Opening: Shoes, Deathtrap, Guys & Globe Bedlam

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

OPENING TONIGHT, Monday 6 September 2010 (previews from 3 September), Shoes, a comic dance exploration of the gamut of footwear from the highs of the Louboutin to the lows of the Croc, premieres at Sadler’s Wells in a week-long run, with music by Jerry Springer’s Richard Thomas and choreography and direction by Stephen Mear.

** DON’T MISS our Whatsonstage.com Outing to Shoes on 6 September 2010, including a top-price ticket, a FREE programme and access to our EXCLUSIVE post-show Q&A with Thomas and Mear, has now SOLD OUT. Click here to join the waiting list! **

ALSO TONIGHT (previews from 3 September), the UK premiere of the international hit play Scorched by Wajdi Mouawad, directed by Patricia Benecke, opens at the Old Vic Tunnels in a Dialogue and Old Vic co-production. Until 2 October.

ALSO TONIGHT (previews from 2 September), the Arcola Theatre presents David Watson’s new play Pieces of Vincent, which tells the story of a man estranged from his family and adrift in London. Directed by Clare Lizzimore, it continues to 25 September.

ALSO TONIGHT, Kevin Kennedy, best known for his role of Curly Watts in TV’s Coronation Street, joins the cast of We Will Rock You as Pop to lead the musical into its tenth year.

OPENING TUESDAY, 7 September 2010 (previews from 20 August), Simon Russell Beale, Estelle Parsons, Claire Skinner and Glee’s Jonathan Groff star in Matthew Warchus’ revival of Ira Levin’s comic thriller Deathtrap at the Noël Coward Theatre.
ALSO ON TUESDAY, Re-Orientations, a play about the aftermath of the Asian tsunami conceived and directed by Michael Walling, runs at Soho Theatre until 25 September.

OPENING WEDNESDAY, 8 September 2010 (previews from 3 September), following a run at the Edinburgh Fringe, the 20th anniversary revival of Five Guys Named Moe, written by and starring The Wire’s Clarke Peters, transfers for a month to Theatre Royal Stratford East, where the musical had its world premiere in 1990.
ALSO ON WEDNESDAY, Welsh artist Hugh Hughes presents the first ever retrospective of his three hit theatre shows, Floating, Story of a Rabbit and 360, in his new tour of The Wonderful World of Hugh Hughes, produced by Hoipolloi and running at Barbican bite10 until 2 October..

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY (previews from 6 September), Simon Stephens‘ acclaimed grammar school-set play Punk Rock returns to Lyric Hammersmith with new cast for a limited two-week run, prior to a nine-week national tour.

OPENING THURSDAY, 9 September 2010 (previews from 5 September), Shakespeare’s Globe presents the world premiere of Nell Leyshon’s Bedlam, with a cast will including Ella Smith. The play, which presents a fictional portrayal of a London hospital for the insane, marks the first-ever known staging of a work by a female playwright, at either old or new incarnations of the Globe, and continues in rep until 1 September.
ALSO ON THURSDAY (previews from 7 September), Presence Theatre premieres If So, Then Yes, the first new play in more than 30 years by nonagenarian British absurdist NF Simpson, directed by Simon Usher at Jermyn Street Theatre.

ALSO ON THURSDAY, Hit Me! The Life and Times of Ian Dury comes to the Garrick Theatre for three nights only ahead of a nationwide tour.

ALSO ON THURSDAY (previews from 4 September), Planet Theatre presents Thomas Kyd’s gory revenge drama The Spanish Tragedy at The Rose Theatre, Bankside, adapted and directed by Adrian Brown and running until 26 September.

OPENING FRIDAY, 10 September 2010 (previews from 7 September), Snoo Wilson’s new play Reclining Nude with Black Stockings, portraying the “extraordinary and perverse trial” of the young painter, Egon Schiele, for allegedly seducing his 13 year-old model, receives its world premiere at the Arcola Theatre. Until 2 October.