In pictures: Seven days on stage (Sep 22 - Sep 29 2007)

Patrick Stewart played Macbeth in an acclaimed Chichester production this summer. Now he is reprising the role at the newly refurbished Gielgud theatre in London's West End. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Macbeth stars Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood. Directed by Rupert Goold, the production is full of Soviet imagery. Stewart plays the protagonist as a "Stalinesque tyrant" wrote Michael Billington. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

As Lady Macbeth, Kate Fleetwood offers an "index of a deeply disturbed mind" wrote Michael Billington. The production unfolds against tiled backgrounds suggestive of an abbatoir and a hospital. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

CandoCo, a group of able and disabled dancers, presented their new show at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

CandoCo performed Arthur Pita's The Stepfather, which Judith Mackrell described as "a horrid hillbilly tale that takes American gothic to lurid extremes". Photograph: Tristram Kenton

At Newcastle's Live Theatre, The Pitmen Painters is a new play by Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall. It's about a group of miners who develop a passion for art appreciation. Lyn Gardner found it a blissful mix of "art, politics, class and culture". Photograph: PR

In CandoCo's The Stepfather, the choreography "becomes dense, and seethes with detail, aggression and risk," wrote Judith Mackrell. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown's Tony award-winning Parade, first performed in 1998, is the latest production for the Donmar Warehouse. Set in Georgia, the musical explores the aftermath of a teenager's murder. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Parade stars Bertie Carvel as a man suspected of murder. Laura Pulver plays his neglected wife. Director Rob Ashford "shows a priceless ability to allow dance to erupt naturally from the action," wrote Michael Billington. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

At Edinburgh's Traverse theatre, Rupture explores themes of "voyeurism, surveillance, shattered dreams and the black economy" wrote Mark Fisher. Photograph: Eamonn McGoldrick

Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros premiered at London's Royal Court in 1960, directed by Orson Welles. The theatre's new staging spearheads their autumn season. Michael Billington found it witty but "woolly and predictable". Photograph: Tristram Kenton

As Liverpool announed its programme for the European Capital of Culture celebrations, Intemperance was performed at the city's Everyman theatre. Alfred Hickling thought that the Victorian drama proves Lizzie Nunnery "has a deep understanding of Liverpool's underclass". Photograph: Robert Day