Nottingham’s Theatre Royal gives you reasons to love Mondays

The Third Stage is, in fact, the Theatre Royal’s beautiful Dress Circle Foyer which has been the place where several informal performances have taken place over recent years, from evening storytelling events to the Live at Lunch series, which now regularly attracts a capacity audience.

The new series of events makes a virtue of Monday often being a dark night at the Theatre Royal, as theatre companies set up for their opening nights on Tuesdays.

Filling the space will be a more-or-less monthly eclectic series, featuring spoken word, jazz and blues, classical and world music, all keenly priced and featuring excellent performers.

The first event takes place on Monday 28 January with ‘Something in the Shadows’, an evening of creepy stories and tales for adults from the dark side delivered by Little Gem Storytelling, the Nottingham pairing of Emma Carlton and Gary Keane.

On Monday 11th February the Dress Circle bar becomes an old style jazz café where the audience can relax with a drink whilst enjoying the John Turville Trio. Nottingham-born John is an exceptional pianist who’s been making a big name for himself in the UK jazz scene, performing with greats like Tim Garland and Gilad Atzmon. His most recent album, Conception, was described in Jazz Journal as ‘world class…exquisite…one of the best jazz recordings I’ve heard in 2012.’

On Monday 18th March there’s a touch of Parisian and Viennese art café, as Café Muse features the brilliant young British pianist Cordelia Williams in an evening of solo piano.

Cordelia has been reinventing the classical recital in bars and cafés in London over the last few years and getting great reviews. Her first Café Muse event in Nottingham features music from Schubert to Debussy, but with informal introductions by Cordelia and plenty of breaks for conversation and for sampling the Theatre Royal’s wine list and indulging in some tapas.

With more eclectic and atmospheric events lined up for later in the year, this could be the end of mundane Mondays as we know them.

Ticket prices are: £6 for Something from the Shadows and £10 (including the first drink) for Jazz Café and Café Muse. They are available from www.trch.co.uk and from the Box Office on 0115 989 5555.