Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens’ iconic novel, which has been magically adapted by Deborah McAndrew, will play in the main house from Fri 28 November 2025 until Saturday 3 January 2026.
From the creators of the 2024 sell-out production of Chicken Licken, Tortoise and the Hare, a perfect treat for ages 3+ and their families, will play in the Studio from Monday 8 December 2025 to Saturday 3 January 2026, with all performances including integrated BSL, creative captions and integrated audio description.
For Oliver Twist – the title role will be played by three local young people, Claudia Burton, William Poyser-Alton and Eliza Poxon.
Joining them, as the adult cast of professional actors, will be: Zach Atkinson as Noah Claypole (Beauty and the Beast and Dick Whittington for Harrogate Theatre; Eddie and the Goldtops, Marvellous Mystical Musical Box, The Frozen Roman for Badapple Theatre; Billy Elliot the Musical for Victoria Palace Theatre and Billy Elliot the Musical Live for Universal Pictures); Analiese Emerson-Guettinger as Nancy (Much Ado About Nothing for Albion Theatre Company; Henry VI for Bristol Old Vic/Weston Studio; Ghost Stories, The Snow Queen for London Touring Players; Macbeth for Seattle Repertory Theatre; Brooklyn Bridge for Seattle Children’s Theatre; A Christmas Carol, Quiver for ACT Theatre); Samuel Heron as Mr Sowerberry/Brownlow (The Flick for National Theatre; The Mousetrap for St. Martin’s Theatre; Stick Man for Leicester Square Theatre; Each Slow Dusk UK Tour; Light In Water for HighTide Festival; The Scarecrow’s Wedding UK Tour; The Fir Tree for Artsdepot London; Love on the Dole for Changing Face Collective; Renaissance Men for Old Red Lion; The Laramie Project for Edinburgh Fringe); April Nerissa Hudson as Bet/Charlotte (The Great Gatsby, A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland, Robin Hood & The Major Oak, The Wind in the Willows, Home Girl, Treasure Island and The Little Mermaid for Derby Theatre; Sunshine on Leith for Pitlochry Festival Theatre; GREASE The Musical for Blackpool Grand Theatre; Good For A Girl for Birmingham Rep; WILD for Black Country Touring; WANTED! for Gazebo Theatre; A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Front Room Productions; Freeman for Strictly Arts Theatre Company and Doctors, Man Like Mobeen and Cake for BBC); Iris Laverne as Artful Dodger (Speedo Mick for Liverpool Royal Court; Emilia, That Bloody Woman for Leeds Conservatoire and The Attic for Liverpool Everyman); Polly Lister as Fagin (Animal Farm, Great Expectations, Solace Of The Road, Cooking With Elvis for Derby Theatre; Pigeon for Royal Exchange Manchester & Thick Skin; Unexpected Twist for Royal & Derngate; Around the World in 80 Days, One Man Two Guv’nors, Hound Of The Baskervilles for Bolton Octagon; Beauty and the Beast, The Snow Queen, 101 Dalmatians for New Vic, Stoke; Jekyll & Hyde for Derby Theatre/Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch; The Snow Queen for Stephen Joseph Theatre; The Wizard Of Oz for Leeds Playhouse; A Christmas Carol for Hull Truck; To Sir With Love, Transmissions for Birmingham Rep; Much Ado About Nothing for Mercury Theatre, Colchester; Abigail’s Party, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Chorus of Disapproval for Theatre By The Lake, Keswick; Beauty and the Beast, Hansel & Gretel for Dukes Theatre, Lancaster; Cinderella, Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk for Harrogate Theatre; Sleeping Beauty for Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury; Marilyn The Musical for Greenwich Theatre; Romeo & Juliet for English Shakespeare Company; The Worst Witch Live! (Olivier Award Winner for ‘Best Family Show’) West End/Theatre Royal Northampton/UK Tour); Michael Mahony as Mr