FOLLOWING on from a frenetic festive season with its hugely successful pantomime, Sleeping Beauty, and a short New Year break, it’s a case of back to the regular business at Malvern’s Festival Theatre.

The theatre has a number of mouth-watering productions lined up for the spring season and coming up this week is the powerful best-selling courtroom thriller that inspired a multi Academy Award nominated film., The Verdict, and then on a much lighter note the following week’s production is Hysteria.

Barry Reed’s The Verdict, which has been adapted by Margaret May Hobbs, is a world stage premiere of the play from the Middle Ground Theatre Company.

Starring stage and screen veterans Clive Mantle and Jack Shepherd, along with Richard Walsh, it features a full cast of 15 and will certainly prompt the question for the audience - what price the truth?

Frank Galvin is a washed up veteran lawyer and an alcoholic. He is presented with one last chance to redeem himself when he is given an open-and-shut medical malpractice case that no one thinks he can win.

Up against the unforgiving medical establishment and the all-powerful Catholic Church, he courageously refuses an out of court settlement, believing it is negligence that has condemned a young mother. Smelling a cover up, he instead takes the case and the entire legal system to court.

It provides a stunning courtroom thriller made famous by the five times Oscar nominated Sidney Lumet film with Paul Newman and James Mason.

Clive Mantle has been a household favourite for over three decades, with regular roles in hit television series Robin Of Sherwood, The Vicar Of Dibley, Mount Pleasant, White Van Man, Game of Thrones and of course Dr Mike Barratt in both Casualty and Holby City. 

Jack Shepherd is one of our most celebrated actors and has a distinguished career in theatre, television and film spanning over 50 years. His awards include a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award, a Plays and Players London Critics’ Award, and a Time Out Award.

He is probably best known for his portrayal of Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe in the hugely popular television series Wycliffe.

The cast also includes Richard Walsh (London's Burning), Peter Harding, Cassie Bancroft, Tom Roberts (Emmerdale / 2point4 Children), Veronica Quilligan, Okon Jones, Michael Lunney, Nuala Walsh, Eugenia Caruso and Jog Maher.

The Verdict will be appearing at Malvern from Wednesday, January 25 to Saturday, January 28.

The week after there’ll be plenty of laughs in store in the farce Hysteria which runs from Wednesday, February 1 to Saturday, February 4.

This new production of Terry Johnson’s comedy offering follows the successful tour of Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party in 2016. and will star John Dorney (Salvador Dali), Ged McKenna (Sigmund Freud), Summer Strallen (Jessica) and Moray Treadwell (Dr Abraham Yahuda).

War time approaches - it’s 1938. Hampstead, London. Sigmund Freud has fled Nazi-occupied Austria and settled in leafy Swiss Cottage. The ageing Freud intends to spend his last days in peaceful contemplation but, when Salvador Dali pays a visit and discovers a naked woman in the closet, eye-popping mayhem ensues.

Winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy in 1994, Johnson’s hilarious farce explores the fallout when two of the twentieth century’s most brilliant and original minds collide.

Terry Johnson is one of the UK’s most celebrated contemporary playwrights. His most notable successes include Dead Funny, Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick, The Graduate, Insignificance and Mrs Henderson Presents.

Other stage shows to look forward to in February include the Russian State Ballet of Siberia, the world premiere of Frankenstein, Peter James’ chilling play, Not Dead Enough, which will star Shane Richie as DS Roy Grace and then at the end of the month Kara Tointon and Keith Allen star in Gaslight.

La Cage aux Folles was also on the schedule but has now been cancelled.