What to watch: best shows to see this week

It seems that every major venue has a big show opening this week – we don't even have space to touch on the touring production of Torben Betts' Monogamy coming to London's Park Theatre after a UK tour. It's definitely a week for drama too – with the Almeida, the Donmar and the Royal Court bringing female-led plays to their stages. To cap it off, An Octoroon, following its critical smash production at the Orange Tree, gets a highly anticipated National Theatre transfer.

5. An Octoroon

National Theatre, until 18 July

WhatsOnStage critic Matt Trueman described the UK premiere of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins An Octoroon as "fine-tuned theatrical thinking" when it was first seen at the Orange Tree Theatre last year, directed by Ned Bennett. It returns now for a run at the National Theatre's Dorfman space, with a cast including Alastair Toovey and Ken Nwosu. The piece is based on Dion Boucicault's 1859 melodrama of the same name, but that drama is here transformed into a cutting commentary on race in the modern day.

Read our review of the 2017 UK premiere

4. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Sheffield Crucible, until 23 June

The original novel may have spawned a cult classic film starring Jack Nicholson, but it was also adapted for the stage by Dale Wasserman. The play is given a new outing at Sheffield Crucible, overseen by award-winning director Javaad Alipoor and tracing the exploits of small-time criminal McMurphy as he deals with the tyranny of psychiatric ward matron Nurse Ratched. The collision of ward antics and hard-hitting drama is well worth a watch.

See a week in the life of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest's Nathan Amzi

3. Notes from the Field

Royal Court, until 23 June

Anna Deavere Smith's Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 was a trailblazer hit when it came to the Gate Theatre earlier this year, but the writer and performer herself comes to London this week as part of the LIFT festival. Performing her critically lauded solo-show Notes from the Field, The West Wing star traces America's poverty to prison pipeline by interviewing more than 250 students, staff and prisoners. The sort of international performance that only appears every once in a while.

Read our season announcement for LIFT

2. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Donmar Warehouse, until 28 July

After co-reigning over the West End in the recent production of Mary Stuart alongside Juliet Stevenson, Lia Williams swaps the crown for the classroom in a new production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, based on the classic novel of the same name. Williams plays the titular Brodie, whose questionable teaching ethics lead to some unexpected and highly entertaining results. Newly adapted by David Harrower, the show is directed by Polly Findlay and comes as artistic director Josie Rourke enters her final year at the venue.

Read the news about Michael Longhurst's appointment as the next artistic director at the Donmar

1. Machinal

Almeida Theatre, until 21 July

Sophie Treadwell's play may be 90 years old, but its content feels as pressing as ever as it traces the life of a "Young Woman", forced and pushed into a variety of roles by those around her – roles such as worker, wife and mother. Directed by Natalie Abrahami, this new revival is the next instalment in what has been a solid season at the Almeida, which was cemented by the recent announcement that their production of Summer and Smoke would be transferring into the West End.

Read our interview with Machinal's star Emily Berrington

Last chance to see: Quiz (Noël Coward Theatre) Peter Pan (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), Absolute Hell (National Theatre), Mood Music (Old Vic), Confidence (Southwark Playhouse)