It seems we can’t get enough of Agatha Christie. The ‘Queen of Crime’ continues to excite the public imagination with her stories of murder nearly 50 years after her own death. ‘The Mousetrap’ has been running in the West End since 1952; ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ looks set to run and run at London County Hall; ‘And Then There Were None’ has just finished a UK tour and ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ starts one later this year. Christie is clearly good box office and, in the latest production from Birmingham’s Crescent Theatre, it’s easy to see why.

Billed as ‘for anyone interested in Virginia Woolf, beautiful literature or simply love’, ‘Vita and Virginia’ is a beautifully crafted and performed two-hander which takes us into the heart of the famous ‘Orlando’ author and her 20-year relationship with fellow writer Vita Sackville-West.

Guy Unsworth based on the TV series by Raymond Allen | Brewhouse, Burton upon Trent | Directed by John Bowness

Chaos rules in Burton upon Trent as stage version of the famous 70s sitcom brings Frank Spencer to life in all his accident-prone glory.

Declan Bennett | Belgrade Theatre | Directed by Nancy Sullivan

Declan Bennett comes home to Coventry, delivering his blistering one man show in poetic style.

Tennessee Williams | Belgrade Theatre | Directed by Atri Banerjee

Williams’ poetry pulses through Atri Banerjee’s beautifully staged production of ‘The Glass Menagerie’.

Anton Burge | OldburyREP Theatre | Directed by Paul Steventon-Marks

Hollywood blazes into life on the OldburyRep stage as arch-rivals Bette Davis and Joan Crawford battle it out on set.

Dennis Potter | Highbury Theatre | Directed by Phil Astle

Highbury Theatre’s brave decision to stage Dennis Potter’s brutal vision of wartime childhood pays off in a production which brings seven-year-olds to life in all their appalling glory. ‘Blue Remembered Hills’ may not be as familiar to audiences as ‘The Singing Detective’ or ‘Pennies from Heaven’ but this lesser-known play from the master of innovative television deserves to be seen.

Willy Russell | Crescent Theatre | Directed by Fi Cotton

Willy Russell’s modern classic feels fresh and excitingly alive in the Crescent Theatre’s latest studio production.

Constance Cox, based on Oscar Wilde | Lichfield Garrick Theatre | Directed by Lucy Dufaye

The wit and joy of Wilde’s language shines through in Lichfield Players’ latest production.

A short story first published in 1887, ‘Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime’ contains so many of the ingredients audiences would come to love in the plays of Oscar Wilde. It may seem like beautifully phrased nonsense but simmering under the surface of this murderous tale are characteristic criticisms of the upper classes.

Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schonberg | Sutton Coldfield Town Hall | Directed by Georgia Young

Revolution is in the air at Sutton Coldfield’s Town Hall. Do you hear the people sing?

Musicals don’t come more famous than Boublil and Schonberg’s redemption story of Jean Valjean, the convict turned mayor at the centre of this epic story set in early 19^th century revolutionary France. It’s a challenge for any company, requiring a huge cast, extravagant sets and containing some of the most famous songs in musical theatre. Sutton Coldfield Musical Youth Theatre Company absolutely smash it in this ambitiously staged production which had the opening-night audience on their feet for a richly deserved standing ovation.