Xanadu, London
The 1980 film Xanadu is about as far from Kubla Khan, the epic Coleridge poem that the title references, as is possible (and probably not written under the influence of opium). It’s a kitsch musical starring Gene Kelly and Olivia Newton-John involving an aspiring pavement artist, roller disco and Greek muses from Mount Olympus. While the movie was nominated for seven Golden Raspberries, its soundtrack sold well and provided hits for Newton-John. Then, in 2007, came a stage version by Douglas Carter Beane, ELO’s Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, ex of the Shadows, which ran on Broadway. Now, rollerskating comes to the London stage for the first time since Starlight Express. Keep your toes tucked in on the front row…
Southwark Playhouse, SE1, Fri to 21 Nov
MC
Ubu And The Truth Commission, London
South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company is best known for its work on the National Theatre’s now world-famous War Horse. Before that, however, it was involved in Ubu And The Truth Commission, created by artist and film-maker William Kentridge and writer Jane Taylor, and last seen here at the Tricycle Theatre in 1999 as part of Lift. Using satire, puppetry and documentary footage, it fuses original testimonies from the post-apartheid Truth And Reconciliation Commission hearings and the character of Ubu Roi from French playwright Alfred Jarry’s late 19th-century absurdist drama. Employing the metaphor of a marriage betrayal, it exposes the violent atrocities of the regime.
The Print Room At The Coronet, W11, Thu to 7 Nov
MC
Belfast international arts festival
There’s a small but strong theatre lineup at this year’s Belfast international arts festival. Conor McPherson’s The Night Alive arrives at the Lyric (to 31 Oct), and Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Grand Opera House, Tue to 17 Oct) has its Northern Irish premiere. Also getting an Irish premiere is Jack Thorne’s compelling Mydidae (The MAC, 20 to 25 Oct), about a relationship unravelling in a bathroom; and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and Belsen concentration camps is marked by the world premiere of The Suitcase, a drama about suppressed histories (Belfast Synagogue, Mon to Wed).
Various venues, Sat to 1 Nov
LG
Coming Up, London
Neil D’Souza’s Small Miracle played both the Mercury Theatre in Colchester and London’s Tricycle. Now the actor and writer returns to his Indian roots to tell the story of Alan, who returns to Mumbai on business after an absence of 30 years and finds himself suddenly reconnected with the aunt and cousins he left far behind. Except the past has a way of catching up with you, Alan finds, as his journey takes him back to a lost India of the 1940s and a community of Indian Catholics, still a small but significant minority in the country today. Inspired by D’Souza’s own fractured relationship with the country to which he feels bonded by blood, the play explores shifting power structures, changing relationships, and one man’s search into his past and himself.
Palace Theatre, Watford, Sat to 24 Oct
LG
A Streetcar Named Desire, Leicester
Tennessee Williams is popular this month with two revivals of The Glass Menagerie: one at the Nuffield in Southampton and the other at Liverpool Everyman. Over in Leicester, Nikolai Foster, the Curve’s new artistic director, has chosen Williams’s 1948 Pulitzer prize-winning play for his inaugural production. Charlie Brooks, best known as Janine Butcher in EastEnders, and very good in Foster’s revival of Beautiful Thing, plays the fragile Blanche Dubois, a woman whose dreams have shattered, leaving her reliant on the kindness of strangers. Dubois is often portrayed as being far older, so this is a potentially refreshing approach, and with Skins actor, Dakota Blue Richards, playing Dubois’s sister, Stella, this should be a Streetcar with significant youthful appeal.
Curve Theatre, Fri to 7 Nov
LG
Circus City, Bristol
Bristol’s biennial circus fest mixes European and homegrown acts. The hub is Circomedia, which this week features Clockwork (Sat), with acrobats using Chinese poles and slack rope, taking influences from street dance and physical theatre; plus Volt: Women In Circus (Wed), a double bill by female aerialists. The Wickham Theatre offers a UK premiere of L’Homme De Boue (Fri & 17 Oct), which looks into why a juggler keeps juggling. Later in the festival, look out for Barely Methodical’s hit Bromance (Trinity Centre, 21 to 23 Oct); Upswing’s Bedtime Stories (Arnolfini, 24 Oct); and Lost In Translation’s family-friendly show The Hogswallops (Circomedia, 28 & 29 Oct).
Various venues, Sat to 31 Oct
LG
