Cheshire Rural Touring Arts Autumn 2025

Cheshire Rural Touring Arts is back this Autumn with a variety of high-quality professional shows for everyone.

Maria Byrne, Cheshire West and Chester Council Director of to Director Environment & Communities said: 

Cheshire Rural Touring Arts is a partnership between Cheshire East Council and Cheshire West and Chester Council, supported by Arts Council England.

The Autumn 2025 shows include:

The Story Forge: Make Your Own Myth by Rubbish Shakespeare Company & Silly History Boys

Sunday 21 September 1.30pm - Hoole Community Centre, CH2 3AP - 01244 342741
Friday 3 October 6pm - Tarvin Community Centre, CH3 8LY - 07976 309974

Prepare for uproarious pandemonium in a uniquely hilarious family theatre adventure for all ages. Two loopy Professor Doctors invent three brand-new myths live by unleashing cardboard chaos and your boundless imagination. Will your adventure unfold in Ancient Egypt, Viking fjords, or Neptune’s deep? You choose. Shape the story, suggest the world and even become the hero (optional, shy souls welcome).

From the award-winning champions of children’s theatre, Rubbish Shakespeare Company and Silly History Boys, comes an hour of hilarious high-energy family fun: expect clowning, improv, music, and epic cardboard props. Forge your legend – you'd be mad to myth it.

Suitable for 6+.

Bob Marley: How Reggae Changed the World by Duane Forrest.

Thursday 9 October 7pm – Neston Parish Church, CH64 9TZ - 07740 463 203
Friday 10 October 7pm - Macclesfield Library, SK10 1EE - 01625 374000
Saturday 11 October 7.30pm - Hoole Community Centre, CH2 3AP - 01244 342741
Sunday 12 October 7.30pm - Upton Village Hall by Chester Village Hall, CH2 1HX - 07712 611 616

All the way from Canada, is Edinburgh Fringe sell-out musician, Duane Forrest, and his show - Bob Marley: How Reggae Changed the World.

Join Duane Forrest on an acoustic journey through the roots of reggae to the global influence of Bob Marley. Experience acoustic renditions of legendary reggae songs that have reshaped countless lives, including Duane's own. From the origin of reggae to Marley's transcendent legacy, immerse yourself in the soulful melodies and transformative power of this iconic music. Audience members are invited to sing along and get involved in this interactive musical experience.

Suitable for Adults & 8+.

Introducing Victor and Albert - Purveyors of Fine Musical Comedy.

Thursday 16 October 7.30pm - Great Budworth Parish Hall, CW9 6HL - 07886 878047
Friday 17 October 7.30pm – Farndon Community Centre, CH3 6NX - 07393 601292
Saturday 18 October 7.30pm - Kettleshulme Village Hall, SK23 7QU - 07775 330805 / 07909513251
Sunday 19 October 7.30pm - Gawsworth Village Hall, SK11 9QY - 07870 822 837

Join classically trained, identical twins Professor Victor and Dr Albert for an evening of riotous comedy, interaction, original songs, games, mayhem and a sprinkling of magic; it’s an immense amount of fun from start to finish.

A good old-fashioned, feel-good, two-man variety show brought kicking and screaming into the 21st Century – a two-man music-hall if you will.

Suitable for Adults.

Jali Bakary and Sarah Deere-Jones

Thursday 16 October 7.30pm – Little Sutton Library, CH66 1QQ - 0151 337 6800
Friday 17 October 7.30pm - Bosley St Mary the Virgin Church, SK11 0NX - 07927 024328

Join Jali Bakary and Sarah Deere-Jones for a beautiful ‘nearly divine’ fusion of melodic and rhythmic arrangements on West African Kora and Classical Harp.

Jali Bakary is the grandson and son, respectively, of the legendary Gambian kora players Dembo Konte and Alhaji Bai Konte (who helped to bring kora music to the wider world with his iconic album Kora Melodies from the Republic of the Gambia, West Africa in 1973). Born into this remarkable musical lineage and steeped in Gambia’s griot tradition, Jali Bakary is the latest torchbearer for his family’s kora legacy on the world stage.

Sarah studied classical harp & singing at the Royal Academy of Music, was awarded the Julia Leney prize, & in 2015 she was elected an Associate to the Royal Academy. Sarah performed in London for years with professional symphony, opera and ballet orchestras, and now performs her own arrangements and original music for harp & voice at music festivals & clubs and traditional music venues across the UK.

Suitable for Adults.

Bobak Champion – I’m Muslamic Don’t Panik!

Friday 24 October 7.30pm - The Five Villages Hall, Backford, CH1 6NT - 07743 490726
Saturday 25 October 7.30pm - Vicars Cross Community Centre, CH3 5LP - 07861 041795
Sunday 26 October 2.30pm – CreweCreates CIC, Victoria Street, Crewe - 07719545800

This season from the Rural Touring Dance Initiative is Bobak Champion – I’m Muslamic Don’t Panik! A hilarious and heart-felt story of one man’s journey to Iran to discover his cultural heritage.

