Becky Brewis

A new verbatim play by the writer behind London Road, about the 2011 London riots in Hackney and their aftermath.

A new comedy by Tom Basden, set after a plane crash in a post-cold war dystopia.

This adaptation keeps all the humour of P G Wodehouse's original books, and creates much of its own. The array of batty characters is brought to life superbly by a new cast in this three-hander farce.

Following an acclaimed run at the Donmar Warehouse last year, Josie Rourke's production of Conor McPherson's play, set in an out-of-the-way pub in Ireland, transfers to the West End. A strong cast do justice to riveting dialogue.

A witty new translation of this raucous seventeenth-century comedy of mistaken identity marks the start of the Arcola's Spanish Golden Age season.

A landmark exhibition of the work of David Bailey opens at London's National Portrait Gallery in February next year. Over 250 photographs have been personally selected by Bailey, one of the world's most distinguished photographers, for what will be the largest exhibition of his portraits. Subjects include artists, fashion icons, photographers, musicians and people encountered on his travels.

New Pulitzer Prize-winning drama starring Hari Dhillon has its UK premiere at the Bush after sell-out runs in the US: an intellectually-stimulating play about Islam, class and art and how it all fits together.

LIMBO gives traditional circus entertainment a sophisticated re-vamp with a 1920s twist, complete with contortions, illusions, sword-swallowing and aerial acrobatics to make audiences gasp.

As part of a season of politically-charged plays, the Trafalgar Studios and director Jamie Lloyd present a fast-paced witty production of Harold Pinter's tragi-comic play about cruelty and power in the modern world, starring Simon Russell Beale.

Performed in Swedish with English surtitles, Doktor Glas stars Wallander actor Krister Henriksson, and tells the story of a physician whose unrequited love leads him into increasingly disturbing scenarios that breach more than just the codes of his profession.

Nicholas Allan's best-selling children's book, The Queen's Knickers, has been adapted for the stage as part of the Southbank Centre's Imagine children's festival. With lots of witty ideas, a healthy dose of clowning, and a great storyline, it's perfect for ages 3+.

Alex Helfrecht's adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises opens in Paris and ends in Pamplona, where complex human relationships blister under the heat of the Spanish sun. Physical performances and live music conjure up all the ex-pat decadence of the 1920s, and tell a truly gripping story.

This weekend at Hoxton Hall, Extempore Theatre presents not just an evening, but a 50-hour marathon of non-stop improvisational comedy, in the form of a soap-opera set in 1920s Egypt.

Tongue Fu is one of the hottest tickets on the spoken word calendar: a regular collaboration between performance poets, musicians and film. The mix of live, improvised music with poetry and stand-up, in a cabaret-style evening, is slick and funny, and the set-up is attracting big names - such as old hand John Hegley whose career was launched with John Peel Sessions in the 1980s - in this, admittedly slightly niche, field.

Privates on Parade is the first in a season of five plays at the Noël Coward Theatre, where the newly-formed Michael Grandage company has set up camp. Getting the season off to a cracking start, Simon Russell Beale plays the witty, warm-hearted drag queen, Acting Captain Terri Dennis, in this classic play by Peter Nichols.

In Philip Ridley's twisting, fast-paced epic, there is plenty to get adults thinking, and the young children in the audience were completely engrossed, too.

This latest play by Jack Thorne, specially commissioned by new writing company DryWrite, is about a couple in their late twenties. It takes place entirely in their bathroom where, beneath the gleaming porcelain and easy companionship, a tension builds

The former Catatonia front-woman and Radio 6 Music presenter mixes periods and genres in an evening of relaxed cabaret-style entertainment, joined by an excellent band.

Adapted from Rapp's New York Times best-selling memoir, Without You tells the story of the early days of what became the Broadway phenomenon Rent, from the perspective of this original cast member, complete with songs from the show as well as fresh music coolly performed by a five-piece rock band.

Sometimes when directors revive old plays you wonder why they've done it. Mack & Mabel, currently playing at Southwark Playhouse, is not a classic crying out to be brought back to life, though being about the early days of cinema it is rather on trend.