Things that look good this weekend, in no particular order and with a flagrant disregard for geographical location. I very much like the look of the Pentabus and Kindle collaboration, Underland, which is at Clearwell Caves in the Forest of Dean until Sunday. Another intriguing-sounding site responsive piece, Where Soldiers Sleep, is at Languard Fort in Felixstowe. The BAC's graduate festival takes place tonight and tomorrow. Fevered Sleep is bringing Brilliant into the Polka, and if you are a Patrick Hamilton fan, Hangover Square is at the Finborough.
I can recommend Anupama Chandrasekhar's Free Outgoing at the Royal Court. It's slight, but packs a punch. I'd very much like to see Che Walker's The Frontline at the Globe which looks as if it is going to be a big hit. Walker's brilliant Crazy Love produced by Paines Plough is one of the massive number of theatre shows from companies including the National, the Bush, the Royal Court and the RSC going to Latitude later in the week, where in an uncharacteristic retreat from concrete I'll be from Thursday. It is not often that I have to pack my wellies and a torch when planning a trip to the theatre.
Adam Rapp had a hit with Finer Noble Gasses at Edinburgh a couple of years back and now his one-man play Nocturne is at the Almeida for a few performances before heading to the Traverse for the festival. David Eldridge's Under the Blue Sky starts previewing from Tuesday at the Duke of Yorks. I loved this rich and biliously funny play when it was at the Royal Court at the beginning of the century (typing those last four words feels slightly odd). Alan Ayckbourn's 71st play, Life and Beth, is in preview at Scarborough, and down in Bath, Stephen Unwin is directing a revival of Peter Nichols' Born in the Gardens. If you want to see the unsettling and quite astonishing Harper Regan at the National you need to get your skates on.
Talking of the National, the new season (August-November) brochure makes a considerable statement about the direction in which British theatre continues to gallop in its emphasis on dance and visual theatre. Katie Mitchell's Waves is back before heading out on a national and international tour, the same director's multi-media performance ... Some Trace of Her is in rep until the end of October; DV8 is stopping by with the bold and brave To Be Straight With You, the puppet-driven War Horse is back, and the season kicks off with in-I, a collaboration between choreographer Akram Khan, actor Juliette Binoche and visual artist, Anish Kapoor. Interesting.
