There's plenty to see this week, though not much that's brand new. Never mind: a good chance to catch up with shows that have already opened, and some that are about to close. Top of that list must be Mike Bartlett's Love, Love, Love, which finishes its short tour at the Ustinov in Bath. Snapping at its heels is the knee-tremblingly delightful Midsummer, which subsequently heads for a festive season at London's Tricycle, where Arthur Miller's Broken Glass has a final week left to run.
Told by an Idiot's wonderful National Theatre of Wales collaboration, The Dark Philosophers, is at Wrexham until Saturday. Chekhov in Hell at the Drum in Plymouth is a sly and engaging satire on how the Russian playwright might view 21st-century British life; it's superbly staged and acted. Other shows that you've got to be quick to catch include Forkbeard's The Colour of Nonsense at Riverside, Gary Owen's Blackthorn at Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Forced Entertainment's The Thrill of It All at Contact in Manchester and Blasted at the Lyric Hammersmith. Song of the Goat's Macbeth is at the Pit in London before moving to the Corn Exchange in Brighton. The Clod Ensemble's Under Glass is at the Basement, Brighton until Saturday, and you can catch Melanie Wilson's beguiling Simple Girl there next Wednesday. Filter's Twelfth Night finishes at the Rose in Kingston on Saturday and Punk Rocks bows out at Warwick Arts Centre. WAC then plays host to Kneehigh's Hansel and Gretel before it comes to the Southbank over Christmas.
You have a little bit longer for Mike Packer's Inheritance at Live in Newcastle, Lorca Is Dead and the other Belt-Up shows at Southwark Playhouse, Philip Wilson's visually superb revival of Massinger's 17th-century comedy The Picture at Salisbury Playhouse and Mark Storor's remarkable For the Best in Liverpool in a co-production with the Unity Theatre. The Friel plays, Molly Sweeney and Translations, are clearly a feather in the cap of the Curve.
David Copperfield is the first of the Christmas shows at the Octagon in Bolton, which had a massive hit with Oliver Twist last year. West Yorkshire Playhouse has Bryony Lavery's A Christmas Carol, which was at Birmingham last year. Tracie Bennett's performance as Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow had people raving when it was at Northampton last year and it opens at Trafalgar Studios on Monday. Theatre Royal Bath's production of The Rivals sails sedately into the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
Coalition at Theatre 503 is a series of cross-collaborations reflecting on a new political era, The Invisible Man is the Menier's all-star Christmas offering opening on Wednesday, and It Had to Be You at the New End on Thursday is an old-style Broadway comedy. The Sherman's Measure for Measure is playing in the old red-light district of Cardiff, and east London's Arcola makes its swansong in its current premises with The Cradle Will Rock. If you want to get ahead on Christmas shows, the delightful Little Angel opens Alice in Wonderland on Thursday and the Watermill in Bagnor has Treasure Island.
