Opening: Showstopper!, Delirium, Othello & Lucky

Amongst the major openings in London this week are:

OPENING MONDAY, 3 November 2008 (previews from 13 October), Showstopper! The Improvised Musical begins its new residency at the King’s Head Theatre (See News, 16 Oct 2008), where it runs every Monday until 2 March 2009.

OPENING TUESDAY, 4 November 2008 (previews from 31 October), Alexis Zegerman’s new comedy Lucky Seven, inspired by the 1960s TV documentary Seven Up about a group of people who are reunited every seven years to discuss their lives, premieres at Hampstead Theatre, where it runs until 22 November.

ALSO ON TUESDAY, Kate Saxon directs English Touring Theatre’s production of Far From the Madding Crowd at Richmond Theatre, until 8 November.

ALSO ON TUESDAY (previews from 3 November), Any Which Way, David Watson’s new play about knife crime, performed by a cast of ex-offenders and professional actors, launches the new Only Connect Theatre in Camden, where it runs until 29 November.

ALSO ON TUESDAY, Pebbles on the Beach by Joanna Pinto transfers from the Edinburgh Fringe to the Old Red Lion Theatre, where it runs until 22 November 2008.

OPENING WEDNESDAY, 5 November 2008 (previews from 3 November), Irish new writing company Fishamble’s artistic director Jim Culleton directs the UK premiere of Robert Massey’s new comedy thriller Rank at the Tricycle Theatre, until 22 November.

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY (previews from 4 November), Agelink Theatre presents the London premiere of Dear Heart, written and directed by Jenny Davis about the correspondence between a young married couple during the Second World War, at the King’s Head Theatre until 30 November.

OPENING THURSDAY, 6 November 2008 (previews from 5 November), international touring company Theatre O returns to the Barbican Pit with Delirium, a collaboration with playwright Enda Walsh (The Walworth Farce) based on Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. Until 22 November.

ALSO ON THURSDAY The Hurly Burly Show opens at Leicester Square Theatre starring Miss Polly Rae and the ‘Hurly Burly Girlys’, for three nights only.

ALSO ON THURSDAY (previews from 4 November), movement theatre troupe Frantic Assembly brings its contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello to the Lyric Hammersmith, where it runs until 22 November.

ALSO ON THURSDAY Sheffield-based avant-garde performance company Forced Entertainment’s new show Spectacular arrives at Riverside Studios as part of an international tour, running until 15 November 2008.

– By Theo Bosanquet