What's on where around Luton and Dunstable: listings, March 1 edition

THURSDAY MARCH 2

Dizzy’s Got Talent on World Book Day at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable from 10am. The King is running out of money and Princess Petula doesn’t know what to do. Can Dizzy the Dragon save the day by putting on a story telling contest? Be prepared to hear some of your favourite fairy tales like you’ve never heard them before. Featuring original songs, silly gags, a few surprises and all the usual hilarity that ensues with Payne and Pearce around. A prize will be given to the two best dressed World Book Day characters. It starts at 10am. Tickets: £2.50. Call 01582 60 20 80 or visit www.grovetheatre.co.uk for more details.

Hailed for its beauty, 201 Dance Company’s Smother comes to The Hat Factory. Taking hip hop to new places, Smother is a striking dystopian fairytale. Touching on themes of addiction, obsession, and the amplified feelings of love, Smother tells the raw story of two men’s broken encounter. The show takes place at 2pm and 7.30pm. Tickets cost £10 or £8 for concessions. Call 01582 878100 or visit www.lutonculture.com to book.

Spoken-word and literary talent from Luton and beyond comes to the Hat Factory at 8pm for Utter Lutonia. The line-up includes Americana act My Girl the River, and writers, storytellers and performers Rosie Garland, Mike West, Raymond, Robin Goodfellow, ba-BA Begins, Steve Whiting and James McKay, along with the Luton Haiku Pop-Up Bookstall. Admission costs £3. Visit www.lutonculture.com for details.

FRIDAY MARCH 3

Bilal Zafar will bring his hilarious new show Cakes to the Hat Factory in Luton at 8pm. Bilal tells how his innocent Twitter handle @zafarcakes became a focal point for the misguided rage of the global far right when it was mistaken for the account of a non-existent Muslim-only bakery in Bristol. Tickets £10. Call 01582 878100 or visit www.lutonculture.com to book.

Live at the Grove returns to the Grove Theatre in Dunstable with an evening of stand-up comedy featuring five comedians. It starts at 8pm. Tickets cost £15. Call 01582 60 20 80 or visit www.grovetheatre.co.uk for more details.

SATURDAY MARCH 4

Leading rock’n’roll variety production That’ll Be The Day returns to the Grove Theatre in Dunstable. It features a line-up of classic hits, spanning the ‘50s through to the ‘70s and ‘80s, mixed with comedy. The show starts at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £25.50. Call 01582 60 20 80 or visit www.grovetheatre.co.uk for more details.

MONDAY MARCH 6

Luton Music presents the latest Music on Mondays concert, featuring pianist Simon Callaghan with the Piatti Quartet. They will play works by Amy Beach and César Franck and a world première from Freya Whaley-Cohen. Tickets are available by calling 01582 878100 or on the concert door.

WEDNESDAY MARCH 8

Sing-a-long-a Grease comes to the Grove Theatre in Dunstable at 7.30pm with a special sing-along screening of the classic film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The evening begins with a vocal warm-up and teaching of dance routines by the host, before the audience can sit back, relax and enjoy the story of Danny and Sandy and the gang, whilst singing and dancing along to the lyrics as shown on the screen. Fancy dress is strongly encouraged and full audience participation is essential. The film is rated 12A. Tickets cost £15 for adults and £10 for children. Call 01582 60 20 80 or visit www.grovetheatre.co.uk for more details.

THURSDAY MARCH 9

Starring West End leading man Emanuele Angeletti (Let It Be) as Paul McCartney; Macca: The Concert is a celebration of the life and music of a legend. The concert features state of the art video projection and all of McCartney’s best loved hits, as well as a selection of Beatles favourites. It starts at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £24. Call 01582 60 20 80 or visit www.grovetheatre.co.uk for more details.

