Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at the Young Vic What could possibly go wrong? Olivia falls in love with the cross-dressed page while Viola falls deep and fast for Orsino. Much Ado About Nothing 14 July to 15 October Shakespeare’s classic tale of antagonistic romance and madcap humour explodes on to the Globe stage with a fusion of Latin music, desert flowers and revolutionary politics in this bold new production. Mexico, 1910. Claudio and Benedick return home from the first wave of the revolution. King Lear 10 August to 14 October By William Shakespeare King Lear has three daughters, but no sons. Boldly he makes a decision to divide his kingdom among his children, but fails to anticipate the consequences of his actions. As he comes to realize the false values by which he has lived, he finally encounters his own humanity. Kevin McNally stars as Lear. THE OLD VIC 103 THE CUT SE1 8NB 020 7928 2651 Girl From The North Country 10 July to 7 October Written and Directed by Conor McPherson Music and lyrics by Bob Dylan Duluth, Minnesota. 1934. A community living on a knife- edge huddle together in the local guesthouse. The owner, Nick, owes more money than he can ever repay, his wife Elizabeth is losing her mind and their daughter Marianne is carrying a child no-one will account for. And, when a preacher selling bibles and a boxer looking for a comeback show up in the middle of the night, things start to spiral beyond the point of no return… THE YOUNG VIC 66 THE CUT SE1 8LZ 020 7922 2922 Life Of Galileo To 1 July By Bertolt Brecht By Bertolt Brecht Brendan Cowell plays Galileo following his acclaimed performance in Yerma. Galileo makes an explosive discovery about the universe with his new invention – the telescope. Performed in-the-round on a stunning set designed by Lizzie Clachan, the show features original music by The Chemical Brothers’Tom Rowlands and projections by 59 Productions (Feast, War Horse). Cat On A Hot Tin Roof 13 July to 7 October by Tennessee Williams On a steamy night in Mississippi, a Southern family gather at their cotton plantation to celebrate Big Daddy’s birthday. The scorching heat is almost as oppressive as the lies they tell. Brick and Maggie dance round the secrets and sexual tensions that threaten to destroy their marriage. Tennessee Williams’searing, poetic story of a family’s fight for survival is a twentieth century masterpiece. MENIER CHOCOLATE FACTORY 53 SOUTHWARK STREET SE1 1RU 020 7378 1713 Lettice & Lovage 4 May to 8 July By Peter Shaffer Felicity Kendal and Maureen Lipman star, directed by Trevor Nunn. Lettice, employed as a stately home tourist guide, has inherited theatricality and eccentricity from her mother. Caught using‘alternative facts’to embroider the history of the house by Lotte, her supervisor, she is dismissed. During the dismissal interview they uncover common ground with the result that she and Lotte develop an unlikely friendship. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4 The Musical 14 July to 9 September Book and lyrics are by Jake Brunger Based on the book by Sue Townsend Set in 1980s Leicester, we follow the daily dramas and misadventures of Adrian’s adolescent life. With dysfunctional parents, ungrateful elders, a growing debt to school bully Barry Kent and an unruly pimple on his chin, life is hard for a misunderstood intellectual who is only 13 3/4… To top it off, when new girl Pandora joins the class and captures his heart, his best friend Nigel steals hers. P H O T O B Y C H A R L I E G R A Y | C U L T U R E | THE RIVER MAGAZINE | Summer 2017 33