Rose Theatre Kingston

Rising star playwright Ava Pickett follows up her excellent Almeida hit 1536 with a present day set stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s all-timer Emma. Young actor Amelia Kenworthy – who some may recognise as a doomed Elven smith in The Rings of Power – plays the eponymous Emma Woodhouse, freshly returned from Oxford University, ready to sort everyone else’s lives out while oblivious to the fact she’s neglecting her own. Rose boss Christopher Haydon directs. 

The Rose Theatre Kingston continues its noble tradition of programming Christmas shows based on the same stories as popular pantomimes, during pantomime season, except the show is definitely definitely not a pantomime, with a fresh spin on Cinderella from top playwright Chris Bush, co-written with the lesser-known Roni Neale. In it, 16-year-old Ella is spending Christmas at her dad’s house: chafing at her obnoxious step-family, she wishes she could be spirited away. Her prayers are seemingly answered as she’s transported to an idyllic fantasy kingdom – but is all as it seems? Bush did the Rose’s last Christmas show, a spin on Robin Hood with a deligtfully unsubtle anti-capitalist streak – imagine a bit of edge to this one too.