Wiltshire Creative artistic director, Gareth Machin and executive director Sebastian Warrack have announced the programme for spring/summer 2023.
Machin said: “I am thrilled to announce Wiltshire Creative’s upcoming 2023 season. We are really looking forward to these superb productions at the Playhouse and co-producing with New Wolsey Theatre for Brief Encounter.
“Our programme at the Art Centre is a varied array of one-to-two-night special events from improv to cabaret to Kate Bush. Finally, I am so excited to announce our outdoor production of The Tempest
and would encourage all residents to get involved.”

Salisbury Playhouse
The season kicks off with Alan Ayckbourn’s How the Other Half Loves at Salisbury Playhouse. Directed by Machin, the story of dysfunctional marriages, domestic drama and infidelity is one of Ayckbourn’s best loved plays.
Set in the 1970s, it was his follow up to Relatively Speaking, which was staged at the Playhouse in 2019.
Three couples. Two dining rooms. One big mess. The lives of three couples frantically intertwine in this classic Ayckbourn comedy of confusion and chaos.
When one of the women arrives home suspiciously late one night, a chain of events unfolds drawing each of the couples ever deeper into hilarious misunderstanding. The play runs from February 9 to March 4.
In March, Kenny Wax Ltd and Stage Presence will present the Mischief production of Mind Mangler.
This is the team that brought Good Luck, Studio to the Playhouse in 2022. The Mind Mangler’s solo spectacular is predicted to spiral into chaos as he attempts to read minds.
From the original cast of the multi award-winning sold-out smash hit The Play That Goes Wrong, Henry Lewis and Jonathan Sayer star in this hilarious new comedy by Mischief.
Join the Mind Mangler as he returns to the stage following a reasonably good two-night run at the Luton Holiday Inn conference centre, suite 2b. Runs from March 13-14.
At the end of March, the same company will co-produce Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter, with New Wolsey Theatre in association with Yvonne Arnaud Theatre. Directed by Douglas Rintoul, this promises to be a dazzling adaptation of the renowned love story by Emma Rice.
When a chance encounter in a train station tearoom kindles a timid, yet passionate, love affair between a married doctor and a suburban housewife, the two are forced to question if it’s worth risking everything for the sake of love.
Tender and joyous, this show has all the drama of the original masterpiece with added live music, comedy and spectacle, taking you on a rollercoaster ride through all of love’s beautiful complications.

Salisbury Arts Centre
The Arts Centre has a varied line up featuring music, cabaret, and comedy.
In January, Moscow Drug Club will bring together elements of Berlin Cabaret, Latin Tinge, French musette and storytelling for one night only.
Combining their original material with songs by the likes of Jaques Brel, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and Eartha Kitt, Moscow Drug Club delivers an intoxicating and intimate musical experience. You can catch the band on January 28 only.
On March 18, Sarah Louise Young and co-creator Russell Lucas pay glorious homage to the music, fans and mythology of one of the most influential voices in British music in An Evening Without Kate Bush.
Howl with the Hounds of Love and dance on the moors with Wuthering Heights. Whether a fan for decades or recently joined the shoal via the Stranger Things phenomenon, there has never been a better time to celebrate Bush with this joyful, unique and mind-blowing show.
An Evening Without Kate Bush is an award-winning show that has sold-out, critically acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe runs and enjoyed two Soho Theatre seasons.
Britain’s Got Talent’s The Noise Next Door will invite the audience to an evening of music and improv on March 23.
The quickest wits in comedy offer a side-splitting evening of hilarious off-the-cuff songs, scenes and characters. The stars of Tonight at the Palladium (ITV1) will spin comedy gold out of all the things that the live audience, think are the best, worst and down-right weirdest things about Salisbury.

Churchill Gardens
Wiltshire Creative will present The Tempest in Churchill Gardens from May 24 to June 4. Residents are invited to take part in this outdoor theatrical event – in either a backstage capacity or, for those interested, there is a chance to perform alongside the professional cast.
This promises to be a stunning re-imagining of Shakespeare’s fabulous tale and a journey deep into one of Salisbury’s most beloved parks.
A mighty storm shipwrecks a King and his entourage on an island of magic and mystery. It is a place of music and visions, surprising encounters and unlikely friendships. But what secrets does this island hold? Who or what is really in charge? And will the world ever be the same again?
This unique new show is an outdoor walkabout production, meaning our actors and community contributors will take you from scene to scene to different locations around the park.
Before booking please be confident that you can move around the park during the performance (approximately 1km).