Featuring a captivating mixture of live music, spoken word, break-dancing and comedy.

Join Bobak on his journey of self-discovery as he meets a whole cast of weird and wonderful characters - from women defiantly running the first (and last) ever Tehran marathon, to stumbling into an underground breakdance battle. After the show, enjoy a chat with your neighbours and the artists with traditional Persian tea and date biscuits called Kolompeh. Everyone is welcome.

Suitable for Adults & 12+.

Spooky Tales by Petite Ullaloom

Saturday 25 October 2.00pm – Theatre Porto, CH65 6QY - 0151 357 2120

To celebrate the forthcoming Halloween Season, Petite Ullaloom brings you Spooky Tales, a thrilling, family-friendly show. Do you like mysterious stories of witches, ghosts and things that go bump in the night? Then join Edward and Martha as they tell terrifying tales as only a true creep can. Gasp, gawp and grin at this collection of putridly performed stories. Oh, do say you’ll come; we’re Dying to meet you.

Originally commissioned by The Unity Theatre, and then toured for Big Imaginations, this is a reworking fusing Petite Ullaloom’s magical storytelling with Altered Scale’s outstanding puppetry.

Suitability: Perfect for brave children aged 7+ and their families.

WILD by Black Country Touring

Saturday 8 November 7.30pm - Vicars Cross Community Centre, CH3 5LP - 07861 041795
Sunday 9 November 7.30pm - Tarvin Community Centre, CH3 8LY - 07976 309974

Produced by fellow rural touring scheme, Black Country Touring, is the new show ‘WILD’. Created from conversations with over 70 people across rural, urban, and seaside locations, ‘Wild’ is theatre and song production celebrating what Wild means to us, in the natural world, in our towns and within ourselves. The show takes you through a journey of emotions from exhilarating fear to childlike joy. Visit remote hills, mountains, dark forest, and towns, and find out just how ‘Wild’ these places can be.

Suitable for Adults & 11+.

Elsa Jean McTaggart & Gary Lister present Hebridean Fire

Thursday 13 November 7pm - Macclesfield Library, SK10 1EE - 01625 374000
Friday 14 November 7.30pm - Siddington Village Hall, SK11 9JR - 07791 359493
Saturday 15 November 7.30pm - Kelsall Community Centre, CW6 0SB - 07951 794442
Sunday 16 November 7.30pm - Little Budworth Jubilee Hall, CW6 9BU - 01829 760422

Renowned multi-instrumentalists, Elsa Jean McTaggart & Gary Lister, from the Isle of Lewis take you on an eclectic musical journey through the Highlands and islands of Scotland past and present. From soulful laments to high energy, beautifully arranged sets of jigs, reels, and traditional (also Gaelic). Plus, original songs with plenty of laughter, joy and warmth. The show will be interspersed with storytelling, images and video footage of the highlands and islands. After the performance, audiences are invited to take part in a traditional Ceilidh dance.

Suitable for all ages.

Timothy Marriott & Smoke Screen Productions presents Watson: The Final Problem.

Friday 21 November 7.30pm – Neston Town Hall, CH64 9TR - 07740 463 203 / 0151 336 7729
Saturday 22 November 7.30pm – Audlem Scout and Guide Hall, CW3 0AL - 07985 982786
Sunday 23 November 7pm – 1st Weaverham Sea Scout Hall, CW8 3NG - 07941 166 632
Thursday 27 November 7.30pm - Goostrey Village Hall, CW4 8PE - 07940 579723
Friday 28 November 7.30pm - Plumley Village Hall, WA16 0TR - 01565 722 259
Saturday 29 November 7.30pm - Hoole Community Centre, CH2 3AP - 01244 342741

A Sherlock-ian solo performance as Dr Watson tells the Moriarty story from his perspective. 1894. Watson is alone. Holmes and his beloved Mary are gone, but rumours swirl in the fog of London and it’s time to set the record straight. So, Watson tells his tale, taking the audience on a journey across Europe to a dramatic finale at the Reichenbach Falls. Performed by Tim Marriott (BBC’s The Brittas Empire), co-written and directed by Bert Coules (BBC Head Writer the Further adventures of Sherlock Holmes).

Suitable for Adults & 12+.

Light in the Darkness by Cumberlandia Collective

Friday 5 December 7pm - Macclesfield Library, SK10 1EE - 01625 374000
Saturday 6 December 7.30pm – Tarvin Community Centre, CH3 8LY TBC - 07976 309974

Spend an evening embracing the wildness of winter with spine-tingling live song and music and spell-binding wintery tales. “In winter, when the green earth is sleeping beneath a blanket of snow, this is the time for storytelling.” Light in the Darkness by Tatie Pot Collective, is inspired by the traditions of the British Isles, and the turning year. This show is for anyone who finds winter hard, and who finds the commercial juggernaut surrounding Christmas a bit overwhelming. It’s designed as an antidote to all that. Re-connecting us to the rhythms of the natural world through stories and song, as we cycle through the darkness and back to the light once more.

Suitable for Adults & 10+.

Performance details and online booking is available on the CRTA website

Tickets