Theatre
1 Angels in America
There is something very satisfying about spending seven hours in the company of the same characters, particularly when they are as rich as Tony Kushner’s are in this epic play. Set in the US in the mid-1980s, as Reagan began his second term of office and Aids devastated the gay community, this memorable and wildly imaginative drama in two parts boasts fine performances from Andrew Garfield, Denise Gough and Nathan Lane as it charts US history and asks how we can make a better future for all.
National Theatre: Lyttelton, SE1, to 19 August
2 Free Admission
There is no actual free admission to this show – you will have to purchase a ticket – but you do get plenty of unforced revelations from its creator, Ursula Martinez. It’s a cleverly constructed piece in which the building of a wall becomes a metaphor for what is voiced and what is left unsaid and unseen.
Colchester Arts Centre, 14 June; Birmingham Repertory theatre, 15-17 June; touring to 21 June; Soho theatre, W1, 26 June to 1 July
3 Infinity Pool
In Bea Roberts’s modern-day reworking of Madame Bovary, Emma is recast as an admin assistant in a plumbing supplies company on an industrial trading estate. Told without any spoken dialogue, entirely using social media, phone messages, laptops and projectors, the story magnifies the mundanity of her life and turns her humiliation and lack of fulfilment into a true tragedy.
Battersea Arts Centre, SW11, 10 June; Tobacco Factory, Bristol, 14-17 June; Brewhouse, Taunton, 22 June
4 Room
Inspired by the story of Josef Fritzl, Emma Donoghue’s story about a mother and son who are kept captive has already been a novel and a movie. But this stage version, directed by Cora Bissett for the National Theatre of Scotland, has the advantage of being able to make the space seem genuinely constrictive, and uses animation and other theatre techniques to explore both perspective and the power of the imagination to escape captivity.
Dundee Rep, 13-17 June; touring to 22 July
5 Killology
Paul is the cocky millionaire creator of an online game that encourages players to kill as creatively as possible. Alan is a father with nothing but revenge on his mind. Davey is a teenager, abandoned by his dad, who’s both a menace and a victim. The monologues in Gary Owen’s play curl around each other in a raw and compassionate exploration of parental love and masculinity, impressively staged by Rachel O’Riordan.
Royal Court, SW1, to 24 June
Dance
1 Rain
Last seen in London 15 years ago, this setting of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians is one of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s most beautiful and compelling works.
Sadler’s Wells, EC1, 13-14 June
2 Ignition dance festival
This year’s festival opens with an intriguing Choreographers Platform night, with short works specially commissioned from Henri Oguike, Dane Hurst, Maria Yacoob, Tim Casson and others.
Rose theatre, Kingston upon Thames, 16-17 June
3 M¡longa
Inspired by the late-night tango scene in the bars of Buenos Aires, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui choreographs an idiosyncratic and elegant take on a rich tradition.
Nottingham, 10 June; Edinburgh, 13-14 June; Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 16-17 June
