Top 5: Theatre shows from The Edge’s captivating autumn season

Directed by Cheryl Martin with the book, music and lyrics by Sarah Woods and Boff Whalley, Sanctuary charts the uplifting, timely tale of one man’s hunt for help and support in a time of hostility and suspicion.

When the young Iranian Alland asks for sanctuary at St. Mary’s, a modest church in a northern town, it sparks a community response informed by each member’s distinct beliefs in what is right. Molly, a church worker, joins with vicar Fiona to fend off the angry vigilantes, while the authorities close ranks beyond the church walls to protect its newest member, as a special service brings the people together in a night of redemption, condemnation and a mounting question about acting on our established ideals of compassion.

Equal-parts tender, stirring and hilarious, Julie Hesmondhalgh’s acclaimed one-woman show explores her distinctly Lancashire childhood, the ability to rise above life’s preordained circumstances and ‘the healing power of daftness’, drawing inspiration from the remarkable words her late father left behind in a box full of notes and diaries dating back to the 1940s.

From Thu 26 to Sat 28 Sep, The Edge’s beloved musical sketch show returns with a run of side-splitting riffs, one-liners and show-stopping musical turns, taking aim at the topical items of the moment with gleeful irreverence and acerbic wit.

Billed as a blend of comedy, clowning and choreography, ACCA Dance Theatre’s hotly anticipated maiden full-length show Occupational Hazard follows a typically fraught day in the life of Becky and Linda, two top flight attendants on a low-budget airline rife with casual, insidious misogyny.

Often confined to tongue-in-cheek levity and rictus grins to keep the plane happy, Becky and Linda navigate consent and relentless unsolicited touching as a female in the service industry, as the show unfolds into a poignant yet funny interrogation of sexism while the audience takes flight on their individual emotional journeys.

Hailed as an ‘agile, vivid piece of storytelling’ by The Scotsman and ‘joyous’ in The Guardian’s glowing five-star review, James Rowland’s Piece of Work presents a spellbinding mix of comedy, storytelling and a dash of Shakespeare’s Hamlet to render a hilarious, heartbreaking road trip through his life.

Returning home following his first time away, James received a letter that turned his life upside down, and ignited a new tour which became a search for the sender, an understanding of home and even the chance to save a life.