Vampires in Dundee, Pinter's The Birthday Party revived in Manchester, great circus in London – it's a good week for theatre in all its many manifestations
*Scotland*
The big news this week is the long-awaited stage premiere of cult Swedish novel and movie Let the Right One In, about the unlikely friendship between a bullied boy and a vampire: John Tiffany and Steven Hoggett direct Jack Thorne's script at Dundee Rep. This looks really good too: AJ Taudevin's Some Other Mother, the story of a girl and her mother awaiting their application for asylum. It's at the Adam Smith in Kirkcaldy on Thursday before moving to the Traverse in Edinburgh over the weekend.
Caryl Churchill's remarkable play Far Away, set in a world constantly at war, is revived by Dominic Hill at the Citizens in Glasgow, alongside her little-known play Seagulls. Theatre Uncut's Dalgety, by David Greig, considers social justice at Oran Mor from Monday. This weekend at Edinburgh's Traverse, you can see Flann O'Brien's The Poor Mouth and Peter Arnott's Why Do You Stand There in the Rain? – which had far too short a run at Edinburgh last year and which deals with the 1932 march by first-world-war veterans on Washington. The former then goes to the Tron in Glasgow, and the latter heads to Oran Mor and then to Greenock. Find out more here. David Greig's adaptation of Calum's Road, about a dying way of Scottish life, then heads into the Traverse.
*North*
A Wondrous Place, four short plays about life in the north, is at the Crucible Studio this weekend, before it heads to Northern Stage in Newcastle from Tuesday. Also in Sheffield, the fine revival of The History Boys continues. The TakeOver festival looks good at the Theatre Royal in York and features The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, Les Enfants Terribles' WW1 drama The Trench, and the double bill of Chapel Street and Bitch Boxer. Before that, you can see the fine revival of Githa, about the Edwardian female author of Rutherford & Son. Two's Company in Harrogate features some wonderful one-on-one or intimate shows. I can thoroughly recommend The Great Spavaldos and My Heart is Hitchhiking Down Peachtree Street. Also at Harrogate tonight: Murder, Marple and Me, Philip Meeks's play about Margaret Rutherford. And on Wednesday: Rob Crouch is terrific as Oliver Reed in Wild Thing. Ellie Harrison's solo show exploring the stiff upper lip, Etiquette of Grief, is at Hull Truck.
The very beautiful Beautiful Thing is at Liverpool Playhouse this weekend, before it moves to West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds next week. Michael Pinchbeck's The Middle and Sheila Ghelani's Rat, Rose, Bird should make a terrific double bill at Z Arts in Manchester as part of Word of Warning tonight. Not Until We Are Lost by Ockham's Razor, inspired by Thoreau, is very lovely at the Lowry until Sunday. Blanche McIntyre has proved herself over and over (most recently with a thrilling The Seagull) and now she tackles early Pinter: The Birthday Party is at the Royal Exchange in Manchester.
*Wales*
Tonight, the double bill of Luke Barnes's Chapel Street and Charlotte Josephine's Bitch Boxer is at Aberystwyth Arts Centre. Also there this week: Living Pictures' Diary of a Madman. The latter then moves to the Riverfront in Newport and Pontardawe Arts Centre. Find details of the full tour here. Say It With Flowers may not be a great play but it has the popular touch; it's at Clwyd Theatr Cymru, where it's also a last chance for ThickSkin's terrific The Static and Terence Rattigan's The Winslow Boy.
*Central and east*
Sean Foley directs Middleton's 17th-century comedy, A Mad World My Masters, in the Swan in Stratford-upon-Avon and relocates it to Soho in the 1950s. Daniel Bye's thought-provoking performance lecture, The Price of Everything, is at Warwick Arts Centre next Thursday and Friday. Also check out the dance-theatre show for families, Varmints, on Tuesday and Wednesday. There's a fantastic programme for children in Leicester too, where the Curve and others venues play host to the Spark festival. Brian Friel's beautiful Dancing at Lughnasa is worth a journey to the Royal and Derngate in Northampton.
The Pulse festival is in full swing in Ipswich. The Girl With the Iron Claws, Mess, The Forest & the Field and Bitch Boxer are just a few of the shows on offer. Our Share of Tomorrow, a story of heartbreak, is at the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket on Saturday. The History Boys continues at the Mercury in Colchester. Curious explore the moment before everything changes in Best Before End at Norwich Arts Centre tonight. Click here for more information.
*South*
Chris Goode's immersive non-fiction storytelling show, The Forest & the Field, is at TR2 in Plymouth until tomorrow, and that's followed by Curious Directive's Edinburgh hit, After the Rainfall, a story that cleverly links past and present. The new South Devon Arts Centre in Totnes opens on Sunday with Peter Oswald's poetic drama, Lucifer Saved. Find out more here. The Northcott in Exeter hosts Andrew Hilton's light-touch revival of Two Gentlemen of Verona. Bristol Old Vic hosts some terrific family shows this weekend: Complicite's Lionboy, Shona Reppe's clever and witty The Curious Scrapbook of Josephine Bean, and Laura Mugridge's The Watery Journey of Nereus Pike. Amanda Whittington's latest is The Dug Out at the Tobacco Factory, about a legendary Bristol night club. The brilliant Headlong production of The Seagull flies into the Theatre Royal in Bath.
