Regional theatre? Ridiculusmus's Jon Haynes and David Woods in bath. Photograph: Tristram Kenton
I'm looking forward to seeing the latest from the engagingly barmy Ridiculusmus at the Pit on Saturday night and seeing Kneehigh's Brief Encounter on Sunday afternoon. At the start of next week I'm off down to Exeter to see Tennessee Williams' spin on Chekhov, The Notebooks of Trigorin. I must admit that although I head to the Drum at Plymouth on a regular basis (and will be heading down again soon for Nostalgia, the new one from Lucinda Coxon whose Happy Now? at the National I still haven't found time to see) I've not been a regular attendee at Exeter, refurbishment notwithstanding. But as it's one of those theatres pulled back from the brink after the threat of Arts Council funding cuts, I will be trying to head that way more often - provided, of course, that the programming and productions look interesting.
"Will it be good?" the Arts desk sometimes asks me in busy weeks when there are too many shows and not enough slots available on the reviews list. I smile wryly and answer that I won't know until I've seen it. But I'm acutely aware that there are dozens of shows every week that go unseen by any national reviewer. Years ago I turned up at the Octagon in Bolton and was slightly taken aback by my effusive welcome. Then they told me they hadn't seen a reviewer from a national paper in over a decade. Times have changed: national papers quite rightly give greater regional coverage than they did even a few years ago. Plenty still fall through the net. I admit that I haven't been to Harrogate (another Arts Council cuts-affected theatre) for years and I feel guilty about my neglect of the Mercury in Colchester, which has been one of regional theatre's unsung success stories over recent years.
After Exeter I'm heading North for Blasted at the Queens Hotel in Leeds, and I'll be staying on to see The Grouch, Ranjit Bolt's new version of Moliere's The Misanthrope at West Yorkshire Playhouse. The rest of the week I'll be in London where I'll be seeing Press at the Gate, created by Pierre Rigal, a former 400-metre runner turned dancer and choreographer. I'm also looking forward to Nic Green's Cloud Piece at BAC at the end of the week, which features Green and an eight year old child. In fact children feature in some other interesting forthcoming work: Quarantine's new show at Contact in June will feature old people, children and animals.
Other things worth your attention this week include your last chance to catch Kneehigh's Rapunzel before it heads to New York. Mem Morrison's consideration of Englishness, Leftovers, is at the Gulbenkian in Canterbury. Frantic Assembly's new version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a co-production with the Theatre Royal Northampton. Theatre Alibi is adapting Michael Frayn's Spies at Oxford Playhouse, and the excellent New Territories season at Tramway continues. Romeo Castellucci's Hey Girl will get its British premiere there at the end of the month. You should be booking now.