Amina Khayyam Dance Company’s hard-hitting performance A Thousand Faces comes to Luton Library Theatre at 7.30pm. Featuring live music including the sarangi, cello, tabla and voice, A Thousand Faces blends European mime movement with Kathak’s intricate and theatrical gestures of abhinaya – a traditional technique of communication. The performance subverts imagery of Bollywood beauty and Hollywood glamour to explore perceptions that women become objects for indiscriminate abuse and violent attacks, simply because of their gender. Visit www.lutonculture.com or call 01582 878100 to book.

FRIDAY MARCH 10

The We Love the ‘90s film festival continues at the Hat Factory in Luton with a screening of the 1996 cult favourite Trainspotting at 7.30pm. Tickets £5. Call 01582 878100 or visit www.lutonculture.com to book.

SATURDAY MARCH 11

Omid Djalili presents his show Schmuck for a Night at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable. With credits ranging from Hollywood to television and live on the West End stage, the award-winning comedian and actor Omid Djalili is back on a nationwide tour with his brand of intelligent and sometimes provocative humour. The show is suitable for ages 16 and above. Tickets: £24. Call 01582 60 20 80 or visit www.grovetheatre.co.uk for more details.

Hitsville – The Sound of Motown perform at Venue 360 in Gypsy Lane, Luton, at the next Cali-R night. With three female vocalists and a six-piece band led by guitarist Joe Carter, they have supported many major soul acts in the UK and Europe, and specialise in Motown classics and some northern soul numbers. Tickets are £15, available from Vinyl Revelations, Cheapside, Luton (01582 876391); Big Stuff, Queensway, Dunstable (01582 666678); and the cali-r.com website.

Youngsters will once again have the chance to excavate a ‘burial urn’ at Wrest Park as they try to uncover clues to find out who the person was and the when they might have lived. The session runs from 10.30am to 12.30pm as part of Wrest’s Saturday Archaeology Club. Call 01525 860000 or visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/wrest for details.

SUNDAY MARCH 12

The Urban Folk Quartet bring their ‘electrifying acoustic music’ to Hitchin Folk Club at the Sun Hotel, Sun Street, Hitchin at 8.15pm. Admission costs £14.

TUESDAY MARCH 14

The Grove Theatre in Dunstable hosts an encore screening of Hedda Gabler from the National Theatre at 7pm. Just married and bored already, Hedda longs to be free. Hedda and Tesman have just returned from their honeymoon and the relationship is already in trouble. Trapped but determined, Hedda tries to control those around her, only to see her own world unravel. Tickets to see Ibsen’s classic cost £15. Call 01582 60 20 80 or visit www.grovetheatre.co.uk for more details.

THURSDAY MARCH 16

Seven Drunken Nights bringing to life the music of Ireland’s favourite sons, The Dubliners at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable at 7.30pm. Telling the story of a career spanning 50 years, the cast of musicians and singers evoke the spirit of the iconic group, in a celebration of Irish music itself, as well as a guaranteed evening of humour and ‘craic’. Tickets cost £20.50. Call 01582 60 20 80 or visit www.grovetheatre.co.uk to book or for more details.

The We Love the ‘90s film festival continues at the Hat Factory in Luton with a screening of the 1996 romantic drama Romeo + Juliet at 7.30pm, blending Shakespeare’s timeless tale and language with pop-culture influences. Tickets £5. Call 01582 878100 or visit www.lutonculture.com to book.

FRIDAY MARCH 17

Al Murray presents Let’s Go Backwards Together at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable at 7.30pm. The publican. Politician. The critically acclaimed bar-based-braveheart, Al Murray – The Pub Landlord embarks on a common sense crusade to re-Great Britain. Another opportunity to watch the one man who will call time on tyranny even though he isn’t quite sure what it means. Tickets: £27.50. Call 01582 878100 or visit www.lutonculture.com to book.

SATURDAY MARCH 18

The Matt Monro Story comes to the Grove Theatre in Dunstable at 7.30pm with a unique evening of music, warmth and love, which keeps the memory of music by the ‘singer’s singer’ alive, enhanced by audio visual and narration. Tickets cost £21. Call 01582 878100 or visit www.lutonculture.com to book.