1 Our Ladies Of Perpetual Succour
Heading to the National Theatre in August, Lee Hall’s adaptation of Alan Warner’s 1998 novel The Sopranos – about a group of Scots schoolgirls on a choir trip to Edinburgh – is another hit for director Vicky Featherstone and the National Theatre Of Scotland. The script captures the inner and outer lives of these sweet-voiced and often dirty-minded teenagers, and the musical arrangements, ranging from choral to pop, magnify the emotions of a story that has both cartoonish appeal and emotional shading.
Dundee Rep, Thu to 2 Jul; touring to 1 Oct
2 The Flying Lovers Of Vitebsk
The Globe’s new artistic director Emma Rice charts the real-life relationship of Marc and Bella Chagall, whose love affair took place against some of the most momentous events of the 20th century, including the Russian revolution and the Holocaust. Yet it is the way that personal lives are buffeted by the storms of history that is explored in this sweetly melancholy play, which not only memorialises a disappearing way of Jewish life (just as Marc Chagall’s paintings did) but also explores the art of love and the sacrifices made in order to nurture talent.
Shakespeare’s Globe: Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, SE1, to 2 Jul
3 Matilda The Musical
Yes, Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly’s witty musical version of the story about the misunderstood and mistreated Matilda – who has a brilliant mind and parents from hell – matches Roald Dahl’s story every step of the way. But in some regards it’s actually better because Matilda has real agency in Matthew Warchus’s vibrant production, which puts the kids centre stage.
Cambridge Theatre, WC2, to 28 May
4 Cuttin’ It
It’s doubtful you’ll find a play that will make you angrier than Charlene James’s two-hander, which looks at how FGM is taking place in the UK. Unexpectedly funny and fiercely angry, this is more than issue drama, although it will undoubtedly get you campaigning.
Jerwood Theatres At The Royal Court, SW1, to 9 Jul
5 The Alchemist
Ben Jonson’s satire is not an easy play. Although it holds a mirror up to our own times in its study of duplicity and foolishness, its language is as dense as a fruit cake. But Polly Findlay delivers a gleefully comic yet elegantly restrained staging which, as the farcical mechanics of the plotting start to unwind, becomes ever more entertaining in its skewering of human frailties.
Royal Shakespeare Theatre: Swan, Stratford-upon-Avon, to 6 Aug
