Marianka Swain - Page 36

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 But that very familiarity, and the tendency of one event to be swiftly superseded by another in the public consciousness, is a major issue tackled by Christopher Shinn's ambitious new epic.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

Mark Quartley's previous work includes Written on the Heart and Measure for Measure for the RSC, Ghosts at Rose Theatre Kingston, and TV series Hoff the Record. His latest challenge is a motion-capture Ariel in the RSC's ground-breaking production of The Tempest - created with Intel and The Imaginarium Studios - which is currently playing at the Barbican.

Freema Agyeman rose to fame with roles on TV shows like Doctor Who, Torchwood, Law and Order: UK and Sense8. Now, she's making her West End debut in black comedy Apologia at Trafalgar Studios, alongside Stockard Channing and Laura Carmichael. The play begins previews on 29 July.

Actress and musician Bronagh Gallagher's work ranges from The Commitments, Pulp Fiction and Stars Wars on screen to War Horse on stage, as well as touring and recording albums with her band. Her latest project is Conor McPherson's Girl From the North Country, which incorporates Bob Dylan songs - it's currently in previews at the Old Vic.

Choreographer Anthony Van Laast has worked extensively on both stage and screen, from Mamma Mia! and Bombay Dreams to Harry Potter. His latest project, the life action version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, is now available on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download.

Neat freaks beware: Touch is your ultimate nightmare. This latest offering from DryWrite, the company that launched the now stratospheric Fleabag, centres on another woman with a chaotic personal life - this time, mirrored by the symphony of filth that is her cramped bedsit.

Jim Steinman's Bat Out of Hell - The Musical is a romantic adventure about rebellious youth and passionate love, set against the backdrop of a post-cataclysmic city adrift from the mainland. Strat, the forever young leader of The Lost, has fallen for Raven, daughter of Falco, the tyrannical, ruler of Obsidian. The hit show is playing at the London Coliseum in the West End until 22 August.

Having opened to critical acclaim in London's West End in June 2016, Disney's Aladdin, the hit musical based on the classic Academy Award-winning animated film, celebrated its first birthday in the West End on 15 June 2017. Watch a video interview with Matthew Croke

Charlotte Wakefield's past work includes The Sound of Music at Regent's Park Open Air, Mamma Mia! in the West End, and the UK tour of Oklahoma!. She's back on tour next month, starring in Crazy for You alongside Tom Chambers and Caroline Flack.

Following a critically acclaimed opening at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, subsequent UK tour and sell-out run last summer at the National Theatre, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour is now playing at Duke of York's Theatre in London's West End.

Following a sold-out run at the Almeida Theatre, Olivier Award-winning director Robert Icke's new production of Hamlet is now playing at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End in a limited season until 2 September.