It's your last chance for the Brighton fringe this weekend. Victoria Melody's delightful Major Tom is at the Gulbenkian in Canterbury on Sunday. The Shop of Little Horrors is at the North Wall in Oxford and has nothing to do with the musical of similar name but is a new gruesome puppet piece from Pickled Image.
*London*
Lots of fantastic circus in London this week: the awe-inspiring Knee Deep is well worth a trip to Riverside Studios. Beyond, the new show from Australian circus stars Circa, begins on Monday at the London Wonderground. Circus Maximus, a sort of X Factor for circus acts, reaches its climax tonight and tomorrow at Udderbelly, and from Sunday you can catch Pirates of the Carabina's Flown, a show in which it's not just the aerialists but the scenery flying through the air.
New shows this week include Even Stillness Breathes Softly Against a Brick Wall, a story of modern urban life, at Soho; the arrival of Rutherford & Son at St James; and a 25th-anniversary revival of Liz Lochhead's Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off at the King's Head. Kim Cattrall stars in Marianne Elliott's revival of Tennessee Williams's Sweet Bird of Youth at the Old Vic. Nick Field's one-man show about the nature of freedom, Adventure/Misadventure, joins Angela Clerkin's tale of murder and anger, The Bear, at Oval House.
Mission Drift, the TEAM's haunting dissection of American capitalism, should not be missed at the Shed at the National Theatre. John Barry and Don Black's musical, Billy, based on Billy Liar, is at the Union. Ira Brand and Foxy and Husk are well worth checking out at the Yard next week. Belarus Free Theatre are at the Young Vic with Trash Cuisine, which examines capital punishment. A new collaboration between Alexi Kaye Campbell and Shared Experience should be quite an event, too: Polly Teale directs Bracken Moor, set in 1930s Yorkshire, at the Tricycle from next Thursday. Machiavelli's The Mandrake has a rare revival at the Jack Studio and Paradise Lost is staged at Trinity Buoy Wharf. Also, Howard Brenton adapts Strindberg with Dances of Death at the Gate.
Idle Motion's Bletchley Park story, That Is All You Need to Know, is at Redbridge Drama Centre next Thursday and Greenwich theatre the following day. Natasha Davis maps the body in Internal Terrains at Chelsea theatre tomorrow. Sadly there is no Watch This Space season outside the National this summer, but the Lyric's outdoor programme, Theatre in the Square, features Push by Tangled Feet this week. Reported by guardian.co.uk 19 hours ago.
*Scotland*
The big news this week is the long-awaited stage premiere of cult Swedish novel and movie Let the Right One In, about the unlikely friendship between a bullied boy and a vampire: John Tiffany and Steven Hoggett direct Jack Thorne's script at Dundee Rep. This looks really good too: AJ Taudevin's Some Other Mother, the story of a girl and her mother awaiting their application for asylum. It's at the Adam Smith in Kirkcaldy on Thursday before moving to the Traverse in Edinburgh over the weekend.
Caryl Churchill's remarkable play Far Away, set in a world constantly at war, is revived by Dominic Hill at the Citizens in Glasgow, alongside her little-known play Seagulls. Theatre Uncut's Dalgety, by David Greig, considers social justice at Oran Mor from Monday. This weekend at Edinburgh's Traverse, you can see Flann O'Brien's The Poor Mouth and Peter Arnott's Why Do You Stand There in the Rain? – which had far too short a run at Edinburgh last year and which deals with the 1932 march by first-world-war veterans on Washington. The former then goes to the Tron in Glasgow, and the latter heads to Oran Mor and then to Greenock. Find out more here. David Greig's adaptation of Calum's Road, about a dying way of Scottish life, then heads into the Traverse.
*North*
A Wondrous Place, four short plays about life in the north, is at the Crucible Studio this weekend, before it heads to Northern Stage in Newcastle from Tuesday. Also in Sheffield, the fine revival of The History Boys continues. The TakeOver festival looks good at the Theatre Royal in York and features The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, Les Enfants Terribles' WW1 drama The Trench, and the double bill of Chapel Street and Bitch Boxer. Before that, you can see the fine revival of Githa, about the Edwardian female author of Rutherford & Son. Two's Company in Harrogate features some wonderful one-on-one or intimate shows. I can thoroughly recommend The Great Spavaldos and My Heart is Hitchhiking Down Peachtree Street. Also at Harrogate tonight: Murder, Marple and Me, Philip Meeks's play about Margaret Rutherford. And on Wednesday: Rob Crouch is terrific as Oliver Reed in Wild Thing. Ellie Harrison's solo show exploring the stiff upper lip, Etiquette of Grief, is at Hull Truck.
The very beautiful Beautiful Thing is at Liverpool Playhouse this weekend, before it moves to West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds next week. Michael Pinchbeck's The Middle and Sheila Ghelani's Rat, Rose, Bird should make a terrific double bill at Z Arts in Manchester as part of Word of Warning tonight. Not Until We Are Lost by Ockham's Razor, inspired by Thoreau, is very lovely at the Lowry until Sunday. Blanche McIntyre has proved herself over and over (most recently with a thrilling The Seagull) and now she tackles early Pinter: The Birthday Party is at the Royal Exchange in Manchester.
