London theatre: best plays, April 2022
Between Mark Rylance reprising his role in 'the greatest play of the century' and Jodie Comer making her West End debut, April's theatre is brimming with excitement
Scandaltown, Lyric Hammersmith
Mike Bartlett is the hottest playwright in London right now. Mere days after his new play The 47th officially opened at the Old Vic, satirising the run up to the 2024 American presidential race, he’s at the Lyric Hammersmith with a new ‘Restoration comedy for the 21st century’, poking fun at London’s wealthy elite. Bartlett is known for penning state of the nation plays that speak of our current times. While the exact ins and outs of Scandaltown are yet to be seen, we know it's set in a world of ‘sex, hypocracy, parties and power’... sound familiar?
Read more ...Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s Globe
Her critically acclaimed take on Shakespeare’s gory tragedy Titus Andronicus was so frightening, a number of audience members reportedly fainted. Now, director Lucy Bailey returns to the Globe with a lighter offering in the form of Shakespeare’s Sicily-set comedy Much Ado About Nothing.
Read more ...Jodie Comer in Prima Facie, Harold Pinter Theatre
She restyled the image of a female assassin with her Emmy and Bafta award-winning portrayal of the off-beat, sexy, fashion-conscious Villanelle in hit BBC series Killing Eve. More recently, she tugged on our heartstrings and tear ducts playing a tough but bone-tired care worker in Jack Thorne’s pandemic drama Help. Jodie Comer is one of the most exciting and versatile actors working today, so it’s thrilling news that the Liverpudlian is making her West End debut in Australian playwright Suzie Miller’s award-winning play Prima Facie.
Read more ...Oklahoma!, Young Vic Theatre
Proving there’s ‘plen'y of hope’ for making Golden Age musicals feel fresh and appealing to a woke, contemporary audience is director Daniel Fish's dark interpretation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, which won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical after premiering on Broadway in 2019. Now the production, with its fresh characterisations and explicit depictions of the story's often glossed-over violence, is coming to the Young Vic Theatre this month.
Read more ...The Corn is Green, National Theatre
Emlyn Wiliiams' semi-autobiographical drama gets its first London revival for 35 years. Along with playing to acclaim on the West End and Broadway the 1938 play has been adapted for both film and TV. Director Dominic Cooke's new, large-scale production promises to bring the story to a new generation.
Read more ...Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem, Apollo Theatre
Jez Butterworth’s smash hit play Jerusalem returns to the stage, after 2009’s sellout five-star premiere and equally lauded West End and Broadaway transfers. Best of all, Mark Rylance and Mackenzie Crook will reprise their starring roles, and Ian Rickson once again directs.
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