WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Wyndhams Theatre
WHEN: 11/4, runs to 18/6 Returns to Trafalgar Theatre 3 May through 10 August 2024 Tickets
Denise Gough’s electrifying performance as a recovering drug addict in this original production which debuted at the revitalised National Theatre deservedly won her a best actress Olivier Award this month.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: National Theatre
WHEN: 16/4, runs to 18/5
A look of bemusement sweeps across our young waiter’s face as he asks us the title of the play we’ve just seen – and we tell him.
WHERE?: BFI
WHEN: 6/4
Sir Ian McKellen is telling the BFI audience about his relationship with Shakespeare because the venue has put his Richard III at the heart of its celebrations for the 400th anniversary of the bard’s death later this month.
Read on for details of Sir Ian’s new app version of The Tempest out 23/4
43 countries, two semis and a final: 14/5. The bookies have the UK’s Joe and Jake 27th as we write this but we’ve heard all the entries and think You’re Not Alone has a shot at winning particularly with an EU referendum 23/6. Our dark horse is Croatia’s Nina Kraljić (main picture and below) who’s channelling Hounds Of Love-era Kate Bush:
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE: Middle Temple Hall
WHEN: 5/4, closes 6/4, tours UK throughout April
Middle Temple Hall is the London venue where Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night was first performed 400 years ago.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE: Old Vic
WHEN: 2/4, runs to 14/5
It’s 19 years since star Timothy Spall last acted on stage and just over one since his tremendous grumbling titular turn in Mike Leigh’s biopic Mr Turner inexplicably failed to earn him a best actor Oscar nomination.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Coliseum
WHEN: 1/4, runs to 7/5
The home of the English National Opera bursts into a round of spontaneous applause as the biggest star in the West End takes to the stage.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
OUT: 1/4
TRACKLIST: Happiness; The Pop Kids; Twenty-Something; Groovy; The Dictator Decides; Pazzo!; Inner Sanctum; Undertow; Sad Robot World; Say It To Me; Burn; Into Thin Air.
30 years ago Pet Shop Boys’ debut hit (not their 1st single, actually) went to number 1 in the UK, US, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Israel, New Zealand and Norway.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE: The O2
WHEN: 27/3 (matinee), UK tour runs to 23/4, international tour finishes 27/8
SETLIST: Grown; Hair; Change Your Life; A.D.I.D.A.S; Wings; Lightning; DNA; Secret Love Song (Part 2); OMG; Crazy In Love medley; Salute; Little Me; Move; How Ya Doin; I Won’t; Love Me Like You; Weird People; The End; Black Magic
Welcome to the UK’s longest-running arena tour of 2016, a phenomenal 37 dates.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: The O2
WHEN: 26/3, tour runs to 7/5
SETLIST: I’ve Been Losing You; Cry Wolf; Move To Memphis; Stay On These Roads; The Swing Of Things; Cast In Steel; Crying In The Rain; Mother Nature Goes To Heaven; We’re Looking For The Whales; Velvet; Lifelines; Here I Stand & Face The Rain; Sycamore Leaves; She’s Humming A Tune; Foot Of the Mountain; Hunting High and Low; Scoundrel Days; Sun Always Shines On TV; Under The MakeUp; Living Daylights; Take On Me.
We last saw a-ha six years ago on their farewell tour at Wembley Arena but in 2015 they released their fine new Cast In Steel album which they’ve taken on an international jaunt.
