‘This new interpretation honours the heart of the original story,’ say producersThe central character in one of the most popular plays of the century will be played by a woman for the first time in a new production coming to Leicester.Charlie Brooks and Joe McFadden play Chris’s parents (photo: Rich Lakos)The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time tells the story of Chris Boone. He is gifted with a brilliant mind for numbers, but is unsettled by the unpredictability of people and everyday life. When a neighbour’s dog is discovered killed, Chris comes under suspicion. Chris becomes both detective and suspect, drawn into a mystery that grows darker and more complex with every clue uncovered. What begins as the search for a culprit soon reveals secrets closer to home, forcing Chris to confront truths that will be a test of courage, independence and trust.The play, inspired by the multi-million-selling, internationally acclaimed novel by Mark Haddon, premiered at the National Theatre in 2012. It immediately received widespread acclaim for its groundbreaking theatrical design and emotional storytelling. It remains one of the most successful and acclaimed British plays of the 21st century and has been seen globally by more than five million people.Now, a new production is taking to the stage at the Curve – with a change in the lead role, as Chris will be played by a woman, Alex Keenan, a role alternated by Imi Price.The producers say the casting brings “a fresh perspective to one of contemporary theatre’s most iconic characters,” and that “this new interpretation honours the heart of the original story, inviting audiences to experience it through a new lens”.Keenan and Price join EastEnders favourite Charlie Brooks – best known for her long-running role as Janine Butcher in the soap – and Joe McFadden, known from the BBC’s The Crow Road and Holby City, ITV’s Heartbeat and as the winner of Strictly Come Dancing in 2017. Brooks and McFadden play Chris’s parents, Judy and Ed.The new production is produced by Birmingham Rep and theatre and film company Melting Pot, whose productions have won Oscars, Tony Awards, Baftas and Olivier Awards.The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time runs at the Curve from Tuesday October 20 to Saturday October 24.Continue Reading
Blog
Casting promises ‘fresh perspective’ on modern classic on Leicester stage
Cambridge road reopens after sinkhole filled with concrete
A busy city road closed to traffic in June when a sinkhole appeared has reopened.The hole on Milton Road in Cambridge was first spotted on 22 June and was estimated to be up to 3m (10ft) deep.Cambridgeshire County Council said repairs had been delayed by a damaged sewer. An Anglian Water spokesperson told the BBC it had been fixed towards the end of July.The council thanked “everyone in the community for their patience and understanding”, as well as highways officials “for their hard work and dedication in resolving this complex issue”.
“Sloppy…” – Daniel Farke will surely be concerned as Leeds United star struggles against Liverpool: View
Leeds United ended their pre-season tour in the US by defeating Liverpool 4-2.
Daniel Farke’s men rallied after being two goals down, and there were plenty of positives to take from the game.
In his first pre-season appearance, Dominic Calvert-Lewin netted two goals during his second-half cameo. Brenden Aaronson and Sean Longstaff were also on the scoresheet as the pair impressed.
However, this was not the case for every player and at this point, Farke will surely be worried about one of his players’ struggles in pre-season.
Ao Tanaka continues poor run of form against Liverpool
In his player ratings article, Graham Smyth gave Ao Tanaka a four out of ten. This was the lowest rating he handed out to any Leeds player.
When analysing Tanaka’s performance, Smyth said, “Dallied on the ball and was sloppy with it a few times in the first half. Tried to get a foot in but it wasn’t a good performance.”
This comes after he recently gave the ball away in pre-season against Wrexham and the Championship side scored as a result.
It’s also worth noting that prior to pre-season, Tanaka’s costly mistake against Brazil led to Japan conceding a late goal which knocked them out of the World Cup.
So taking all of this into account, Farke will surely be concerned with his midfielder’s run of form. But luckily for Leeds, Tanaka still has a handful of pre-season games to get back to his best before the Premier League season kicks off.
Sean Longstaff may have leapfrogged Ao Tanaka in the pecking order at Leeds
Whilst there’s still plenty of time for things to change, you’d imagine that if our opening Premier League game against Forest was this weekend, Longstaff would be ahead of Tanaka in the pecking order when it came to potentially starting.
Longstaff’s performance against Liverpool earned him an eight out of ten in Smyth’s player ratings. A stark contrast to the four Tanaka was given.
