A story of passion across the class divide, a Victorian thriller, a Scottish fishing tragedy and a dark comedy inspired by Mary Queen of Scots are some of the highlights of Perth Theatre’s spring season announced on Tuesday 18 September.

Perth Theatre’s artistic director, Lu Kemp, said:

“Following a busy, exciting opening year, we have programmed our second year to ensure we have a wide range of shows – to appeal to all tastes and ages. We have listened to feedback from our audiences to bring them more of what they have asked for - classic thrillers and musicals - and more of what they enjoyed from last season, great stories told with live music”

We are inviting a broad range of talent in to work at the theatre across the next year from the most interesting directors working on the Scottish stage – including Wils Wilson and young up and coming director Shilpa T-Hyland - to companies who bring fresh ideas and perspectives to familiar stories as we welcome Fuel who are producing installation Charlie Ward and a new stage version of the exhilarating tale of climbing survival Touching the Void.”

Cross Trust Young Director Award-winner Shilpa T-Hyland directs Perth Theatre’s production of Zinnie Harris’s adaptation of Strindberg’s Miss Julie in Perth Theatre’s Joan Knight Studio from Saturday 16 to Saturday 23 February. It is the mid-1920s and the General Strike is in full swing. On a stifling Midsummer's evening - while the protest explodes into dancing outside - Miss Julie, the Laird's daughter, and John, the Laird's manservant, reach out to each other. Set alight by the promise of revolution escalating outside, the pair grasp at the possibility of a different life until only one desperate choice remains.

Kai Fischer directs Perth Theatre’s production of Patrick Hamilton’s timeless Victorian thriller Gaslight from Saturday 23 March to Saturday 6 April. Bella Manningham is going mad: items go missing in her house; pictures disappear from walls, brooches, rings, keys, and pencils vanish, only to turn up in the most surprising places. But what is the connection between all the strange goings-on around her and a violent murder and robbery twenty years ago? A mystery with shades of Film Noir, Patrick Hamilton’s thriller, which coined the term “gaslighting”, was the longest running non-musical on Broadway.

Perth Theatre and Morna Young present Lost at Sea directed by Ian Brown from Saturday 27 April to Saturday 4 May. A storm is brewing in a small fishing village. A young woman returns home, searching for answers about her father's death. Featuring the voices of fishermen and their families in their own words - with music, songs and Scots language – Lost at Sea is the lyrical and powerfully evocative story of a North-East fishing family.

The above Perth Theatre produced shows will be on sale on Tuesday 18 September.

Also on sale on Tuesday 18 September, Rosie Kay Dance Company’s 5 SOLDIERS: The Body is the Front Line in association with The British Army in Perth Theatre on Tuesday 5 February is a thrilling and humane portrait of army life in told through intense dance theatre.

Girls’ Night OOT!  from Insideout Theatre Productions in Perth Theatre on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 March is a hen night not to forget featuring a smash hit retro soundtrack from the 60’s to the present day.

Based on Joe Simpson’s best-selling memoir, turned BAFTA-winning film, Touching the Void in Perth Theatre from Thursday 7 until Sunday 10 March charts Joe’s mental battle as he teeters on the brink of death and despair in a crevasse from which he can’t possibly climb to safety. The Fuel, Bristol Old Vic, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and Royal & Derngate Northampton co-production is adapted by David Greig and directed by Tom Morris.

On sale soon, Perth Theatre and House of Mirth’s dark one-woman comedy Marie will open in Perth Theatre’s Joan Knight Studio on Friday 29 and Saturday 30 March before touring rural venues across the area. It’s Thursday night in the Prince Arthur and their latest theme night is in full swing. Landlady Liz is run off her feet, whilst husband Barry struggles to get into his new costume. Elsewhere in London, a young woman from Edinburgh steps off a train, determined to make her dreams a reality. Fast-paced and irreverent, Marie is a darkly comic new play inspired by the life of Mary Queen of Scots, with a distinctly modern twist. Also on sale soon, The Manipulate Festival, Scotland's festival of visual theatre, puppetry and animation, comes to Perth Theatre in February. Plus, there will be a series of Studio Season shows in Perth Theatre’s Joan Knight Studio throughout March.

And there is plenty for theatre lovers to enjoy between now and the spring season with a range of shows already on sale as Lu Kemp explained:

“We have a wide programme for young people, including a Christmas show for 2 - 5- year-olds, the rib-tickling, snow-charming Polar Bears Go Up! And, to mark 100 years since the end of WW1, we have a programme of events leading up to Armistice Day: the exciting final part of The 306 trilogy and the brilliant Charlie Ward an immersive audience experience in the Joan Knight Studio.”

Autumn shows for children and families include Barrowland Ballet’s Tiger Tale (age 7+), the story of a visiting tiger in an explosion of colour and movement, and a vibrant retelling of Black Beauty (age 5+) which will delight fans of the book and TV show and introduce a new generation to the classic tale.

Perth’s family panto Snow White and the Seven Dames in Perth Theatre is the usual madcap mash-up of songs, laugher and silliness. And, in a Christmas treat for the youngest family members, the super cute The Polar Bears Go Up! comes to Perth Theatre’s Joan Knight Studio for a fun festive run. Young people (aged 6+) can come to the rescue of a Prince Charming who doesn’t feel very ‘charming’. Or heroic. And he isn’t ready to save the kingdom in Prince Charming next Easter – on sale soon.

The autumn programme continues with The National Theatre of Scotland and Perth Theatre’s co-produced WW1 trilogy, The 306 which reaches its dramatic conclusion with The 306: Dusk, a new piece of music theatre about memory and forgetting, friendship and betrayal.

Audiences can take to their beds in a makeshift wartime hospital for the interactive and immersive Charlie Ward, reliving the experiences of soldiers injured in the Great War.

The Dolls Dragged Up in Perth Theatre from Thursday 8 to Saturday 10 November and  Glasgow Girls from Wednesday 30 January until Sunday 3 February are perfect girls (and boys!) night out material.

Customers booking for Miss Julie, Gaslight and Lost at Sea together will receive a 10% season discount. Click here for tickets and info or call Horsecross Arts Box Office on 01738 621031.