Marianka Swain - Page 18

London is never short of theatre temptations, whether epic West End shows or bold fringe offerings. From political drama to immersive Agatha Christie and the unveiling of a new venue, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld's reviews...

Sally Cookson's past work includes inventive adaptations of Peter Pan, Hetty Feather and La Strada. Her acclaimed version of Jane Eyre, which first appeared at Bristol Old Vic in 2014, completes its 2017 UK tour with an encore run at the National Theatre from 23 September.

Emily Stilson (Juliet Stevenson) is suspended in a void. She analyses this strange situation with wry perspicacity and occasional breathless panic. She's a prisoner, a specimen. She's fallen, trapped. She's flying.

We need more waffles in diplomacy. Or rather more personal connections to bridge those vast divides. So believed the Norwegian couple who orchestrated secret peace talks in 1993 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization - a slice of stranger-than-fiction history grippingly dramatised in JT Rogers' play, which deservedly picked up this year's Tony Award.

New Orleans comes to Marble Arch via this energetic revival of Clarke Peters' 1990 tribute to 'The King of the Jukebox', swing and blues bandleader Louis Jordan. Occupying a new pop-up, circus tent-style venue complete with stylish bar serving Southern cocktails it's a welcome blast of jazz-hot fun as autumn draws in.

Kristin Chenoweth's work ranges from Wicked and On the Twentieth Century to The West Wing, Pushing Daisies and Glee, plus numerous albums and concerts. British fans will have a chance to see her in person at An Intimate Evening with Kristin Chenoweth at London Palladium on 20 October.

Ben Lewis's past work includes Forbidden Broadway and Candide at Menier Chocolate Factory, Annie Get Your Gun at Sheffield Crucible, and playing The Phantom in the original Australian production of Love Never Dies. He's now donning the mask again to lead the West End production of Phantom of the Opera.

Theatre has a long memory. Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's 1971 musical has been through myriad incarnations, donning and shedding numbers, an interval, an ill-conceived upbeat ending, and yet the original vision has lingered. It comes to extraordinary life in a blockbuster National Theatre revival that proves Follies isn't just still here - it's thrilling, heartrending and utterly vital.

Ria Jones has starred in numerous musicals, including Evita, Chess, Cats and Les Miserables. She's now reprising her acclaimed performance as Norma Desmond in the UK tour of Sunset Boulevard, which begins at Leicester Curve on 16 September.

London is never short of theatre temptations, whether West End epics or bold fringe offerings. From starry Sondheim to political plays and a new Florian Zeller, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld's reviews...

Carley Stenson's work includes Hollyoaks, Shrek: The Musical, Legally Blonde, Spamalot and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. She's currently starring as Fantine in Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre in the West End.

The incident tent, the police tape: a sickeningly familiar sight, made fresh yet again by the tragic events of this week. But that very familiarity, and the tendency of one event to be swiftly superseded by another in the public consciousness, is a major issue tackled by Christopher Shinn's ambitious new epic. What is at the root of violence, and if we never stop to address that, how can humanity ever hope for a better future?

New Take That musical The Band, co-created with Tim Firth, begins its national tour at Manchester Opera House on 8 September. Cast members AJ Bentley, Nick Carsberg, Yazdan Qafouri Isfahani, Curtis T Johns and Sario Watanabe-Soloman, who won TV talent show Let It Shine, give us a preview...

Back in 2009, Alexi Kaye Campbell followed up his bold first play The Pride with Apologia, which takes the well-trodden path of a fraught family reunion where past grievances stalk the present. If more conventional, it's still an enjoyable combination of big ideas, sharp comedy and a pervading sense of loss.

London is never short of theatre temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From a starry drama to musical revivals and family-friendly fun, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld's reviews…

Thirty years on from its birth at the Royal Court, Jim Cartwright's northern, working-class battle cry returns in a revival from John Tiffany which, though initially stodgy, has an accumulative and undeniable force.

Britain's most beloved diarist (give or take a Bridget Jones) comes to London in chamber musical form in a new adaptation created with the late Sue Townsend's blessing. Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary's version, tweaked since its premiere run in Leicester in 2015, should certainly prove popular with school holiday audiences, though a broader approach means parents may miss Townsend's subtly genius brand of humour. 

Actress and singer Emma Hatton's previous work includes We Will Rock You and Wicked. She's now starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's iconic musical Evita, which returns to the West End - previews begin at Phoenix Theatre tomorrow night.

Defiantly rejecting the standard jukebox model, Conor McPherson's much-anticipated new work mining the back catalogue of Bob Dylan is labelled 'a play with songs' - or perhaps that should be a play and songs, with two distinct forms of storytelling weaving around one another, reflecting, deepening, revealing, in exquisitely soulful harmony.

Olivia Williams and Olivia Colman are shattering as two warring sisters in Lucy Kirkwood's epic