The lights were off and curtains drawn at the Edinburgh Playhouse for a devastating 536 days before its re-opening in September. But with the announcement of a packed and varied 2021/22 programme, there are plenty of reasons to return to the historic theatre this October. Here are some of the touring shows hitting the stage.

Chicago
The criminally hot musical following the lives of a group of murderous women in jail is the current show gracing the Edinburgh Playhouse stage and will be running until Saturday 2 October. Famous for its 2002 film adaptation, starring Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah (to name a few), the show's soundtrack will no doubt delight audiences with well-known songs 'All That Jazz', 'Razzle Dazzle' and 'He Had It Coming'.
Some tickets are still available for the final few performances.

Riverdance
The 25th Anniversary tour of this iconic Irish dancing spectacular is coming to the Playhouse on Tuesday and Wednesday 5 and 6 October. Expect a new take on the magical show, with a reworked soundtrack by composer Bill Whelan and reimagined stage production by producer Moya Doherty and director John McColgan.
Get your tickets now.

Blood Brothers
Next up Willy Russel's multi-award-winning Blood Brothers, the story of a set of twins who were separated at birth, returns to the stage from Tuesday 12 October - Saturday 16 October. Featuring popular songs 'Bright New Day', 'Marilyn Monroe' and 'Tell Me It's Not True', this musical never fails to pull on the heartstrings, even after being performed over 10,000 times in London's West End.
Tickets are available to purchase now.

Beauty And The Beast
After The Lion King was cut short in March 2020, Disney musicals are making a triumphant comeback at Edinburgh Playhouse this October with the classic yarn Beauty And The Beast. Running from Thursday 21 October - Saturday 27 November, this new production of Disney's 'tale as old as time' features the iconic music of Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and returns with six epic performances.
Tickets are now available for purchase.

Theatre Director at the Edinburgh Playhouse, Colin Marr said: 'I am absolutely thrilled to be able to reopen our theatre doors after more than 500 days of closure. I can't wait to welcome back my full team, our wonderful audience members and the incredible gigs, comedians and musicals that we've all missed so much this last year and a half.'

When it comes to Covid-19 safety, some new measures have been put in place, Marr explained: 'As an organisation, Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), who own the Playhouse, are asking everyone to either be double vaccinated or have evidence of a negative lateral flow test within the last two days. People will have to prove that to us at the door, if they can't do that we will offer them a lateral flow test, which only takes around 15 minutes. There will be far more hand sanitiser than before, we will be reminding people to wear masks as they come in and we'll be using more doors.

We'd be lying if we said we weren't a bit nervous about [returning in the age of Covid-19], but there are so many measures in place that I think [audience members] will find it a safer environment than they thought before.'

Check out all upcoming Edinburgh Playhouse shows at atgtickets.com/venues/edinburgh-playhouse.