WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE: Menier Chocolate Factory
WHEN: 18/3, press night 21/3 runs to 5/5/18
William Hurt won an Oscar in 1986 for his memorable performance in the film version of this play as Molina, a transgender convict who entertains her political prisoner cellmate with reminiscences from escapist films.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE: Young Vic
WHEN: 17/3, press night 28/3 runs to 19/5/18
Author Matthew Lopez writes in the programme of the power of literature – how watching Emma Thompson in Howards End as a 16-year-old changed his life.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
WHERE: Hampstead Theatre
WHEN: 16/3, press night 19/3 runs to 21/4/18
UPDATE: Transfers to the Playhouse 20/11 to 6/4/19. Tickets
The original UK production of this Broadway hit won a Best New Musical Olivier Award and this revival transfers from Chichester where it earned much acclaim last year.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE: Wyndhams Theatre
WHEN: 10/3 runs to 7/4/18
Last Sunday Lesley Manville was pipped to a Best Actress Oscar for her role as a domineering sister to Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread and a day later she was shortlisted for the Oliviers for her role in this.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Old Vic
WHEN: 24/2, press night 1/3, runs to 14/4/18
We join director Max Webster and writer Stephen Beresford for a Q&A two nights before their production of Ingmar Bergman’s beloved children’s classic Fanny and Alexander opens.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE: Almeida Theatre
WHEN: 3/3, press night 7/3, runs to 7/4/18
UPDATE: Summer And Smoke transfers to the Duke Of York’s 10/11/18 to 19/1/19 Tickets
Last year saw two acclaimed Tennessee Williams revivals in London (the Young Vic’s Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and The Glass Menagerie at the Duke Of York’s) and his Summer And Smoke is less well known for a reason.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Charing Cross Theatre
WHEN: 24/2, press night 26/2, runs to 31/3/18
How have we never managed to see the 1971 film of this life-affirming Colin Higgins play about a death-obsessed teenager and his chance meeting with a bohemian woman approaching her 80th birthday?
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Donmar Theatre
WHEN: 16/2, runs to 24/3/18
There’s a moment towards the end of the first act here when farmhand George remarks on the twinkle in the eye of the object of his affection, assistant director John.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE: Bush Theatre
WHEN: 13/2, runs to 3/3/18
Monica Dolan is perhaps best known for her roles in material as diverse as W1A, Inside No 9 and her BAFTA Award-winning turn in Appropriate Adult as Rosemary West.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE: Theatre Royal Haymarket
WHEN: 9/2, press night 20/2, runs to 5/5/18
We’re imagining that most of the packed audience at this venue are here for Doctor Foster star Suranne Jones and it’s her name we hear in occasional murmurings from our fellow guests ahead of this first preview.
