WORTH A LOOK?: **
WHERE: Almeida
WHEN: 12/8, press night 18/8 runs to 30/9
We’re at the first preview of this new play commissioned by the Almeida and Ben Whishaw plays Luke, a Silicon Valley billionaire, who is spoken to by God.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Trafalgar Studios
WHEN: 29/7 runs through 18/11
Apologia means a formal defence of a position or action and it’s a well-chosen title for this thoughtful reflection on whether acting for the greater good can excuse parental neglect.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE: Old Vic
WHEN: 28/7, runs to 31/7
Queers is a series of eight monologues which marks 50 years since the Sexual Offences Act of 1967 began the decriminalisation process for homosexuality between men and celebrates the British gay experience over the last century.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2
WHERE: National Theatre
WHEN: 21/7, runs to 28/9
Broadchurch star Olivia Colman won’t be the first female Doctor Who and plays a woman called Jenny here who is pregnant but worried about the risk an ultrasound might pose to her unborn child.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE: Apollo Theatre
WHEN: 13/7, press night 24/7, runs to 7/10
Director Benedict Andrews’ last Young Vic production starred Gillian Anderson and was his take on Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. It was the smash hit of 2014, transferred to Broadway and his follow-up is no less deserving of such an honour.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Park Theatre
WHEN: 3/7 (matinee), runs to 3/7
It’s Pride weekend in London and Sir Ian McKellen is reaching the end of a week-long series of shows during which he has raised an astonishing £250,000 for north London’s four-year-old Park Theatre, which receives no government funding.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE: Barbican Theatre
WHEN: 30/6, runs to 18/8
Simon Russell Beale is one of the finest actors of his generation and therefore it’s curious that he should choose to return to the Royal Shakespeare Company after 20 years in something quite so overcooked.
WORTH A LOOK: *****
WHERE: Almeida Theatre
WHEN: 19/6, press night 27/6, runs to 5/8
Star Bertie Carvel’s father John worked on the Guardian for 36 years before retiring in 2009. UPDATE 17/7: INK transfers to the Duke Of York’s Theatre from 9/9. TICKETS
WORTH A LOOK: *****
WHERE: Wyndham’s Theatre
WHEN: 17/6, press night 27/6, runs to 9/9
SETLIST: I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone; When A Woman Loves A Man; Crazy He Calls Me; Gimme A Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer); Baby Doll; God Bless The Child; Foolin’ Myself; Somebody’s On My Mind; Easy Livin’; Strange Fruit; Blues Break; T’ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do; Don’t Explain; What A Little Moonlight Can Do; Deep Song
It’s March 1959 and Billie Holiday is singing in South Philadelphia at the titular run-down bar in one of her last performances before her death just four months later.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
WHERE: Old Vic
WHEN: 9/6, runs to 17/6
‘Gig theatre’ is the term used to describe this 70-minute show currently running on the same stage as John Boyega’s Woyzeck just half an hour after its curtain down.