Bumble/Grimwig Patient: Soldier (Seven Dials Playhouse; The Commitments UK/Ireland Tour; Pinocchio – The Greatest Wonder Of The Age, Peter Pan for Lyric Theatre, Belfast; Henry V, As You Like It for Pop-Up Globe, Melbourne/Auckland; Once – The Musical for Olympia Theatre/Charlotte Theatre; Carmen the Gypsy for Arcola Theatre; Easter Rising And Thereafter for Jermyn Street Theatre; Catch Of The Day Touring; Playboy Of The Western World, An Apple A Day for LIR; Bi for Rich Mix; The Greene Card for The Space; A Play For Bad Actors for Back Loft; Ourselves Alone for Samuel Beckett Theatre; Spring Awakening for Everyman Palace Theatre); Dan McGarry as Bill Sikes (The Jolly Christmas Postman, 60 Miles by Road or Rail, The Night Before Christmas for Royal and Derngate; Beyond the Water’s Edge, Fighting Irish for Belgrade Theatre, Coventry; Baby He Loves You, Biting Point for Middle Child, Hull; Danny the Champion of The World, Horrible Histories for Birmingham Stage Company; Humans at Work for Warwick Arts Centre; Goldilocks and the 3 Bears for Hiccup Theatre; Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, Emma, Jamaica Inn, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It for Heartbreak Productions; Santa Saves Christmas for Honalee; Mr Tiger Goes Wild for Goblin; The Maharajah and The Kohinoor for Zero Seefr; Go Down Swinging, Seeking Isolde, The Lost Land of Lyonesse for Standing 8); Katherine Toy as Widow Corney/Mrs Bedwin/Justice-Fang (Cinderella for Derby Theatre; Two Gentlemen of Verona, Coriolanus, Vice Versa, Salome for Royal Shakespeare Company; The Flood for AKA Theatre Co; Treasure Island for Creation Theatre; Twelfth Night for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre; The Borrowers for Theatre By The Lake, Keswick; Much Ado About Nothing for Rose Theatre, Kingston; As You Like It, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Stig of the Dump for Storyhouse Chester; The Snow Queen for New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme; Merlin for Theatre Royal, Northampton; The Goodenoughmumsclub UK Tour; Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cyrano de Bergerac for Grosvenor Park, Chester; The Prince and the Pauper for Unicorn Theatre; Treasure Island for Watermill Theatre, Newbury; Macbeth for Southwark Playhouse; Cyrano de Bergerac, The False Servant for National Theatre); and Karen Young as Agnes/Rose (Goldilocks and the Three Bears for Hiccup Theatre / Derby Theatre; Midsummer for Mercury Theatre / The Barn; Kidnapped for National Theatre of Scotland; Cinderella for Dundee Rep; Macca and Beth, Pig for Liverpool’s Royal Court; Witch Hunt for Ten Feet Tall; Wicked Women for Tmesis Theatre). The cast also form the ensemble.
Joining the professional cast of adult actors, Oliver Twist will also have a young company of local performers including: Tonieh Ayinbila, Ophélie Balkota, Florence Batten, Marnie Birkin, Henry Buckley, Claudia Burton, Jude Chadwick, Alice Doherty, India Doman, Charlotte Falivena, Sofia Falivena, Florence Ford, Jacob Fox, Harmony Liverman, Eva Long, Isabelle Naylor, Cyntia Nkwelle, Robin O’Leary, Annie Owen, Eliza Poxon, Charlotte Race, Anay Ruparet, Darwin Shaw, Ella Sutton, Sophie Topham and Jack Wasley.
Noah Claypole
Nancy
Mr Sowerberry/Brownlow
Bet/Charlotte
Artful Dodger
Fagin
Mr Bumble/Grimwig
Bill Sikes
Widow Corney/Mrs Bedwin/Justice-Fang
Agnes/Rose
The creative team for Oliver Twist includes: Sarah Brigham (Director); Kai Bools (Assistant Director); Eliza Waters (Musical Director); Neil Irish (Set Designer); Tim Heywood (Costume Designer); Jim Harbourne (Sound Designer); Arnim Friess (Lighting Designer); Deb Pugh (Movement Director); Daniel Ellis (CSM); Ant Fearnley (SM); Cath Booth (DSM); Louise Pearson (ASM); and Jasmin Slater (Dresser).
