Tickets will go on sale later this month for this year's Sidmouth Summer Play Festival at the Manor Pavilion Theatre.

The festival will run from Monday, June 24 until Saturday, September 21, comprising 12 plays over 12 weeks, with a break in the middle for Sidmouth Folk Festival.

This year's offerings include Abigail's Party by Mike Leigh, Yes Prime Minister by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza and and Dial M for Murder by Frederick Knott.

Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, April 24.

The festival is now in its 11th year and is one of the longest repertory theatre seasons in the country. In repertory theatre, a company of actors rehearse and perform back to back plays in house for the duration of the season, often rehearsing the following week's play whilst performing each night. The intense process creates a buzz and brings a vibrant energy to the hosting venue.

The season of plays is run by Paul Taylor Mills, artistic director of Turbine Theatre at Battersea Power Station and previously a producer to Andrew Lloyd Webber.

He said: "We are honoured to be custodians of the Summer Season at the Manor Pavilion Theatre. Working closely with the incredible team at the theatre, we are able to bring 'A Class' productions to Sidmouth."  

Here is the full programme of plays: 

24/06 – 29/06 House Guest by Francis Durbridge 
A classic edge-of-your-seat thriller with all the Durbridge hallmarks of suspense, mystery and murder.
Robert and Stella learn that their son has been kidnapped - not for ransom, but to force them to allow one of the kidnappers to remain in their house. When two police officers arrive, it is revealed that one of the kidnappers has been murdered. However, it is clear that these two are far from what they seem. A highly exciting thriller.
01/07 – 06/07 Hay Fever by Noël Coward 
Novelist David Bliss, and his wife Judith, are hoping for a quiet weekend in the country. When their high-spirited children appear with guests of their own. A houseful of drama waits to be ignited as misunderstandings and tempers flare. With Judith's new flame and David's newest literary 'inspiration' keeping company, the Bliss family lives up to its name as the 'quiet weekend' comes to an exhausting and hilarious finale worthy of Feydeau.
08/07 – 13/07 Perfect Crime by Warren Manzi 
This cat-and-mouse thriller is one of off-Broadway's longest-running hits.
Margaret Thorne Brent, psychiatrist and author, has returned to America with her husband, also a psychiatrist, and settled in an affluent Connecticut community where at least one bizarre murder has taken place. Inspector James Ascher, the local cop, becomes obsessed with Margaret, her patients and their sitting room, where he believes the solution to the murder lies.
15/07 – 20/07 Yes, Prime Minister by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn 
From the writers of the original TV series Yes, Prime Minister comes the equally sharp satirical stage version.
The UK is in crisis: debt is spiralling, unemployment is on the rise and the fragile cabinet coalition, led by Prime Minister Jim Hacker, is at breaking point. When the Foreign Minister of Kumranistan makes a seriously compromising offer of salvation, political machinations, media manipulation and an appeal for divine intervention ensue. 
22/07 – 27/07 Party Piece by Richard Harris 
A fast-paced and very funny play set in the back gardens of feuding neighbours. It is the night of Michael and Roma's fancy dress house-warming party. It looks set to be a lively one until a string of hilarious disasters strike, with a distinct lack of guests, a burning garden shed, a marauding Zimmer frame and the prospect of an irate husband on the prowl.
29/07 – 02/08 God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton
In this award-winning comedy, children will be children, but the adults are usually worse – much worse.
What happens when two sets of parents meet up to deal with the unruly behaviour of their children? A calm and rational debate about the need to teach kids how to behave properly? Or a hysterical night of name-calling, tantrums and tears before bedtime? A gripping dramatic comedy play that dives into the complexities of human nature and relationships.
12/08 – 17/08 Abigail’s Party by Mike Leigh
British suburbanites Laurence and Beverly are entertaining their new neighbours, Angela and Tony as well as Susan, whose teenage daughter Abigail is having a party to which Susan has been dis-invited. Over drinks, snacks, cliches and fatuous small talk, tensions escalate as the marital strain between Beverly and Laurence surfaces. 
Susan's anxiety over Abigail's party accelerates as rock music and God-knows-what permeate the room.
19/08 – 24/08 Looking Good Dead by Peter James 
DS Roy Grace returns in Peter James’ thriller, adapted from the best-selling novel and hit TV show Grace.
Hours after finding a discarded USB memory stick, Tom Bryce inadvertently becomes witness to a vicious murder. Reporting the crime to the police has disastrous consequences, placing him and his family in grave danger. When Detective Superintendent Roy Grace becomes involved, he has his own demons to contend with, while he tries to crack the case in time to save the Bryce family’s lives.
26/08 – 31/08 Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn 
Alan Ayckbourn’s bittersweet comedy about three relationships, in three kitchens, over three consecutive Christmases.
Sidney Hopcroft, a small-time tradesman, persuades wife Jane to throw a Christmas party to find favour with a bank manager and local architect. As the celebrations get under way, class differences and naked ambition combine to hilarious effect as, one by one, the characters seek refuge in Jane’s kitchen. Over the next two years, the Jacksons and Brewster-Wrights take turns to host festivities. But Sidney’s star is on the rise and roles are increasingly reversed as the cracks in the other couples’ marriages begin to show.
02/09 – 07/09 While the Sun Shines by Terence Rattigan 
On the eve of his wedding, the young Earl of Harpenden offers to put up an American Lieutenant for the night. He intends to introduce him to one of his former girlfriends, but when the American mistakes the Earl's fiancée for her, the two of them fall in love before he discovers his mistake. With a French officer also in the race and the fiancée's father adding to the complications, an evening of hilarious fun is the result.
09/09 – 14/09 Deathtrap by Ira Levin 
Unknown dramatist Clifford Anderson has sent his new thriller to award-winning Broadway playwright Sidney Bruhl for comment. Without a success to his credit for some years, Sidney plots with his reluctant wife Myra about how best to plagiarize the young writer's play Deathtrap, and when Clifford turns up to discuss the play with the ‘Master’, events take a sinister turn. This comedic thriller was a Broadway and West End hit.
16/09 – 21/09 Ben Hur by Patrick Barlow
In this play, from the writer of last year’s smash hit The 39 Steps, four actors take on the might of the Roman Empire, attempting to stage the epic tale of  Ben Hur by themselves.
While the actors struggle along through the play, rivalries form and offstage romances interfere. Patrick Barlow weaves his compressed style popularised by The 39 Steps into one of the greatest stories ever told,  complete with a chariot race and a sea battle (with actual water).

To book tickets, visit the Manor Pavilion Theatre website or call 01395 514 413.