The Maltings Theatre, the home of innovative theatre in Hertfordshire, will feature two of the most talked about performances showcasing at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.

This is a one-off chance to see the highly anticipated shows in advance before they grace the festival next month.

No Direction kicked off the season at the beginning of July. The play, directed by Bob Golding, who starred in the Olivier award-winning Morecambe, featured Ronnie Toms (The Rising, The Sociable Plover) and Albert Welling (Dr Who, Cemetery Junction).

The play deals with the contract between the actor and audience and delved into life’s trickier events such as betrayal, loyalty and friendship. There is also a dose of humour providing laughter, leaving the audience with a spring in their step and plenty to talk about afterwards.

Later in the month, Fringe First award-winning writer Jonathan Holloway’s modern new take on the classic gothic melodrama Jekyll and Hyde will be showing.

Unlike the classic tale, Holloway’s version adds a refreshing new twist by fusing live music, grotesque cabaret and black comedy leaving you feeling tarnished and unclean. It is surely to provide a unique, captivating, and exciting late night show.

Also showing later in the month is The Unremarkable Death of Marilyn Monroe from Dyad Productions.

The show has been praised as a ‘masterpiece’, ‘breathtaking’ and ‘a master class’. The play brings to light the truth of the Hollywood legend in this stark confessional from the people closest to her – DiMaggio, Gable, Miller, Hyde and her mother – and reveals the woman behind the glitz and glamour and the events that led to her undisclosed death.

  • Jekyll and Hyde will be showing Wednesday, July 24 and Thursday, July 25 at 8pm, and The Unremarkable Death of Marilyn Monroe will be showing on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27 July at 8pm at The Maltings Arts Theatre, Level 2, The Maltings, St Albans. Details: 07807 521436, maltingsartstheatre.co.uk