Opening: Bailey’s Mind, Driver & Ideal Husband

Amongst the major London openings, in the West End and further afield, this week are:

OPENING TUESDAY, 9 November 2010, comedian and classically trained musician Bill Bailey returns to the West End with his new show Dandelion Mind, running at Wyndham’s Theatre until 7 December. Amongst the topics covered are: being trapped by the volcanic ash cloud, creationism, Michael Winner, punk heroes and Iranian hip-hop.

ALSO ON TUESDAY, SellaDoor’s 25th-anniversary tour of Liz Lochhead’s adaptation of Dracula concludes at Greenwich Playhouse, where it runs until 5 December.

ALSO ON TUESDAY (previews from 4 November), acclaimed South African playwright Athol Fugard directs the UK premiere of his new play The Train Driver, inspired by a traumatic true event, at Hampstead Theatre for a month-long run.

OPENING WEDNESDAY, 10 November 2010 (previews from 2 November), real-life husband and wife Alexander Hanson and Samantha Bond lead a cast, also including Rachael Stirling and Elliot Cowan, in Oscar Wilde’s classic 1895 comedy An Ideal Husband, directed by Lindsay Posner at the Vaudeville Theatre.

OPENING THURSDAY, 11 November 2010 (previews from 10 November), Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Fabrication (Affabulazione) is revived in a new translation (by poet Jamie McKendrick) to launch London venue The Print Room, located on Hereford Road in Notting Hill. Directed by co-artistic director Lucy Bailey and starring Jasper Britton, it continues until 4 December.

OPENING FRIDAY, 12 November 2010 (previews from 10 November), award-winning theatre company Clean Break presents Charged, a season of six new plays by female playwrights (including Rebecca Lenkiewicz) about incarcerated women, in and around Soho Theatre until 27 November.

ALSO ON FRIDAY (previews from 10 November), Hungry Ghosts, Tim Luscombe’s play centring on a Formula 1 Grand Prix in China, opens at the Orange Tree Theatre for a run to 11 December.