Planning a trip to London? The Plays...

Stop! Before you even think about looking elsewhere to see a play in London, check what the National Theatre is doing, their production quality is amongst the highest in the world – you'll rarely see a bad show there, many of them transfer to the West End or tour after their repertory stints. Plus it's cheaper and much more pleasant than the West End, especially when you're a student, OAP or unemployed – they offer cheap rates on seats.

In the West End itself a good long running play to see would be The Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre – it's very spooky, very scary and is another great show to entice teenagers back to the theatre instead of moaning at the prospect of seeing another Puccini. Try not to be tempted into The Mousetrap, which is actually The Tourist-trap. I've seen far too many Americans sitting in restaurants with tickets in their hands, don't succumb - unless you genuinely like thrillers instead of what has become a museum.

A revival of Arthur Miller's The Price with Warren Mitchell is currently taking up residence at the Apollo Theatre (until Jan 10th), and it's not to be missed by Miller fans, or indeed those who appreciate good theatre. A Woman of No Importance is also said to be a good one, but catch it quickly as it is soon to be replaced by When Harry Met Sally, starring Luke Perry and the 'this one time at band camp' girl from American Pie as Sally.

If you're not bothered about going back home and telling the folks about how many celebrities you saw in plays (or how much you paid for your tickets..) then the Royal Court Theatre is a venue for new writing, which often hosts sell-out runs, such as Iron which just successfully ran in Manhattan. Check their schedules, and if you really want celebrities then they do sometimes appear in their plays – but it's not a place for screaming fans or for those who clap when their hero walks on stage, it's serious stuff here.

Another theatre that receives money from the British government is the Donmar Warehouse, the venue Sam Mendes put on the map when he ran it for 10 years (receiving a special award at the Laurence Olivier Awards). Their schedule is planned up until January 2005 and includes a new play by Charlotte Jones and a rare production of Grand Hotel.

Plays tend to tick over far more quickly in the commercial West End, they're very expensive for (often) short evenings out and you tend to pay for names and not the quality (check Madonna in Up For Grabs, complete and total sell out). Also, they may have toured the country beforehand so don't expect suave, sophisticated material.. this is the stuff they want to make money on.

As always, any questions just private message me. If you do come over to the UK then enjoy your trip massively.. whether it's a play, opera, ballet or musical.

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