Opening: Ghosts, Disconnect, Women & Warnings

Amongst the major London openings – in the West End and further afield – this week are:
OPENING TONIGHT, Monday 22 February 2010 (previews from 17 February), Chennai-based playwright Anupama Chandresekhar’s new play Disconnect, set in an Indian call centre for debt collection, premieres at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs (See News, 21 Oct 2009), where it runs until 20 March, before transferring to a disused shop at the Elephant and Castle shopping centre in south London from 31 March to 3 April as part of the Court’s “Theatre Local” scheme (See News, 2 Feb 2010).

OPENING TUESDAY, 23 February 2010 (previews from 8 February), award-winning actor Iain Glen makes his directorial debut and co-stars with Lesley Sharp in a new production of Ibsen’s 1881 classic Ghosts, which is at the West End’s Duchess Theatre for a limited season to 15 May (See News, 4 Sep 2009).

Set in the Norwegian fjordland, the drama takes place in Mrs Alving’s (Sharp) country house, where she is preparing for the opening of an orphanage, a memorial to her late husband. Mrs Alving’s son Oswald, an artist, returns home for the celebrations. A story of love, betrayal and hypocrisy gradually unfolds as ghosts from the past come back to haunt the family. The cast also features Harry Treadaway, Malcolm Storry and Jessica Raine.

** DON’T MISS our Whatsonstage.com Outing to GHOSTS on 9 March 2010 – inc FREE programme, FREE drink & EXCLUSIVE post-show Q&A, all for £29.50!! – click here to book now! **

ALSO ON TUESDAY, a triple bill of Neil LaBute short plays – Land of the Dead, Helter Skelter and the British premiere of The Furies – moves into Greenwich Theatre, this week until 27 February 2010, as part of wider tour.

ALSO ON TUESDAY (previews from 16 February), Warnings, a site-specific promenade experience based on two MR James ghost stories is staged in the St Pancras Church Crypt until 13 March 2010.

OPENING WEDNESDAY, 24 February 2010 (previews from 19 February), Patrick Prior adapts Martina Cole’s best-selling thriller Two Women for a stage production, running at Theatre Royal Stratford East until 20 March. Danger and violence have always been part of Sue Dalston’s East End upbringing. Unloved by her mother, abused by her father and brutalised throughout her entire marriage, all that keeps her sane is knowing that her children are safe from harm.

** DON’T MISS the chance to see TWO WOMEN for only £10!! – offer ends 27 February – click here for details! **

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY (previews from 22 February), Livin’ Dread Theatre’s production of Pat McCabe’s Dead School, about two schoolmasters who clash in 1970s Ireland, comes to north London’s Tricycle Theatre for a run to 13 March 2010.

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY, skate show spectacular Cinderella on Ice glides into the Royal Albert Hall for four dates only until 27 February.

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY, Kylie Minogue’s stylist William Baker, who previously “remixed” Rent in the West End, has collaborated with British burlesque star Miss Polly Rae on her latest offering, Miss Polly Rae: The All New Hurly Burly Show, which is at Leicester Square Theatre until 28 February 2010.

OPENING WEDNESDAY, 24 February 2010 (previews from 19 February), Shakespeare’s history play Henry V is reimagined in just 90 minutes on a life-sized board game at Southwark Playhouse, where it continues until 20 March.