Beyond Bollywood, London
Who doesn’t love a bit of Bollywood? It’s a vibrant and exuberant genre, particularly when it comes to the musicals. A hefty dollop is delivered by musical extravaganza Beyond Bollywood, in which a girl in Munich travels to India to fulfil a wish of her dying mother. The show, written, choreographed and directed by Rajeev Goswami, with lyrics by Irfan Siddiqui and an original score by duo Salim-Sulaiman, is also a guide to Indian culture and the history and romance of such forms of Indian dance as bihu, garba, bhangra and kalbelia, performed by a 42-strong cast of classical Indian and Bollywood dancers.
London Palladium, W1, Fri 8 May to 27 Jun
MC
Wolf’s Child, nr Norwich
There’s plenty to look forward to at the Norfolk & Norwich festival, including the first UK sighting of Annie Ryan’s adaptation of A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing (Norwich Playhouse, 12-16 May). But the real treat could come courtesy of WildWorks, who will be taking audiences into the woods that surround Felbrigg Hall in north Norfolk. Combining the Greek myth of Callisto, who was turned into a bear, with the story of the Norfolk-born Shaun Ellis, who spent two years running with an Idaho wolfpack, the show encourages audiences to find their inner beast.
Felbrigg Hall, Tue to 23 May
LG
Rites, Glasgow
Female genital mutilation has been much in the news recently, but it remains an ongoing problem for women across the world, including in the UK. Cora Bissett created the powerful play Roadkill, which raised awareness of how trafficked girls are coerced into sexual slavery, and now she joins forces with Yusra Warsama to tell the stories of those affected by FGM. Based on interviews with mothers who feel under cultural pressure to have their daughters mutilated, health workers and others trying to work within communities to effect change, as well as the affected girls themselves, the show aims to offer a theatrical forum to frankly and honestly explore the challenges and difficulties of bringing about change in communities where FGM is seen as a rite of passage.
Tron, Tue to 9 May
LG
The Angry Brigade, London
Is James Graham vying with Mike “King Charles III” Bartlett for the title of most prolific playwright? Mostly on an appropriately political theme, Graham has in recent years penned This House, about the 1974 hung Parliament (yes, that topical) for the National Theatre; Channel 4’s drama Coalition (there’s a theme here); and the polling-night drama The Vote (Donmar Warehouse, WC2, to Thu). Now we have The Angry Brigade, a political thriller and a tale of anarchism set in the 70s. It’s based on the home-grown anarchist terrorist group and the police manhunt to track them down, but has more contemporary relevance than you might think. This production by Paines Plough follows Jumpers For Goalposts, the company’s previous hit at the Bush theatre two years ago.
Bush Theatre, W12, to 13 Jun
MC
Mother Courage And Her Children, Merthyr Tydfil
It’s a good week in Wales, where Gary Owen’s Iphigenia In Splott opens at the Sherman, Cardiff (Fri to 16 May); Alun Saunders’s A Good Clean Heart continues (The Other Room at Porter’s, Cardiff, to 16 May); and, in Merthyr, National Theatre Wales brings Brecht’s Mother Courage And Her Children to the valleys. A new version by Ed Thomas, the show features nine Welsh actors playing the role of Mother Courage, a woman who is determined to turn a profit from war but who learns the hard way that she can’t keep her own children safe from its ravages. First produced in the midst of the second world war, Brecht’s play about individual accountability and collective responsibility is given a 21st-century spin. LG
Labour Club, Thu to 22 May
LG
U Decide, Liverpool
As the election looms, the Unity Theatre brings together a terrific programme interrogating the democratic progress, asking who gets their voice heard, who is marginalised and what we can do about inequality. Every night includes a specially commissioned Ballot Box Ballad written by a local writer, which will play alongside that night’s main show. The latter are a very fine collection, kicking off with Touretteshero’s Backstage In Biscuit Land (Tue), with subsequent nights featuring Chris Thorpe’s Confirmation (Wed); Coney’s Early Days Of A Better Nation (Fri); and Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe’s heart-wrenching Every Brilliant Thing (9 May).
Unity Theatre, Tue to 9 May
LG
