Bristol Shakespeare Festival
The Bristol Shakespeare festival continues with a Much Ado About Nothing set in a 1930s school, where teachers Beatrice and Benedick are at war with each other (Bath Road Studios, Sun & Mon), and a version of Hamlet using puppets (Boiling Wells Amphitheatre, Fri to 25 Jul). But the really intriguing-sounding show is a promenade version of Macbeth that will be performed in Redcliffe Caves (Sat to 27 Jul). Some claim that they are haunted and Insane Root will certainly be conjuring up witches and spirits as it makes full use of the caves’ nooks and crannies. The company is local to the city, and its stated mission is to reinvent classic texts in unusual locations.
Various venues, to 31 Jul
LG
Songs For A New World, London
Jason Robert Brown may not be so well known in this country, but he is regarded as a leader in the new generation of writers of modern musicals in the US, having already won Tony awards for Parade and The Bridges Of Madison County. Now one of his earlier works, Songs For A New World, gets a 20th anniversary production with Cynthia Erivo, from Broadway’s The Color Purple, and Olivier winner Jenna Russell in the cast. The show switches between multiple locations and times and concerns itself with specific life-changing moments. “It’s about hitting the wall and having to make a choice, or take a stand, or turn around and go back,” says its author.
St James Theatre, SW1, Wed to 8 Aug
MC
Bakkhai, London
The London stage can’t seem to get enough of Greek tragedy at the moment, what with Juliette Binoche’s Antigone, Kristin Scott Thomas’s Electra and Helen McCrory’s Medea, plus three plays at the Almeida. The second in that trilogy is Bakkhai – the original spelling has been restored by poet Anne Carson – which offers the prospect of Ben Whishaw and Bertie Carvel (Matilda’s extraordinary Miss Trunchbull and, more recently, TV’s Jonathan Strange) going head-to-head in Euripides’s play. Whishaw is the god Dionysus, miffed after a snub by the king Pentheus (Carvel) and whose revenge goes way out of proportion. The play is a compare-and-contrast of the rational and spiritual; head and heart; man and god.
Almeida Theatre, N1, Thu to 19 Sep
MC
DEparture Lounge, Derby
Derby Theatre’s main stage becomes a garden, and the car park a beach paradise for this year’s DEparture Lounge, the annual festival of workshops, performances by both established and emerging companies, and talks – including a Guardian and Battersea Arts Centre-partnered discussion around artist and audience development (chaired by this writer) on Friday. Shows include the London international mime festival hit Blind Man’s Song (Thu), which blends physical theatre and music in a wordless story. Pappy’s Fun Club’s Tom Parry co-directs Western?, Sleeping Trees’ movie parody (Thu); and rising young company Barrel Organ will be testing out its Edinburgh-bound show, Some People Talk About Violence (25 Jul).
Derby Theatre, Thu to 26 Jul
LG
Enniskillen International Beckett Festival
Samuel Beckett attended Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, and the Beckett festival that has sprung up there always attracts some significant stagings. This year’s highlights include the Berliner Ensemble’s 2006 revival of Waiting For Godot (31 Jul to 2 Aug); Max Stafford-Clark directing All That Fall (Wed to 2 Aug); and Adrian Dunbar tackling Ohio Impromptu, which will be performed at sunset on Devenish Island (Thu & Fri), a monastic site founded in the sixth century (theatre-goers will need to take a short boat ride to get there). There’s also a dance piece inspired by Beckett’s work, and a celebration of one of Beckett’s early influences, TS Eliot.
Various venues, Enniskillen, Thu to 3 Aug
LG
The Lone Pine Club, Church Stretton
Bristol Old Vic had a big success with the adventure story Swallows And Amazons, keeping it in period yet using contemporary theatre techniques to give a fresh edge. Now Pentabus, a terrific touring company, turns its attention to Malcolm Saville’s series, which dates back to 1943 and follows a group of children who form a secret society and have all sorts of adventures: in fact, exactly the kind of childhood and freedoms that most young people today lack. Rising young playwright Alice Birch has adapted the stories for young audiences and they will be performed in five National Trust venues across the country, from Northumberland to Devon, as staged by Elizabeth Freestone.
Carding Mill Valley, Sat to 26 Jul; touring to 23 Aug
LG
