It's been quite a while since I've had a week with so many four-star shows and it's left me feeling buoyant. Things began very well last Friday with La Clique, which is a terrific night out, followed by Complicite's A Disappearing Number at the Barbican and The Brothers Size at the Young Vic. Add intriguing pieces such as Melanie Wilson's Iris Brunette and Lone Twin's Daniel Hit By a Train and suddenly I've fallen in love with theatre all over again.
All of the above are worth a look and there are plenty of other shows around that are potentially rewarding. At the Waterfront in Belfast, Owen McCafferty is directing his version of Sophocles' Antigone; Simon Armitage's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is on tour in Huddersfield; and Bradford's Theatre in the Mill is the centre of the universe for Chris Goode fans, as you can see not one but two of his new pieces there. Infinite Lives has been written especially for Jon Spooner (Unlimited Theatre) and Hey Matthew, conceived and directed by Goode but with a creative team of 12 writers, is about the 1960s counter-culture guru Paul Goodman. The latter also has a brief showing at Toynbee studios in London later in the month.
Independent Means, a rare Stanley Houghton comedy, is revived at the Library in Manchester. David Harrower's terrific Knives in Hens continues at the Ustinov in Bath, and if you haven't caught up with Kate Mitchell's Some Trace of Her at the National, this week is your last chance. Over the last couple of months, I've been meeting up with groups of young theatre-makers and critics from around the world and the one UK show they all rave about is Mitchell's. Oh - and there's a new Howard Barker at the Arcola.
Stage adaptations of books are the staple fare of work produced for children and young people, but where are all the new plays? At the Unicorn, for a start, where Carl Miller's Red Fortress is set in Spain in 1491 as a holy war rages. You may also want to sign up next month for Theatre Cafe, a symposium and series of readings of award-winning plays for children and young people, organised by the excellent Company of Angels and hailing from Europe where they take this work seriously. If you hurry, you might snap up the few remaining tickets for the teenage Edinburgh success Once and For All We're Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up and Listen. Its only current UK dates are at BAC on October 25-26. If you haven't participated in Home Sweet Home yet, it's at the Basement in Brighton from Thursday. Have a good weekend, and let me know what you have enjoyed.
.jpg?w=600)
