Laura Jones - Page 5

Stephen Karam's The Humans won numerous awards during its off-Broadway and 2016 Broadway run, picking up four wins out of six nominations at the Tony Awards. Now the New York cast and director, Joe Mantello, have transferred over to the Hampstead Theatre for its autumn term.

Love's Labour's Lost is one of Shakespeare's earlier comedies and has never been one of his more popular plays. Even attempts to make it more appealing by Kenneth Branagh in 2000 by turning it into a musical did little to sway public opinion. Nick Bagnall's production focuses more on slapstick comedy than it does on passion and romance.

Following on from a hugely successful run at Chichester, Sir Ian McKellen is back in the title role of King Lear, in the same theatre in which he made his West End debut in 1964. The Duke of York's is decidedly bigger than the Minerva, but with the addition of a walkway through the centre of the auditorium reducing the theatre capacity substantially, there's a much more intimate feel.

Playwright Rory Mullarkey is back with another show at the Royal Court Theatre, following on from his 2014 production, The Wolf From the Door. At the start of Pity, it seems like an ordinary day in a quiet town somewhere in England but, as the synopsis on the back of the play text quite literally warns, 'what happens next verges on the ridiculous'.  

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the first test tube baby, and Jemma Kennedy's new play at the Hampstead Theatre, Genesis Inc., centres around a group of people seeking the much sought after (and costly) help of one of the leading experts in fertility.

In this latest production of The Winter's Tale at Shakespeare's Globe, director Blanche McIntyre takes on the tricky task of guiding the audience from tragedy and despair to comedy and finally a classic fairy tale ending.

Nina Raine's Consent first premiered last year at the National Theatre, before the #MeToo movement happened and the change that it has brought about in society. The topic of consent is extremely relevant today and the production's transfer to the West End is timely, offering those who may have seen it at the National a whole new perspective.

Timothy Sheader and Liam Steel's production of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan returns to Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, three years after it first captivated audiences - young and old.

Even those who have never seen a Harry Potter movie will recognise Hedwig's Theme, the song that has become an anthem for Potter fans around the world. The second in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, recently stopped at the Royal Albert Hall following a hugely successful live concert of the first movie (The Philosopher's Stone) last year.

A coin toss at the start of each performance determines whether Lia Williams or Juliet Stevenson plays the role of Mary Stuart. The winner plays Queen Elizabeth I, while the loser takes on the role of Mary Queen of Scots. At the performance I saw, Stevenson was Elizabeth and Williams Mary. Both women appear as mirror images of each other, both dressed identically until the toss of the coin decides their fate.

Twenty years after it first premiered off Broadway, Jonathan Larson's iconic musical Rent has made a much anticipated return to the London stage. Following a group of artists living in New York City's East Village in the 1990's, struggling to pay the Rent, maintain their relationships and friendships and a number of them dealing with their HIV diagnosis, it is often wondered if audiences will still connect with the tribulations the characters go through. However the themes of loss, community, friendship and love are as prominent now as they were over two decades ago.

Director Stephen Daldry's production of J B Priestly's An Inspector Calls, was first seen 24 years ago at the National Theatre in 1992 and has finally returned to London's West End after a long UK tour.

With the long, dark and cold winter nights upon us, we could all do with a bit of lighthearted comedy to cheer us up! Terry Johnson's 'Dead Funny' originally made its West End debut 22 years ago in the very same theatre where the current run is housed, the Vaudeville Theatre. Set in 1992 it takes place during the week in April where two much loved comedians, Frankie Howerd and Benny Hill, died within days of each other.

On Friday 30 September, In the Heights celebrated its first birthday at King's Cross Theatre, and it certainly marked the occasion in style. Setting the London theatre scene on fire when it premiered at the Southwark Playhouse in 2014, it has continued to thrill audiences in its new central London home, recently announcing an extension until January 2017.

First premiering at the Edinburgh Traverse two years ago, Owen McCafferty's play Unfaithful has a new cast and a new home at the Found111 on Charing Cross Road.  Tom (Sean Campion), a plumber, and Joan (Niamh Cusack), a supervisory dinner lady, are a fifty-something married couple who have been together for 30 years. One night Tom returns home, telling Joan he's slept with someone else – a young woman he met at the pub. Seeking revenge, Joan hires a male escort and meets him at the same hotel where her husband frequently drinks.

The Collector was originally published in 1963 and was the debut novel of John Fowles. After successfully crossing over on to the big screen, numerous stage adaptations followed, the latest being Mark Healy's production at The Vaults.

Exposure the Musical has been 12 years in the making and Mike Dyer's production has finally arrived at the St James Theatre. Written after the death of his father and while he was recovering from a serious motorcycle accident, the musical takes inspiration from Marlowe's Faustus, although this time instead of a scholar, the one signing their soul to the devil is a photographer.

Following a six month tour, Richard Greenberg's version of Breakfast at Tiffany's marks the second time an adaptation of Truman Capote's novella has been shown at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in seven years. Anna Friel starred in the 2009 adaptation by Samuel Adamson, but in 2016 it's pop star Pixie Lott's turn to play the role of Holly Golightly.

Comedian Jesse Eisenberg is the latest American star to bring a production to London's West End. Originally an Off-Broadway show, The Spoils, which was penned by and stars Eisenberg, marks Eisenberg's West End debut and features two new British actors who join the original trio, making this a brilliantly funny play.

Many will remember Sideways as the Academy Award and Golden Globe winning 2004 film based on Rex Pickett's novel. The production now at the St James Theatre is directed by David Grindley and written by Pickett. Sideways is about a pair of middle-aged men drinking their way through California's wine country on a bachelor trip before one of them gets married.