1 Yerma
Simon Stone has a knack of reinventing familiar classic stories, as he did brilliantly with The Wild Duck. Now he does it again with Federico García Lorca’s powerful 1934 tragedy about the pain of childlessness. Stone relocates the story from rural Spain to contemporary London, with Billie Piper giving what has been acclaimed as the performance of a lifetime as a woman driven mad by her inability to conceive. Once again, the Young Vic proves itself one of the country’s most essential theatres.
2 The Truth
Christopher Hampton’s sly translations of Florian Zeller’s slippery and disconcerting plays have made French writing seem sexier than it has done since Molière (or at least Yasmina Reza). But while Zeller may chart the same middle-class territory as the latter, he owes more to Pinter – particularly in this witty yet painful piece, which focuses on the infidelities of two couples. It’s indebted to Pinter’s Betrayal and yet succeeds in making the subject seem freshly minted.
Wyndham’s Theatre, WC2, to 3 Sep
3 The Cheviot, The Stag And The Black, Black Oil
John McGrath’s 1973 masterpiece is one of the defining plays of the 20th century, giving an epic account of the history of the Highlands from the Clearances to the oil boom of the early 70s. Joe Douglas’s fine revival offers some updating but stays true to McGrath’s rough and ready style. While both play and production don’t stint on the anger at the way Scotland has been plundered over and over for economic gain, this is also a giddy and joyous evening alive with song and dance.
4 Sunny Afternoon
Joe Penhall’s charting of the fractious history of the Kinks – the band whose members exhibited equal parts genius and bloody-mindedness – may not be the greatest musical ever written, but the tunes are pure gold. Heading out on tour after a successful West End stint, this is an evening that genuinely gets the audience dancing in the aisles.
Milton Keynes Theatre, Tue to 3 Sep
5 The View From Castle Rock
Alice Munro’s short stories have won her the Nobel prize for literature with their excavations of quiet but deeply felt lives. None are more affecting than the stories of her own family, who emigrated to Canada from Scotland in the 19th century. Munro has found out what she can about them and then filled the gaps with her own imagination. Scottish company Stellar Quines transposes these tales to the stage with the quiet, unshowy grace of Munro’s prose.
St Mark’s Arts Space, Edinburgh, to 29 Aug; touring to 3 Sep
