Photograph 51, London
The last time Nicole Kidman appeared on the London stage, her smouldering performance in The Blue Room – an adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s sexual daisy chain La Ronde – caused one national critic to dub her “theatrical Viagra”. It’s doubtful that the Oscar-winner will be raising temperatures quite so high in Photograph 51, in which she plays the British woman who made a key contribution to the discovery of DNA. US writer Anna Ziegler’s play focuses on Rosalind Franklin, her work, and the injustice she underwent in a scientific world rampant with sexism. The production reunites Kidman with director Michael Grandage, after both recently worked on the forthcoming film Genius.
Noël Coward Theatre, WC2, Sat to 21 Nov
MC
HighTide festival, Aldeburgh
HighTide has an enviable reputation for developing new writing, and this year the festival relocates to Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast to present 10 days of performances, readings and discussions, including live interviews with Richard Eyre (Jubilee Hall, 13 Sep) and Vanessa Redgrave (Aldeburgh Cinema, 17 Sep). There’s a chance to see Anders Lustgarten’s powerful and topical Lampedusa (HighTide Dome, Thu to 20 Sep), about a Europe that many are desperate to enter and some are determined to keep for themselves; plus new plays from EV Crowe (Parish Church, Fri to 19 Sep), Al Smith (The Pumphouse, Fri to 20 Sep), and Luke Norris. The latter’s So Here We Are (Jubilee Hall, Thu to 20 Sep) plays at Manchester’s Royal Exchange after HighTide. Look out, too, for readings of new work by Clara Brennan and Tom Holloway.
Various venues, Thu to 20 Sep
LG
The Cheviot, The Stag And The Black, Black Oil, Dundee
It’s been more than 20 years since there was a professional revival of John McGrath’s seminal play, but this one, directed by Joe Douglas and designed by Graham McLaren, should be worth the wait. It’s particularly poignant as it comes just a few months after the death of McGrath’s widow, Elizabeth MacLennan, a vital force in 7:84 Scotland, the company that first presented the show in 1973. A musical exploring Scotland’s past from the Highland clearances through to the oil boom of the 1970s, the show takes the form of a Highland ceilidh to look at the economic exploitation of Scotland. Likely to be as relevant as it was 40 years ago.
Dundee Rep, Wed to 26 Sep
LG
Dinner With Saddam, London
What would you have done as an ordinary Iraqi if Saddam Hussein had turned up at your door, demanding to stay for dinner? This scenario actually happened before the war: the leader was trying to appear closer to the people (and avoid assassination) by moving around. Anthony Horowitz – known for Foyle’s War and the Alex Rider books – has written Dinner With Saddam, an unlikely comedy in which Steven Berkoff (who has played Hitler and a Bond villain in his time) stars as Saddam, alongside Goodness Gracious Me’s Sanjeev Baskhar and Shobu Kapoor from Citizen Khan. As personal and political issues surface over the repast, Come Dine With Me this ain’t.
Menier Chocolate Factory, SE1, Thu to 14 Nov
MC
Dead Dog In A Suitcase, Manchester
Heading out on tour, Dead Dog In A Suitcase (And Other Love Songs) is Kneehigh’s mischievous reworking of John Gay’s 1728 Beggar’s Opera. It’s irreverently high-spirited, but that doesn’t mean that Mike Shepherd’s production doesn’t do justice to Gay’s original, which has frequently been reimagined, most notably by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill as The Threepenny Opera. Dead Dog In A Suitcase offers a natty new take on the jukebox musical, with Charles Hazlewood’s musical direction embracing everything from rap to dub, and Carl Grose’s script recasting Macheath as a contract killer with post-traumatic stress disorder, who dispatches the mayor while he is taking his dog for a walk. Some may find it overexuberant, but you can’t for a moment decry the show’s endless inventiveness.
Home, Fri to 26 Sep, touring to 12 Dec
LG
The Stick House, Bristol
Situated beneath the Passenger Shed at Bristol Temple Meads station are a series of Victorian tunnels. It’s here you’ll find the immersive world created by Raucous and the Invisible Circus to tell the story of Marietta, who long ago was lost to the Beast by her father when playing cards. Clearly there are shades of Angela Carter in a production that uses projection mapping, puppetry, robotics, live music and film and takes its visuals from the art of Otto Dix. So dare you go down into the tunnels where the Beast is waiting? Or will you, like Marietta, be plotting your escape? A deal is a deal, and there’s nowhere to hide when the Beast howls at the door. It all sounds a little bit scary, but a lot of fun.
The Lo-co Klub, Fri to 16 Oct
LG
