TNT Theatre Britain has announced a series of productions for the town, known as The Peel Plays, by some of the world's greatest writers.

Both Peel Centenary Centre and Peel Castle will be used as venues for the plays.

>> Listen to John Gregory's interview with Mervin Stokes by clicking the play icon to the right

The first one is the Charles Dickens's classic A Christmas Carol, which begins at the Centenary Centre on Monday (November 9).

TNT Theatre Britain was responsible for the production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at Peel Castle earlier this year.

Mervin Stokes, who assists TNT Theatre Britain with their Island productions, said: 'They are a very exciting company – I have known them for sometime.They are based in Munich but they put performances on all over the world.

'They do a great deal of work in Japan and China, in fact they are coming direct from Beijing to do a Christmas Carol at the Centenary Centre.

'They do a very long Shakespeare season in Summer consisting of about 60 venues which is all outdoor work in castles.

'They have taken Peel Castle under their wing and added us into their annual tour and next summer they will be coming to do Othello.

'What they are trying to do is make Peel their home and their base and they are coming with 11 plays over the next two years.'

He described TNT Theatre Britain as a 'marvellous company' and said tickets were selling well for A Christmas Carol.

Mervin, who is a former general manager of the Gaiety Theatre, added: 'The great thing about the Centenary Centre in Peel is that it is right for this sort of production, it is not an enormous building, it is intimate.

'There is a whole feast of productions coming to Peel and they have fallen in love with Peel.'

Theatre lovers can look forward to an excellent programme by TNT Theatre Britain.

Future productions include the Oscar Wilde classics The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw and Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (all at Peel Centenary Centre).

In addition they will be performing the Shakespeare plays Othello and As You Like It at Peel Castle.

A Christmas Carol starts at Peel Centenary Centre on Monday and runs until Thursday, November 12, nightly at 7.30pm with matinees at 2.30pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Tickets are £18 for adults and £12 for children (evening performances) and all seats for matinees are £10. They are available from Peter Norris Music, Douglas, Celtic Gold, Peel, Shakti Man, Ramsey and Thompson Travel, Port Erin.

A Christmas Carol is being sponsored by Words and Spaces printers with the overall sponsor being Tower Insurance assisted by Manx Radio.
Isle of Man Newspapers will be keeping our readers informed of all the plays.

www.centenarycentre.com