Rat Pack back in town

Featuring Des Colman from Eastenders as Sammy Davis, the show captures the music and comedy, but also the personalities of the stars.

Special guest will be singer-songwriter Kenny Lynch.

Box office: 01524 582803 or www.lancaster.gov.uk

Blackpool Ghost Walks step out around the resort over February half-term. The nightly spooky strolls, from February 14-21, take in the town’s most haunted hotspots including some of its most famous buildings and attractions.

Ghost hunter, author of Haunted Blackpool and founder of Supernatural Events Stephen Mercer recounts tales of mystery and the macabre as well as one or two spooky stories and a few terrifying tales.

The strolls begin on the promenade (meeting at the front of North Pier). Details: www.BlackpoolGhostWalks.co.uk or www.SupernaturalEvents.co.uk

The Red Chair from Clod Ensemble is a contemporary take on storytelling traditions, served with rich language and a dram of whisky

It’s a surreal ballad populated with larger than life characters, told in rich and saucy Scots dialect which draws the audience into the extraordinary world of a troubled family.

Created in collaboration with artist Sarah Cameron and based on her original book, it is performed with the physical vitality that has become a trademark of Clod Ensemble’s work. Woven into the production is an original sound score by co-artistic director Paul Clark.

The show is at Live at LICA at Lancaster University next Thursday evening.

Box office: 01524 594151 or www.liveatlica.org

Some of South America’s most amazing young performers will show off their skills at Blackpool festival Showzam! after being given the opportunity to train with a world-leading circus school.

Columbian company Circolombia takes to the resort’s world-famous circus ring to perform their new show during the festival which runs from February 14 – 18. It’s their only UK performance outside London this year.

Billed as “a unique artistic experience with genuine Latin inspiration,” Circolombia brings a team of highly skilled and powerful performers to perform terrifying live stunts.

Box office: 01253 478222 or www.showzam.co.uk

Rove is a new theatre show from J. Fergus Evans, coming to the Lowry in Salford tomorrow and Saturday.

It reflects on the truths and untruths of second hand stories and family legends, as Fergus remembers a song passed through generations of his own family history.

He’s a poet, performer and producer who weaves poetry, theatre, and installation into works rich in real experience and fantasy, in this instance with live folk music performed by Rhiannon Armstrong. Suitable for ages 12+ Box office: 0843 208 6000 or www.thelowry.com

Anna Jordan’s Bruntwood Prize winning play Yen receives its world premiere at The Studio at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre next week.

The play explores a childhood lived without boundaries and the consequences of being forced to grow up on your own.

It tells the story of 16-year-old Hench and 13-year-old Bobbie who live alone with their dog Taliban. Sometimes chaotic mum Maggie visits, occasionally she passes out on the front lawn. But when Jenny knocks on the door, the boys discover a world far beyond what they know...

Chairman of the Bruntwood judging panel, Dame Jenni Murray commended the play for its “beautiful empathy, and a humanity which stood out to all the judges”.

Yen runs from February 18 to March 7. Box Office: 0161 833 9833 or www.royalexchange.co.uk