Birmingham is home to numerous entertainment and arts venues, including three major theatres: the Alexandra, the Hippodrome, and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre (aka Birmingham Rep). The historic 1,347-seat Alexandra was the home of the Gilbert and Sullivan-cultivating D’Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1990s, and other shows that began life there include the recent Here & Now – The Steps Musical.

The Hippodrome, even larger at 1,935 seats, has a wide programming range, including plays, opera, comedy, musicals, and dance. It’s the home of Birmingham Royal Ballet, and has premiered ground-breaking productions like Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby. Birmingham Rep (around 800 seats in its main house) is a prolific producing theatre: shows like East is East and The Snowman, now a beloved West End staple, began here.

How to get there from London: Direct train from London Easton to Birmingham New Street, takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

There are numerous theatres in Manchester, ranging in size and output. The Royal Exchange (759 seats in its main house) is a bold producing venue attracting major artists: actress Maxine Peake is a regular, as is playwright Simon Stephens. The Palace Theatre (1,955 seats) – which once hosted the likes of Judy Garland and Noël Coward – and the Opera House (1,920) – which has premiered major shows like Ghost the Musical, & Juliet, and Bat Out of Hell – are both fantastic places to catch new and touring productions on a grand scale.

Manchester also boasts two great arts centres: the Lowry, which has wonderful art as well as a range of theatre, dance, opera and comedy in its three spaces (indeed, High School Musical was recently seen there), and, if you want to catch cutting-edge new writing in particular, the relatively recent addition HOME. It’s worth looking at the Hope Mill Theatre, too: it’s very intimate, at around 150 seats, but very ambitious, known for revelatory revivals of musicals such as Hair and RENT.

How to get there from London: Direct train from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly, takes about 2 hours and 10 minutes.

Renowned for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare, Stratford is a must-visit for theatre fans. It is home to the world-famous Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), with its work performed in three spaces: the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (around 1,000 seats), the Swan Theatre (around 460), and The Other Place (around 200-250).

This is, of course, the perfect place to watch a Shakespeare play and commune with Stratford’s theatre history: from the Bard himself through to iconic productions such as Ian McKellen and Judi Dench’s Macbeth. But there’s plenty more on offer too, including productions of other canonical plays, new work, adaptations, and family shows: Matilda the Musical began life here. It’s also well worth taking the time to explore Stratford and its rich heritage.

How to get there from London: Train from London Marylebone to Stratford-upon-Avon, with one change, takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Sheffield’s versatile, 980-seater Crucible Theatre is an incredibly exciting producing venue, and, with its three-sided layout, also puts the audience close to the action. Many landmark shows have been developed and premiered here, including musicals Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Standing at the Sky’s Edge, and the play adaptation Life of Pi. The venue also hosts revivals, family shows and comedy.

As well as the Crucible, Sheffield Theatres has under its umbrella the similarly wide-ranging and new writing-championing Playhouse (100-400 seats) and the beautiful Victorian Lyceum (1,068). The latter historic 19th-century building opened with Bizet’s Carmen, went through a phase as a concert hall and bingo venue, and is now a popular receiving house for everything from musicals and opera to comedy and dance.

How to get there from London: Direct train from London St Pancras to Sheffield, takes about 2 hours.

Chichester Festival Theatre is one of the most significant venues outside of London, with a storied history and an impressive rate of transfers to the West End. Its inaugural artistic director, in the 1960s, was Laurence Olivier, who began his new National Theare company there before it came to London. The 1,200-seat venue, surrounded by greenery, has maintained that high standard through its mix of new plays and musicals, thrilling revivals, and lovely family shows.

Major productions which have transferred to the West End include Half a Sixpence, Gypsy, Oliver!, and Crazy for You. The venue also has the intimate 300-seat Minerva space, where you’ll find exciting new work like the recent musical The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (another West End transfer). It’s a great place to catch the next hit before it comes to the capital.

How to get there from London: Direct train from London Victoria to Chichester, takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

The beautiful, historic town of Bath is beloved by Jane Austen acolytes, but it’s just as much of a draw for theatregoers. The Theatre Royal Bath has, in recent years, come to rival Chichester as a regional powerhouse, with its magnificent main space (around 900 seats), its exhilaratingly experimental Ustinov Studio (126 seats), and the Egg (888 seats), dedicated to theatre for children and young people.

Many shows here have transferred to the West End (and some even to Broadway and Hollywood), such as Florian Zeller’s The Father and the recent Ralph Fiennes-starring Grace Pervades. The multi-genre Ustinov is fantastically eclectic, too, with opera, dance, music and theatre all featuring, often fascinatingly combined or in conversation. Like Chichester, it’s a good one to visit if you want bragging rights that you’ve seen the next big thing before anyone else.

How to get there from London: Direct train from London Paddington or Waterloo to Bath Spa, takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes.