Monday
The show of the week is Us/Them at the National Theatre – a playful, moving and multilayered examination of the Beslan school massacre of 2004. Katherine Soper’s devastating Wish List continues at the Royal Court Upstairs. The London international mime festival continues, with highlights including Joli Vyann’s elegant Imbalance at the Lilian Baylis Studio and two shows from Stephen Mottram’s Animata at Jacksons Lane, north London. At the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Durham Cathedral, there’s a fascinating-sounding performance of Samuel Beckett’s Company which invites audience members (limited to nine at a time) to lie on a bed in the darkened chapel and listen to a voice. The Push festival continues all week at Home in Manchester showcasing new work and emerging companies from the region. Tonight, Powder Keg’s performance gig Morale is High (Since we Gave up Hope), sounds great as does Mill Theatre Company’s piece about loneliness, I’m Standing Next to You.
Tuesday
Sacekripa’s Marée Basse is a tale of acrobatic one-upmanship at the Barbican’s Pit. It’s your last chance this week for Nofit State’s Bianco which takes place in a big top next to the Royal Festival Hall, and also for Sally Cookson’s delicious Cinderella: a Fairytale at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol. The Doppel Gang, set during the Blitz, and inspired by the comedy of the Marx Brothers, sounds as if it could be fun at the Tristan Bates theatre in Covent Garden.
Wednesday
Theatre Re’s new project, The Nature of Forgetting, is inspired by the work of Tadeusz Kantor and is at Shoreditch Town Hall. One night only for Liz Carr’s performance lecture, Assisted Suicide: The Musical, at the Royal Festival Hall. There’s still time to catch Picnic at Hanging Rock at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh. Katie Bonna and Richard Marsh’s alternative romcom, Dirty Great Love Story, starts at London’s Arts theatre.
Thursday
This is a good idea from Theatre503 in Battersea’s new artistic director Lisa Spirling: Top Trumps is a series of short plays from Caryl Churchill, Neil LaBute, Roy Williams and others responding to Donald Trump’s election, in his inauguration week. Also includes post-show discussions.
Friday and the weekend
Nick Ahad’s The Chef Show, a piece that mixes performance and cookery, considers Friday night down the local curry house; it’s at Kirkgate Centre in Cockermouth as part of a wider tour. Project O’s O at the Royal Exchange Studio in Manchester offers a dance that winds itself through identity politics and female experience. Clowning is celebrated in Nothing to Say, Spanish clown Leandre’s show set in a house with no walls. It’s at Jacksons Lane from tonight and on Saturday Jackson’s Lane also hosts an all-day symposium exploring Clowns and Power. On Saturday, the NT’s staging of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time sets off on tour with two weeks at the Lowry in Salford.
