A heel-tapping night at the theatre ... The Wizard of Oz at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Photograph: Tristram Kenton
Tonight I'm off to see David Eldridge's Under the Blue Sky , which I saw at the Royal Court back in 2000 and enjoyed immensely. I'm really looking forward to it and will be intrigued to see how Catherine Tate fares alongside a really top-notch cast that also includes Francesca Annis, who has done some good, brave work in fringe venues recently. Jonathan Miller may dismiss Tate as celebrity casting, as he did her Doctor Who co-star, but I've really warmed to her as an actor during the recent Doctor Who series and will miss her and her character, Donna.
Elsewhere in London, Gone Too Far is back at the Royal Court and Jude Kelly's Wizard of Oz - about which there has been a great exchange on the Guardian's letters page - is at the Royal Festival Hall. This is not the first time that Kelly has travelled the yellow brick road. She staged an intriguing if not entirely successful multimedia version at West Yorkshire Playhouse during her reign there. I'm off to Edinburgh on Wednesday (yes, I know that the Fringe doesn't officially start until Sunday, but I'm booked in for my first show on Thursday lunchtime). That means that for the time being I'll be missing out on both Katie Mitchell's ...some trace of her and Rebecca Lenkiewicz's suffragette play, Her Naked Skin, at the National. I also wish I was here to see Chloe Moss's This Wide Night at Soho theatre because she writes with a directness that I find very appealing.
It's the start of the open-air season at the Scoop, which a couple of years back won the Peter Brook award. Phil Willmott is directing Blood Wedding. It's free and on past experience performances here may be rough and ready but have a vibrancy that comes of playing to a crowd who will just wander off unless you hold their attention. At Sadler's Wells, you can see why West Side Story has a claim to be the greatest musical ever.
In Manchester, the 24:7 festival of new writing finishes this weekend, and while you're there you could take in Hay Fever at the Exchange. Deborah McAndrew's new play Flamingoland opens at the New Vic in Newcastle-under-Lyme. In Liverpool, the extraordinary Contacting the World kicks off on Sunday and brings together 150 young people from across the globe to share work they have made together. Stockton International Riverside Festival starts at the end of the week and boasts some great companies. If you are in Edinburgh, there's a huge choice of shows in preview all over town. If you see something you enjoy a great deal, then please let me know.