“Helped change the game with his aggression and willingness to run. Deserved his goal, scruffy as it was,” Smyth said regarding Longstaff’s performance against Liverpool.
Longstaff’s debut season in West Yorkshire did not go to plan. Next season, however, could be the midfielder’s coming-out party at Leeds.
The 28-year-old will be hoping to start more than the 10 Premier League games he managed last season. But if he continues to impress whilst Tanaka struggles, he won’t be doing his chances any harm when it comes to being a regular part of the starting XI next season.
0%
Love0%
Funny0%
Wow0%
Sad0%
AngryTwo cars taken off road in busy day for Staffordshire road crime team
Two cars were taken off the road, one as a stolen vehicle with no insurance, the other for no full licenceTwo cars were taken off the road in a busy day for road crime officers in a Staffordshire town.The first car was stopped before a search found it was stolen, had no insurance and had been bought by its current owner without knowledge of its origin.The two cars were seized by Staffordshire Police’s Road Crime Team. Photo: StaffsRCTA spokesman for Staffordshire Police Road Crime team said: “This cloned vehicle was sighted in Cannock today, road crime team officers stopped this using tactics to prevent a pursuit.“Turns out it was a stolen motor vehicle and innocently purchased, but also having no insurance.”A second car was stopped and seized after both the driver and passenger were found to have provisional licences.A spokesman for Staffordshire Police Road Crime team said: “This vehicle was of interest to the police for another matter, stopped in Cannock whereby the driver, a provisional licence holder, thought he could be supervised by another provisional licence holder.”Continue Reading
‘Full verbal agreement’ – £86m Liverpool target set to sign for Premier League rivals – Read Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool fans are naturally getting a bit impatient as they’ve left themselves with a lot of work to do between now and the end of the summer transfer window.The Reds have signed just Victor Munoz and Jeremy Jacquet, but with 3-4 gaping holes to fill in the squad, Andoni Iraola is slowly but steadily running out of options.
In terms of their midfield, they haven’t been linked with too many players, which is a sign that it isn’t a priority.
However, earlier this summer, Liverpool were heavily linked with a move for £86m-rated Ayyoub Bouaddi, who showed his class for Morocco at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
And now, multiple reports have confirmed that the exciting midfielder is close to signing for Manchester City.
Liverpool target Bouaddi to join Manchester City
Florian Plettenberg reports that Bouaddi has a verbal agreement to join Manchester City as they continue to negotiate with Lille.
Other clubs are believed to be in the running, but all the reporting suggests that Bouaddi is on his way to the Etihad Stadium.
🚨⏳ Ayyoub Bouaddi has reached a full verbal agreement with Manchester City.Negotiations with Lille are ongoing.Several other clubs are closely monitoring the situation, but ManCity are currently in pole position. #MCFC @SkySportDE 🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/Esnjh1tz8Z— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) August 3, 2026
“Ayyoub Bouaddi has reached a full verbal agreement with Manchester City. Negotiations with Lille are ongoing,” wrote Plettenberg on X.
“Several other clubs are closely monitoring the situation, but ManCity are currently in pole position.”
Bouaddi is a talented player but is probably one for the future anyway. And for that price, Liverpool won’t be losing too much sleep over missing out on him.