*Wales*
Tonight, the double bill of Luke Barnes's Chapel Street and Charlotte Josephine's Bitch Boxer is at Aberystwyth Arts Centre. Also there this week: Living Pictures' Diary of a Madman. The latter then moves to the Riverfront in Newport and Pontardawe Arts Centre. Find details of the full tour here. Say It With Flowers may not be a great play but it has the popular touch; it's at Clwyd Theatr Cymru, where it's also a last chance for ThickSkin's terrific The Static and Terence Rattigan's The Winslow Boy.
*Central and east*
Sean Foley directs Middleton's 17th-century comedy, A Mad World My Masters, in the Swan in Stratford-upon-Avon and relocates it to Soho in the 1950s. Daniel Bye's thought-provoking performance lecture, The Price of Everything, is at Warwick Arts Centre next Thursday and Friday. Also check out the dance-theatre show for families, Varmints, on Tuesday and Wednesday. There's a fantastic programme for children in Leicester too, where the Curve and others venues play host to the Spark festival. Brian Friel's beautiful Dancing at Lughnasa is worth a journey to the Royal and Derngate in Northampton.
The Pulse festival is in full swing in Ipswich. The Girl With the Iron Claws, Mess, The Forest & the Field and Bitch Boxer are just a few of the shows on offer. Our Share of Tomorrow, a story of heartbreak, is at the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket on Saturday. The History Boys continues at the Mercury in Colchester. Curious explore the moment before everything changes in Best Before End at Norwich Arts Centre tonight. Click here for more information.
*South*
Chris Goode's immersive non-fiction storytelling show, The Forest & the Field, is at TR2 in Plymouth until tomorrow, and that's followed by Curious Directive's Edinburgh hit, After the Rainfall, a story that cleverly links past and present. The new South Devon Arts Centre in Totnes opens on Sunday with Peter Oswald's poetic drama, Lucifer Saved. Find out more here. The Northcott in Exeter hosts Andrew Hilton's light-touch revival of Two Gentlemen of Verona. Bristol Old Vic hosts some terrific family shows this weekend: Complicite's Lionboy, Shona Reppe's clever and witty The Curious Scrapbook of Josephine Bean, and Laura Mugridge's The Watery Journey of Nereus Pike. Amanda Whittington's latest is The Dug Out at the Tobacco Factory, about a legendary Bristol night club. The brilliant Headlong production of The Seagull flies into the Theatre Royal in Bath.
It's your last chance for the Brighton fringe this weekend. Victoria Melody's delightful Major Tom is at the Gulbenkian in Canterbury on Sunday. The Shop of Little Horrors is at the North Wall in Oxford and has nothing to do with the musical of similar name but is a new gruesome puppet piece from Pickled Image.
*London*
Lots of fantastic circus in London this week: the awe-inspiring Knee Deep is well worth a trip to Riverside Studios. Beyond, the new show from Australian circus stars Circa, begins on Monday at the London Wonderground. Circus Maximus, a sort of X Factor for circus acts, reaches its climax tonight and tomorrow at Udderbelly, and from Sunday you can catch Pirates of the Carabina's Flown, a show in which it's not just the aerialists but the scenery flying through the air.
New shows this week include Even Stillness Breathes Softly Against a Brick Wall, a story of modern urban life, at Soho; the arrival of Rutherford & Son at St James; and a 25th-anniversary revival of Liz Lochhead's Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off at the King's Head. Kim Cattrall stars in Marianne Elliott's revival of Tennessee Williams's Sweet Bird of Youth at the Old Vic. Nick Field's one-man show about the nature of freedom, Adventure/Misadventure, joins Angela Clerkin's tale of murder and anger, The Bear, at Oval House.
Mission Drift, the TEAM's haunting dissection of American capitalism, should not be missed at the Shed at the National Theatre. John Barry and Don Black's musical, Billy, based on Billy Liar, is at the Union. Ira Brand and Foxy and Husk are well worth checking out at the Yard next week. Belarus Free Theatre are at the Young Vic with Trash Cuisine, which examines capital punishment. A new collaboration between Alexi Kaye Campbell and Shared Experience should be quite an event, too: Polly Teale directs Bracken Moor, set in 1930s Yorkshire, at the Tricycle from next Thursday. Machiavelli's The Mandrake has a rare revival at the Jack Studio and Paradise Lost is staged at Trinity Buoy Wharf. Also, Howard Brenton adapts Strindberg with Dances of Death at the Gate.
Idle Motion's Bletchley Park story, That Is All You Need to Know, is at Redbridge Drama Centre next Thursday and Greenwich theatre the following day. Natasha Davis maps the body in Internal Terrains at Chelsea theatre tomorrow. Sadly there is no Watch This Space season outside the National this summer, but the Lyric's outdoor programme, Theatre in the Square, features Push by Tangled Feet this week. Reported by guardian.co.uk 19 hours ago.