Five of the best... theatre shows this week

Family affairs: Torn, a tough depiction of south London life. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

1 Torn

There’s more than a hint of Debbie Tucker Green about this incendiary family story and that’s no bad thing. Nathaniel Martello-White follows up the satiric Blackta at the Young Vic with this hard-hitting excavation of the myths and lies of a south London mixed-race family who come together for some uncomfortable truth-telling. Not pretty, but effective.

Jerwood Theatres At The Royal Court, SW1, to 15 October

2 A Tale Of Two Cities

The best of times and the worst of times are held up to the mirror in Mike Poulton’s filleted stage version of Dickens’s intricate novel of revolution, corruption and redemption. Mike Britton’s design is beautiful, too, and director James Dacre brings a forceful fluency to proceedings, creating a swirling sense of people caught up in the march of history. It’s an atmospheric evening that often successfully belies its origins on the page, and one that reminds that it is empathy and compassion that make us human.

Richmond Theatre, London, Sat; Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, 4-8 October

3 O No!

Home’s Orbit festival is in full swing and there is plenty to savour this week, including a chance to see Jamal Harewood’s disturbing The Privileged (1 October), and Walrus’s witty Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons (4-8 October). From Monday you have three nights to catch Jamie Wood’s O No!, a gloriously bonkers and yet oddly moving tribute to live art and Yoko Ono. It teeters delightfully along the tightrope between love letter and send-up.

Home, Manchester, 3-5 October

4 A Streetcar Named Desire

Two weeks left to catch the remarkable Maxine Peake playing Blanche DuBois in Sarah Frankcom’s revival of the drama, which is as delicate and steely as Blanche herself. The ongoing partnership between Frankcom and Peake is one of the great success stories of British regional theatre and a repeated reminder that London is not the centre of the theatrical universe.

Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, to 15 October

5 In The Heights

Those eagerly awaiting the arrival of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton (coming to London in 2017) may like to see one he made earlier. This very likable show combines Latino rhythms with hip-hop as it tells the story of an impoverished community in Washington Heights, and recently announced a final extension until January. It’s no surprise: Drew McOnie’s choreography is a thing of beauty that the young cast attack with energetic verve.

King’s Cross Theatre, N1, to 8 January