Central Beds Council planning application at Cranfield school branded ‘a complete mess’
Cranfield Church of England Academy (St Paul’s site)A temporary classroom scheme at a Cranfield school “is a complete mess” and “would be thrown out” if submitted by anyone other than Central Bedfordshire Council, a meeting heard.The council’s education department submitted plans for a temporary single-storey building with two extra classrooms at Cranfield Church of England Academy (St Paul’s site), off Braeburn Way.The proposed block will accommodate Year 5 and Year 6 pupils, according to a report to CBC’s development management committee.This which would allow the school to convert from a lower school to a primary school, said the report.Senior planning officer Ben Keen told the committee: “The site consists of nearly three-quarters of an acre of grassland and forms part of the school playing field.“Sport England has removed its holding objection requiring a condition for the sports field to be reinstated eventually,” he said.Conservative Cranfield and Marston Moretaine councillor Sue Clark explained: “We need the school places as the schools in Bedford borough have made the transition to a two-tier education system already.“So it’s essential this goes ahead. There’s an enormous caveat around the highways access arrangements. Flitt Leys Close is already congested.“A parking court will be created out of a small employment area being bought by the developer. There’ll be further double yellow lining towards the school and a zebra crossing installed.“Nine spaces in that small area will be for anyone to park, with the remainder designated for Flitt Leys Close residents losing their on-street parking. That’s for when a reserved matters application comes to committee.“I’d urge you to demand a better solution and then there must be proper enforcement, while the travel plan needs delivering much sooner than six months from today.“There’s a piece of land owned by NHS England next to the school. It’s been suggested that if this was purchased by the council, it would relieve much of the pressure.”Cranfield Parish Council strongly objected to the application on highways grounds.Chartered town planner at planning agents Bidwells Mike Jones said: “The temporary proposals are necessary, as it’s not possible to plan and deliver the required works without impacting on the operation of the school.“There’ve been highways talks around how to shift away from car dependency for drop-off and pick-up. There are extra measures to make pedestrian access safer and encourage non-motorised transport.“We’re actively seeking that school travel plan. It’s not agreed yet. But it’s substantially drafted and ready, subject to minor conversations. More staff parking places are proposed.”Conservative Dunstable West councillor Nigel Young was critical of “an appalling decision to scrap camera cars to enforce school zigzags”, saying: “We have to mitigate against the issues this will cause.“The majority of our schools are plagued by inappropriate parking. We want zigzags wherever they can legally be put, not single yellows. The rest is for assets to get on and purchase the NHS land.”Conservative Clifton, Henlow and Langford councillor Richard Wenham warned: “If this was an application from anyone other than the council, I’m sure this committee would be throwing it out.“It’s truly dreadful this is coming here with now only five weeks of the summer holiday remaining. The chairman should be taking this up with the relevant directors.“None of those mitigations mentioned are likely to be in place before the planning permission for the temporary classrooms has expired. This whole thing is a complete mess.“I find it very hard to support it, although we can’t leave children with nowhere to go for their education in September. The travel plan isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, with no chance of it being implemented before September.“The relevant officers in assets and education should hold their heads in shame to have just foisted this on the committee now.”Liberal Democrat Leighton Linslade North councillor David Bligh, who chairs the committee, added: “It’s not first time the education team has failed to put in an application early enough or appropriately by consulting with other teams.”Independent Potton councillor Tracey Wye suggested: “An emergency traffic management meeting could approve some zigzags.”The Central Bedfordshire Community Network Biggleswade West councillor Hayley Whitaker agreed, saying the school travel plan should also be in place sooner.Councillors approved the development, with eight votes in favour and one against.Continue Reading
Man charged after woman robbed of jewellery in Wolverhampton
Investigations into the incident have been ongoingA man has been charged with robbery following an incident in Wolverhampton in which a woman was allegedly robbed of jewellery while walking with a child.Police arrested Craig Smith, 35, at an address in Bilston on Saturday evening, August 1, as part of an investigation into the incident in the East Park area of the city last week.West Midlands Police said officers detained Smith at the property before charging him with robbery. He has been remanded in custody and was due to appear before Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court on Monday.The charge relates to an incident on Wednesday afternoon, July 29, when a woman was reportedly approached and had jewellery stolen while walking with a child.Investigations into the incident have been ongoing.Continue Reading
Man arrested after crash in Irchester
A man was arrested on Saturday night (August 1) after crash in Wollaston Road, Irchester.Officers from Northants Police were called to the scene of a collision involving a white BMW 1 Series and a white Hyundai ix35.The BMW driver, a 25-year-old man from Leeds, was arrested on suspicion of drink driving.A spokesman for the force said: “Northamptonshire Police were called at around 8.15pm on Saturday, August 1, to reports of a road traffic collision involving a white BMW 1 Series and a white Hyundai ix35 in Wollaston Road, Irchester.“Officers attended the scene and a 25-year-old man from Leeds was arrested on suspicion of drink driving.”Continue Reading
Health alerts issued across the East of England
Amber heat health alerts have been issued across the East of England after temperatures are expected to rise again.Parts of Essex, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire are due to hit 31C on Monday, according to BBC weather. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warned that the weather could significantly impact health and social care services due to the high temperatures, including a rise in deaths, particularly among vulnerable people.The warning is in place from 09:00 BST until the same time on Tuesday.In Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Norfolk and Suffolk temperatures are due to reach up to 30C.Monday is expected to bring the hottest weather of the next seven days, with a surge of hot air moving north from France.On Wednesday the Environment Agency declared more than half of England was in drought. As a result of successive heatwaves hosepipe bans are also in place across the region.Do you have a story suggestion? Contact us below.
