IT'S the eighth Spring Season as artistic and executive director for James Haddrell, who has worked at Greenwich Theatre for 13 years.

“We planned ‘The Cat in the Hat’ for the February half term, it’s the production that premiered at the National Theatre so that’s very exciting for us, and we’re also going on tour with a children’s show called ‘Momo’. It’s based on a book by Michael Ende, who is famous for ‘The Neverending Story’.

“We’re presenting it in partnership with Filament Theatre for two weeks at the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon, four performances at Stratford Circus and then a week here from April 1-5.”

Another big name title coming to Greenwich from the West End is ‘Dinosaur Zoo’ for four “puppet-tastic” shows on Saturday and Sunday, April 12 and 13, with Danger Seats in the front row! Children brave enough can also meet and greet the dinosaurs afterwards.

The Flanagan Collective, formed in 2010, will set up shop at Greenwich Theatre from Tuesday, March 11, to Saturday, March 15, with their original show ‘Beulah’, based on William Blake’s work and featuring two performers switching between 10 instruments.

“This is the best show I’ve ever seen at the Edinburgh Fringe in all the years I’ve been going,” exclaimed James. “It’s my all-time favourite, so I’m very excited about bringing it to Greenwich.”

Another emerging theatre company to make their mark in the Spring Season will be The Faction. “They have been around for a little while now,” said James, “and they’re a really exciting ensemble of performers who stage sharp, modern adaptations of classic plays. Every year they produce a traditional rep season, three shows at once by the same cast.

“Every year they sell out all the shows at the New Diorama Theatre in Euston, so for the first time this year they will transfer the full line-up to Greenwich, appearing here between Tuesday, February 25, and Saturday, March 1, with two performances of Hamlet, two of Thebes and three of Friedrich Schiller’s rarely performed classic, The Robbers.”

The Spring Season has a musical flavour too with ‘Avenue Q’, (April 23 to May 11) which was a cult hit in the West End, and the award-winning musical ‘The Last Five Years’ (May 15-17) by Jason Robert Brown about two New Yorkers who fall in and out of love over the course of five years - told backwards and chronologically.

For the full programme of events, including the dates and times of all Greenwich Theatre’s Spring Season productions, visit www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk.