Theatre
1 Much Ado About Nothing
Shakespeare’s play gets a makeover in Matthew Dunster’s revival, which relocates the action to the Mexican revolution at the start of the last century. Amid war, love blooms between verbal sparring partners Benedick and Beatrice, played with intelligence and vim by Matthew Needham and Beatriz Romilly. It makes for an evening that’s not without its flaws but when this fires on all cylinders it does so to great comic effect.
Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, SE1, to 15 October
2 The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾
Getting a musical right is never easy: it takes time, work and patience. Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary’s adaptation of Sue Townsend’s much-loved 1982 book first popped up at the Curve in Leicester in 2015. It was charming then, capturing all the spotty teenager’s lovable pompousness, yet it is even smarter now in a reworked version full of retro appeal for the adults, which should delight younger family members, too.
The Menier Chocolate Factory, SE1, to 9 September
3 Titus Andronicus
Have your supper before seeing Blanche McIntyre’s canny, updated revival of Shakespeare’s bloodiest play. You won’t fancy anything following this splatter-fest that culminates with the antihero baking his enemy’s children in a pie. David Troughton gives a very fine performance as Titus, suggesting a man not just fired by revenge but all-consuming grief, while McIntyre cleverly negotiates the drama’s swings from violence and trauma to laugh-out-loud absurdity.
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, to 2 September
4 Road
Jim Cartwright’s seminal mid-1980s work captured all the hopelessness of the young during the Thatcher government. John Tiffany’s revival is a reminder of what a compassionate play this is; one that treats its working-class protagonists with real dignity. It’s an uneven evening – the second half is better than the first – but, at its giddy, gorgeous best, it’s quite extraordinary.
Jerwood theatres at the Royal Court, SW1, to 9 September
5 The Ferryman
The title may refer to Greek myth, and the play may be suffused with Irish legend, but Jez Butterworth’s epic family drama is never overwrought as it charts a single day in the life of Paddy Considine’s Quinn, a farmer caught in a love triangle with his wife and his sister-in-law. There is a sitcom feel at times, but that’s no bad thing in a warm, messy and multilayered family drama set against the background of the Troubles.
Gielgud theatre, W1, to 6 January
Dance
1 Yo, Carmen
María Pagés and her eight dancers unwrap the history and iconography of Carmen, the heroine of Bizet’s opera and often presented as the classic embodiment of potent female sexuality.
The Edinburgh Playhouse, 12-13 August
2 Blak Whyte Gray
Visionary hip-hop dance-theatre from Boy Blue Entertainment, which raises its game to a new level by exploring images of freedom in a complex and turbulent world.
Royal Lyceum theatre, Edinburgh, 16-19 August
3 Company Wayne McGregor: +/– Human
McGregor’s dancers are joined by members of the Royal Ballet in this fusion of live dance, music and art installation, which meditates on what we define as human nature.
Roundhouse, NW1, to 28 August