Liverpool 2-4 Leeds: Andoni Iraola’s side collapse from 2-0 up to lose final match of United States tour
Liverpool threw away a two-goal lead in spectacular fashion as Leeds won the final match of both teams’ United States tour 4-2.It was all one-way traffic in the first half for Andoni Iraola’s side as Luke Chambers and the returning Florian Wirtz put Liverpool into a two-goal lead. Wirtz’s goal came from a superb Liverpool move involving the impressive Trey Nyoni and Jeremie Frimpong.
Image:
Florian Wirtz celebrates scoring Liverpool’s second goal vs LeedsBut Leeds brought on their better attacking players at half-time in Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Harry Wilson – and the tide turned – with three goals in 13 second-half minutes.
Brenden Aaronson benefitted from Milos Kerkez’s mistake to pull one back, before Calvert-Lewin levelled from Ethan Ampadu’s dangerous long throw.Sean Longstaff completed the comeback with a scuffed finish just two minutes later- before Calvert-Lewin got his second via a carbon copy goal of his first.Both sides now return to England to begin the final part of their pre-season preparations, with the start of the season less than three weeks away.
The key moments from Chicago…7: GOAL! Liverpool take an early lead as Dominik Szoboszlai’s corner is flicked on by Milos Kerkez, allowing Chambers to smash home.Image:
Luke Chambers celebrates giving Liverpool the lead14: WHAT A SAVE! Lucas Nmecha nearly equalises for Leeds but his header from inside the box is kept out brilliantly by Giorgi Mamardashvilli.26: JUST WIDE! Nmecha has another good chance but drags wide from the edge of the box after good work from Dan James.40: GOAL! Liverpool show their clinical edge as Wirtz equalises after a great team move from Frimpong’s cross – after a glorious ball across the pitch from Nyoni.54: WIDE! Leeds bring on Calvert-Lewin and he gets in behind the Liverpool backline, but cannot convert from inside the box.60: GOAL! Kerkez gifts Leeds possession cheaply and Ampadu feeds Aaronson to tuck home a goal back for Leeds.71: GOAL! Calvert-Lewin heads home unmarked at the back post as Joe Rodon headed on Ampadu’s long throw.73: GOAL! Longstaff completes the stunning turnaround as he scuffs home a finish from inside the box, beating Curtis Jones to the ball.84: GOAL! Deja vu! Calvert-Lewin nods in at the back post from another Ampadu long throw.Szoboszlai: We have to take care of set piecesLiverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai to LFCTV:”Now we know we conceded two goals from set pieces, we have to take care of them more.”Last season was one where everything started to be really important on corners, long throws. We have to take care of it, or next season will be the same as last season.”Set pieces, everyone has to do their job, or we won’t concede. We’re also human beings, we are allowed to make mistakes. We have to react, that’s important. We have two games more before the season starts.”Analysis: Iraola has lots to do to get Liverpool readySky Sports’ Sam Blitz:Look, it’s pre-season. Liverpool and Leeds won’t read too much into this. But there are concerns for Andoni Iraola at both ends of the pitch.Yes, Liverpool had a young team out by the time their collapse came – especially given Leeds put their best attackers on the pitch.But it was very much the story of last season. Two of Leeds’ goals came from Ethan Ampadu’s long throws, after they conceded 20 goals from set pieces in the Premier League last season, more than any other side.The goal that allowed Leeds back into the contest came from a Milos Kerkez mistake. Again, mistakes and uncertainty at full-back was another narrative that emerged last season.There were positives for Liverpool. Florian Wirtz looked sharp in his first 45 minutes back and Trey Nyoni looks like a real gem in the making. He can push Ryan Gravenberch for minutes this season.But once Wirtz and Alexander Isak came off at half-time, Liverpool never looked like scoring. With a big injury list at both ends of the pitch, Iraola has a lot of work to do to get ready for the season opener in three weeks’ time.Remaining pre-season fixturesLiverpoolAugust 9: Liverpool vs Monaco – Anfield, 2.30pmAugust 16: Liverpool vs Como – Anfield, 6pmLeedsAugust 8: Leeds vs RB Leipzig – Elland Road, 2pmAugust 12: Leeds vs Man Utd – Dublin, 7.30pm