Tortoise and the Hare cast are: Laura Goulden (Much Ado About Nothing for Ramps on the Moon & Sheffield Theatres, The Gruffalo – Tall Stories for Stig of The Dump – Storyhouse, Robin Hood and the Major Oak for Derby Theatre, and Chicken Licken for Derby Theatre/Hiccup/ Polka Theatre. Integrated/interpreted credits include King Arthur for La Navet Bete, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt for Kenny Wax, and Mavra/Pierrot Lunaire for Royal Opera House); Amy Helena (Mae Gen Ti Ddreigiau/You’ve Got Dragons for Taking Flight; Unhomely: Three Tales of Terror for The Book of Darkness and Light; The Promise for Handpicked Productions; Faslane for Edinburgh Deaf Festival; Much Ado About Nothing for Crucible Theatre/Ramps on the Moon; Robin Hood for Cumbernauld Theatre; Antigone for Storyhouse; Class Act for Traverse Theatre; Dinosaurs in Love for Traverse Theatre; Like Flying for National Theatre of Scotland); EJ Raymond (Night Classes for Unfolding Theatre; My Mother Said I Never Should for Fingersmiths Theatre/Sheffield; The House of Bernarda Alba for Graeae; Scavengers for Royal Conservatoire of Scotland; Blood Wedding for Graeae; Mouth of Silence for Birds of Paradise; The Irish Giant for Birds of Paradise; Lockdown Hairy and Talking Hands: Hairy Lockdown for Deafinitely Theatre; Ye Olde Wishing Well for Turtléar; What? for Solar Bear; Chase Identities for Connor Bryson; A Love Divided for Solar Bear); Adam Robertson (Marty and the Party, BULLISH, Self Service, A Real Man’s Guide to Sainthood and Bluebeard for Milk Presents; How (Not) to Live in Suburbia for Annie Siddons; Cinderella and Beanstalk for Sleeping Trees); Ivan Stott (The Wind in the Willows, Little Red Riding Hood, The Jungle Book, Hansel and Gretel, Peter Pan, Great Expectations, Alice in Wonderland, Jinny, Cinderella, Solace of the Road, Kes, Abigail’s Party, Look Back In Anger, Welfare, Chicken Licken, Three Billy Goats Gruff for Derby Theatre; Our Mutual Friend for Hull Truck; The Bear for Young Vic; Everything is Possible, East is East for York Theatre Royal; Dinosaur for Oxford Playhouse; To Sir With Love for Royal and Derngate; Wuthering Heights for Aberystwyth; Aladdin, Cinderella, The Snow Queen for West Yorkshire Playhouse; Whiter than Snow for Graeae; Death of a Salesman, A View From The Bridge for Octagon Bolton; Jail Diary of Albie Sachs for Salisbury Playhouse; Silent Cry for Lyric Hammersmith; The Cherry Orchard, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for Dundee Rep); and Emily Howlett (Robin Hood and the Major Oak for Derby Theatre; Much Ado About Nothing for Sheffield Theatres; Penelope for Leeds Playhouse; People of the Eye for DH Ensemble; Leveret for Bristol Old Vic. TV credits include Inside No. 9 for BBC; Give Out Girls for Big Talk Productions; Deaf, Profoundly for BSFTV; CODA for Neath Films)
The creative team for Tortoise and the Hare is: Derby Theatre, Hiccup Theatre and Polka Theatre (co-producers); Sarah Brigham (Director); Rachana Jadhav (Set Designer); Tim Heywood (Costume Designer); Ivan Stott (Sound Designer); Jessica Brigham (Lighting Designer); Ben Glover (Creative Captioner); John Barber (Puppetry); Stacey Green (Movement); Daniel Ellis (CSM on Book); Moby Renshaw (ASM for rehearsals); Ben Wilson (AD Consultant); Donna Mullings (BSL Consultant); and Mike Redley as Production Manager on the Christmas shows.
Oliver Twist is a thrilling new adaptation by Deborah McAndrew of Charles Dickens’ classic and much-loved story. Join us this Christmas at Derby Theatre for an exciting, magical, and vibrant take on Dickens’ timeless tale.
Oliver Twist follows the courageous young orphan, Oliver, on his journey from the workhouse to the streets of Victorian London as he searches for family, friendship, and a place to belong. With a spectacular set, enchanting costumes, and a talented company of actor-musicians, this festive favourite promises a truly magical theatre experience for all ages this Christmas.
Tortoise and the Hare is a timeless and joyful story of determination, friendship and a race like no other. Hare may be fast, but Tortoise proves that slow and steady can win the day – with plenty of laughter, music and magical moments along the way.
From the same creative team that brought you Chicken Licken, Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Little Red, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Gingerbread Man, audiences can expect brilliant puppetry, imaginative storytelling, original live music and songs, and lots of hare-larious fun! Whether you’re young or young at heart, this festive tale is packed with charm, heart and joy, perfect for families to celebrate Christmas together.
For more information and OLIVER TWIST and TORTOISE AND THE HARE updates, visit the Derby Theatre website here: Oliver Twist – Derby Theatre Tortoise and the Hare – Derby Theatre or follow us on social media (Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube – @derbytheatre).
TICKETS AND MORE INFO
Oliver Twist – Standard tickets are £15.50–£36. Under 26s tickets are £2 off. Friends receive 50% off previews and £5 off the rest of the run. A Family Ticket is available at £20 per person for up to four people. Schools tickets are £15 each, with one free ticket for every 10 purchased.
Tortoise and the Hare – Standard tickets are £15.50. Under 16s tickets are £13.50. A Family Ticket is available for £50. Schools tickets are £12.50 each, with one free ticket for every 10 purchased.
Places can be booked by calling the Box Office on 01332 593939 or online at www.derbytheatre.co.uk