Features

Theatre Highlights of the Week: Medea, The Nether and Shakespeare in Love

Several major openings and closings this week

| London | London's West End | Off-West End |

21 July 2014

Monday 21 July

Medea opens at the Olivier (National Theatre)

Helen McCrory returns to the National Theatre to take the title role in Euripides' powerful tragedy, in a new version by Ben Power with music written by Will Gregory and Alison Goldfrapp. Directed by Carrie Cracknell.

Tuesday 22 July

Holes opens at the Arcola Tent

Stranded, four survivors wait. Surely somebody will find them. Planes don't just disappear, do they? And, if no-one's coming… what do they do now?

Starring The Wrong Mans’ Mathew Baynton, Elizabeth Berrington and BAFTA winner Daniel Rigby, Tom Basden’s razor-sharp comedy lands in London this summer for a strictly limited run in the Arcola Tent.

Wednesday 23 July

Shakespeare in Love opens at the Noel Coward Theatre

Based on the Oscar-winning screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, Shakespeare in Love has been adapted for the stage by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot). The production is directed by Declan Donnellan and designed by Nick Ormerod, the driving force behind the world-renowned theatre company, Cheek by Jowl.

Holy Warriors opens at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

See the world premiere of David Eldridge’s new play. From the crusades of Richard the Lionheart to the bloody conflicts of our own century, Holy Warriors is a sweeping fantasia of holy war, fraught diplomacy and revenge in the struggle for Jerusalem and the Holy Lands.

Thursday 24 July

The Nether opens at the Royal Court – Jerwood Theatre

Winner of the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, The Nether is both an intricate crime drama and a haunting sci-fi thriller that explores the consequences of making dreams a reality. This new play, written by Jennifer Haley and directed by Jeremy Herrin, follows an investigation into the complicated and disturbing morality of paedophilia in a digital world.

Friday 25 July

A Bright Room Called Day opens at the Southwark Playhouse

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner's powerful portrayal of individual resolution, irresolution and dissolution in the face of political catastrophe, A Bright Room Called Day follows a group of artists and political activists struggling to preserve themselves in 1930s Berlin as the Weimar Republic surrenders to the seduction of fascism.