Anyone interested in theatre might think of starting their week in the Olivier where on next Monday at 6pm Michael Billington and Nick Hytner will be talking about Michael's book State of the Nation and discussing postwar British theatre. You could do far worse than to stick around at the National all week. If you want to see War Horse and haven't booked in advance you'll need to queue for day seats in the morning. But there are other treats, including the return of the Enda Walsh/Mark Ravenhill double bill Chatroom/Citizenship. This is a terrific night out, particularly if you've got a teenager in tow.
Wednesday night is Katie Mitchell night, with the start of previews of her production of Women of Troy in the Lyttelton. The critics won't be let in until the following week, but I imagine the blogosphere will be buzzing with reports.
Away from the National but still in London, The Arsonists at the Court and the Brothers Size and the Young Vic are well worth your attention. I haven't seen the latter yet, but I've heard nothing but good reports and it's good to see ATC's Bijan Sheibani breathing life into a company that in the past has sometimes looked past its sell-by date. It's also the final week of the Paines Plough/Oran Mor season at Shunt Vaults and this week's play (from Wednesday at 6pm daily) is Rona Munro's The Dirt Under the Carpet. Sadly I won't get a chance to see it because I'll be at Mike Packer's punk-revisted play tHe DYsFunCKshOnalZ! at the Bush. But David Greig and Che Walker's plays in the same season were real crackers.
In Glasgow Oran Mor is celebrating its 100th play in the A Play, a Pie and a Pint season with a special surprise commission. Should be well worth a look. Beyond London lots of theatres are gearing up for the panto season, but look out for Filter's exploration of climate change, Water, which is at Contact in Manchester and Tim Crouch's superb An Oak Tree at the Nuffield in Lancaster. If you want a sneak preview of the latest Gecko show The Arab and the Jew before it arrives at the Lyric in January, you can catch it in Worthing on Tuesday night. I've already seen it twice and it's a fascinating piece.
Looking further ahead, just a reminder that the Barbican Bite 2008 season is open for booking and if you want to get those Black Watch tickets you need to get on to the box office now, even though it doesn't arrive in the Barbican until June. BITE 2008 is a truly mouth-watering season and includes a revival of Theatre Royal Stratford East's The Harder They Come, Thomas Ostermeier's Hedda Gabler and a show called Hysteria from young Brazilian company Grupo XIX, which sounds quite extraordinary in its exploration of 19th-century women incarcerated in mental asylums. The production will be played out in the Great Hall of St Bartholomew's Hospital and, interestingly, men and women will be required to sit separately.
Finally if you've tried and failed to get a ticket to Punchdrunk's Masque of the Red Death, don't despair. There are very strong rumours that the production, which is deservedly one of London theatre's hottest tickets, is going to get a substantial extension. Keep your eyes on the website and watch this space.
