Also in the Crucible Theatre this summer is a new production of Miss Saigon which will mark the first regional non-replica production of Boublil and Schönberg’s hit musical retelling of Madame Butterfly set during the Vietnam war. Miss Saigon will be reimagined by Sheffield Theatres’ Artistic Director Robert Hastie and Associate Artistic Director Anthony Lau as co-directors, with design by Ben Stones and lighting design by Jessica Hung Han Yun. Joanna Ampil, who has previously played Kim in the London, Sydney, UK touring and 10 th anniversary productions of Miss Saigon, is cast as The Engineer. Further casting and creative team to be announced. An extra week has been added to the run, now playing from Saturday 8 July 2023 – Saturday 19 August 2023. Saturday 9 December 2023 – Saturday 13 January 2024 (Press performance: Thursday 14 December 2023 at 7pm).

Anna Hibiscus is so filled with happiness that she feels like she might float away. And the more she talks to her mother and father and grandfather and grandmother and aunties and cousins about it, the more her happiness grows! There's only one thing to do...Sing! Sheffield Theatres’ Summer Schooltakes place in August and offers expertise from theatre professionals for participants to try their hand at a number of creative skills. Beyond Sheffield, the Olivier Award nominated new musical which started life at the Crucible Theatre, Standing at the Sky’s Edge, continues at the National Theatre until Saturday 25 March 2023, written by Chris Bush with the music of Richard Hawley and directed by Robert Hastie, nationaltheatre.org.uk. Also in London, the Playhouse Theatre’s acclaimed comedy Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo in a new version by comedian and writer Tom Basden runs at the Lyric Hammersmith from Monday 13 March – Saturday 8 April 2023, lyric.co.uk. After spending two-and-a-half years living in Ethiopia and another year living in Ghana, all I can say is this book is terribly offensive. Supposedly the author was born in Nigeria, but then she should know that "Africa" is a continent, not a country. The main character, Anna Hibiscus, lives in "Africa." Because that's where her father was born. Her mother was born in Canada...a country. She should have said North America. The fourth book in the awesome Anna Hibiscus series about a young girl growing up in a city in Nigeria.Utopia Theatre and Sheffield Theatres have announced the cast for their new production of Anna Hibiscus' Song, the theatrical adaptation of the much-loved children's book by Atinuke. Staged in the intimate and flexible Playhouse, the story of Anna Hibiscus is directed and adapted by Utopia Theatre Founder, CEO and Artistic Director Mojisola Kareem-Elufowoju. In the third, Anna wants to sell oranges on the street like the other girls outside her house. She has bright, healthy oranges and a clean dress, and sells many more oranges than the other girls, but when her father, uncle, and grandfather wonder what upset the girls selling oranges outside--some of them in very difficult life situations--Anna realizes that she made a mistake. She amends for it by working hard the next day, bringing all the other girls oranges, and at the end, she's proud of how hard she worked.

Irving Berlin’s White Christmas:A new production by Sheffield Theatres, staged on the iconic Crucible stage and directed by Paul Foster( Talent, Kiss Me Kate, Annie Get Your Gun). This classic feel-good musical for all the family features the songs Blue Skies, Sistersand the festive favourite White Christmas. Teachers can take part in a wealth of education engagement opportunities.From young people working with industry professionals, to teachers joining the Sheffield Theatres Educators Party (STEP), Sheffield Theatres aims to support teachers in delivering the curriculum while developing creative opportunities for young people. Althea Burey will play the roles of Narrator, Angel, Mama. Althea has multiple children's productions stage credits to her name including The Smeds and the Smoos, The Gruffalo's Child and Paw Patrol Live. Atinuke and Tobia evoke Africa beautifully. It is lovely to see representations of the diverse landscape that Africa offers. From the hustle of the city to the coolness of the Mango Tree- you almost feel like you could fall into Anna’s garden or stroll across the pavement.Anna Hibiscus is so filled with happiness that she feels like she might float away. And the more she talks to her mother and father and grandfather and grandmother and aunties and cousins about it, the more her happiness grows! There’s only one thing to do…Sing! It’s interesting to me that the very first story in Anna Hibiscus is a tale of how Anna and her mom, dad, and brothers try to take a vacation without the extended relatives, only to realize that they need them more than they thought. At first I was puzzled as to why you’d just thrust the reader into the family situation so abruptly. Then I realized that Atinuke uses this story to introduce to kids the notion of having lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents around at all times. It’s like the characters are being introduced on a stage to our applause. And once you understand the living situation (everyone lives in one big house) the rest of the book will make that much more sense. The story also reminded me more than a little of that classic folktale It Could Always Be Worse, which is fun. Anna Hibiscus has never been away from her home in Africa, surrounded by her parents and baby brothers, as well as all of her aunts and uncles and cousins. But now she is going to Canada to visit her grandmother for Christmas. She has never met Granny Canada and she can’t wait to see snow! Canada is very cold and it takes Anna a little while to get used to wearing lots of clothes and eating different types of food. She also has to get used to Granny’s dog, Qimmac. And though she misses her brothers and cousins, Anna soon makes lots of friends and has a wonderful time playing with them in the snow and celebrating Christmas with Granny Canada. Utopia Theatre and Sheffield Theatres today announce the cast for their new production of Anna Hibiscus’ Song , the theatrical adaptation of the much-loved children’s book by Atinuke. Staged in the intimate and flexible Playhouse, the story of Anna Hibiscus is directed and adapted by Utopia Theatre Founder, CEO and Artistic Director Mojisola Kareem-Elufowoju. Anna Hibiscus is looking forward to visiting her grandmother in Canada, where she will see snow for the first time! But before she goes, she must find suitable clothes to keep her warm in the cold winter weather, and say goodbye to the family she loves.

All this would be enough but it’s illustrator Lauren Tobia who knows how to really bring these stories to life. Every character in these books looks exactly right. Anna herself is charming. Half the time (if you’re watching) her flip-flops go flying hither and thither without her notice. I love the different kinds of braided hair you notice throughout the text and the clothes. With just a few swipes of the pen, Ms. Tobia can conjure up a situation fraught with stress or the nicest, homiest family scene. If kids start yearning to belong to a gigantic fun family like the one Anna Hibiscus belongs to, at least some of the credit is going to have to go to Lauren Tobia for capturing this idyllic community.The narrative is such a celebratory way to discuss the importance of family and love, whilst also allowing children to explore how the same emotion can be felt or expressed differently, and perhaps reflect upon themselves. If you like this series, you may also like Younguncle Comes to Town and Younguncle in the Himalayas. Following the success of 2021’s celebratory event Together in the City Festival, Together Toowill take place from Friday 28 – Saturday 29 July, showcasing the incredible creativity of Sheffield’s community, within the theatres and across the city.