Verdict on new theatre season

Following the success of The Unexpected Guest, And Then There Were None, Spider’s Web, and most recently Witness For The Prosecution, the Agatha Christie Theatre Company, now in its sixth year, present Verdict (May 30-June 4), directed by Joe Harmston, who lives near Chichester.

A new production of Michael Frayn’s tales of technological terrors, Alarms And Excursions (June 8-18), stars Robert Daws, Belinda Lang, Serena Evans and Aden Gillet. The series of plays examines, with comical consequences, what happens when the modern world goes wrong, and proves that new technology, designed to make our lives easier, often just provides new forms of torment.

Examining the lives of a group of ordinary men that do extraordinary things, The Pitmen Painters (June 20-25) is a humorous, moving look at art, class and politics. Written by Lee Hall, creator of the worldwide sensation Billy Elliot and directed by Max Roberts, the show has received critical acclaim and won the Evening Standard Award for Best New Play.

The Yvonne Arnaud Youth Theatre returns with a production of C S Lewis’ classic The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (June 30-July 2).

There are dark changes on the horizon that threaten to completely overwhelm the Russian village of Anatevka and its people. Winner of nine Tony Awards, Fiddler On The Roof (July 8-16) features numbers including If I Were A Rich Man, Matchmaker and Sunrise, Sunset - brought to the stage by GSA 2011 graduates.

Award-winning author of How To Catch A Star and Lost And Found, Oliver Jeffers returns with an inter-galactic tale about a little boy seeking adventure. With original music and plenty of audience participation, The Way Back Home (August 18-20) is suitable for children aged three and up and their friends and family.

Love, suspense and danger all combine in Wilkie Collins’ detective novel The Woman In White (August 22-27); and based on Ingmar Bergman’s film, Smiles Of A Summer Night, PH Productions present A Little Night Music (August 30-September 3).

Henry V (November 9-12) tells the tale of the greatest British warrior in English folklore.