Facing The Beast

Celebrating his twentieth anniversary as a comedian living and performing in the UK, Reginald D Hunter sets out on a forty date tour of the UK and Ireland in 2019 with his highly anticipated new show.

9 June

Derby Youth Theatre Double Bill: A Thousand Reasons Not To Fly & Little Criminals

Both Youth Theatre groups chose their favourite play out of a selection of exciting and compelling scripts and can’t wait to perform their versions of the stories they loved the most.

14 June to 15 June

JTQ: the James Taylor Quartet

Lead by Hammond organ-guru, James Taylor, JTQ stands with one foot planted in 2019, and other, just as firmly, somewhere south of the 1970s.

14 June

Celebrating Carnival 2019

An evening full of vibrant costumes, exhibition, steel pan, comedy, soca and carnival dance displays.

15 June

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Bill Kenwright’s ‘Amazing’, ’Superb’, ‘Wonderful’ and ‘Brilliant’ production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sparkling family musical comes to Derby.

18 June to 22 June

Journeys of Destiny

Journeys of Destiny is a new play for young people and community audiences, which takes stories from all our families and weaves them with that of Saad Al-Kassab, a young Syrian refugee whose dreams had to change forever when war broke out in his city of Homs.

20 June

Horrible Histories: Dreadful Deaf

It’s time to prepare yourselves for Horrible Histories live on stage as it delves into the dreadful, dangerous and deluded stories of the deaf!

21 June to 23 June

Footloose - the Musical

Centre Stage Theatre Arts invite you to kick off your Sunday shoes as they take you back to the 80s with their production of Footloose – the Musical.

26 June to 28 June

Dancing Through Life: Caroline Green Dance & Theatre Arts

Join Caroline Green School of Dance & Theatre Arts for their latest spectacular showcase.

29 June to 30 June

Desert Islands Flicks

A blockbuster, adventure and rom com rolled into one, Desert Island Flicks sees two leading ladies reimagine, remake and spoof the most memorable movie moments of all time, taking on all the lead roles, stunts, and special effects!

5 July

The Death Show

Created in response to a provocative and unashamedly honest conversation about death, The Death Show looks to better understand our relationship with death and dying and why we struggle to accept our own mortality.

6 July

American Idiot

In the first fully staged MT Experiment, Matt Powell presents the high-octane, Grammy and Tony Award-winning hit musical: Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT.

10 July to 13 July

We Are All (Made Of) Stars: Participatory Performance Across Borders Symposium

An afternoon of conversation about making participatory performance across borders. This practical session will include reflections and learning from MAYK’s recent international touring project. Part of Departure Lounge Festival 2019.

Inspiration Exchange (part of The S.H.E.D at Departure Lounge)

Welcome to the Inspiration Exchange. This is a simple story-swapping performance. Together we will exchange a personal catalogue of inspirations to create an eclectic, multi-contributor library of ideas, incidents and events. Part of Departure Lounge Festival 2019.

Opal Fruits

Hot off the back of a critically acclaimed debut at VAULT Festival, Opal Fruits is an unreliable solo show about the fetishisation of the feral female - about working-class women and the trouble with 90's nostalgia. Part of Departure Lounge Festival 2019.

Tokyo Rose

Turn back the dial from 2019 to 1949. Iva Toguri d'Aquino stands accused of treason in one of the most controversial trials in American history... Part of Departure Lounge Festival 2019.

The Arts: A Shifting Landscape Panel Discussion

Chaired by Lyn Gardner. Practitioners, artists and audiences come together for a fascinating and insightful discussion with leaders from a range of inspirational arts organisations in the UK. Part of Departure Lounge Festival 2019.

Networking Lunch - Departure Lounge 2019

After the Leadership in the Arts Panel Discussion, this is a chance for programmers and artists to chat while you chow. Part of Departure Lounge Festival 2019.

BRITizenship

BRITizenship is a contemporary odyssey as Zoo Indigo face their lack of Britishness and search for their European identity from the shores of Brexit-ridden Britain. Part of Departure Lounge Festival 2019.

REPRESENT: Queer Artist Showcase

A celebratory showcase featuring three groundbreaking performances from LGBTQ+ theatre-makers. Part of Departure Lounge Festival 2019.

All of Me

Olivier Award nominee Caroline Horton reunites with director Alex Swift (Mess, How to Win Against History) to bring you this intimate and absurd exploration of wanting to live, wanting to die and what can happen if we sit together with the dark. Part of Departure Lounge Festival 2019.

S.H.E.D Cinema

An old garden shed has been transformed into a mobile arts commissioning venue and public space, to create an alternative site for artistic practice. On Saturday 20 July, S.H.E.D will be premiering at Departure Lounge Festival as an outdoor cinema.

Plea Bargain (part of The S.H.E.D at Departure Lounge)

Plea Bargain is a 20 minute, one-to-one performance based on Jake’s experience of the criminal justice system. You the audience take the role of a solicitor and with the limited time you have must find the facts and pass your judgement. Part of Departure Lounge Festival 2019.

Motherland

Motherland: punching fascists in the face through the medium of drag. Warning: this is a visceral full bodied dragged up queertastic howl of a show, and it makes no apology for it. Part of Departure Lounge Festival 2019.

Extraordinary Wall o̶f̶ ̶S̶i̶l̶e̶n̶c̶e̶

Ad Infinitum combine the company’s signature style of physical storytelling with the beauty of British Sign Language. Extraordinary Wall o̶f̶ ̶S̶i̶l̶e̶n̶c̶e̶ will facilitate an encounter between Deaf and hearing communities to expose the barrier that has stood between them for far too long. Part of Departure Lounge Festival 2019

Ducks Don't Have Teeth, Do They?

You’re 18. You’re 100. What could you have in common? A show full of unlikely friendship and questions about ageing. Part of Departure Lounge Festival 2019.

Unfortunate

Disney villain. Octo-woman. Plus-size icon. But who is the woman behind the tentacles? From the multi-award winning Fat Rascal Theatre, creators of hit musicals Buzz and Vulvarine, comes the untold story of Ursula the sea witch. A musical parody. Part of Departure Lounge Festival 2019.