New theatre: Howard Jacobson’s The Mighty Walzer at The Royal Exchange

The Royal Exchange’s season of world premieres continues with an adaptation of Howard Jacobson’s novel The Mighty Walzer. The play is a funny and touching homage to Jacobson’s youth in Manchester, starring Elliot Levey and Tracy-Ann Oberman (pictured). Beginning at the end of June, it will have a month-long run in the main theatre. Levey is familiar presence on stage on screen who recently appeared in a West End production of Coriolanus, alongside Tom Hiddleston. He plays Oliver Walzer, a shy Jewish kid who doesn’t know how to talk to girls. However, he plays a mean game of ping pong, and channels his frustrated adolescent lust into the game he loves. That is until the enigmatic Lorna Peachley and the prospect of a place at Cambridge make him take his eye off the ball. Oberman, who you will probably know from EastEnders and/or Doctor Who, plays the Walzer family’s matriarch, Sadie.

Thu 30 Jun – Sat 30 Jul, Royal Exchange Theatre, St. Ann’s Square, Manchester M2 7DH, Tel: 0161 833 9833, Show times and prices vary, www.royalexchange.co.uk