Opening: Butley, Chicken Soup, American Trade
Amongst the major London openings, in the West End and further afield, this week are:
ALSO ON MONDAY, (previews from 2 June) the Tricycle premieres Tactical Questioning: Scenes from the Baha Mousa Inquiry, the latest in its series of series of tribunal plays, which reconstruct public inquiries verbatim. Until 2 July.
OPENING TUESDAY, 7 June (previews from 3 June), Dominic Cooke directs Samantha Spiro as the feisty political matriarch of Arnold Wesker‘s 1958 semi-autobiographical state-of-the-nation play Chicken Soup with Barley. It plays at the Royal Court Downstairs until 9 July 2011.
ALSO ON TUESDAY, (previews from 6 June), Julian Armitstead‘s After the Accident, set four years after a child is killed by a joy rider, begins its run at the Soho Theatre, where it will play through to 18 June.
ALSO ON TUESDAY, Gerry Ware‘s new musical 1888 opens at the Union Theatre. Set against the chaotic and colourful backdrop of London, it tells the story of two young lovers working together to catch a serial killer. Until 2 July.
OPENING WEDNESDAY, 8 June (previews from 2 June) Tarell Alvin McCraney‘s American Trade premieres as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s season of new work at the Hampstead Theatre. The play, which portrays the pressures and absurdities of trying to make it in a city, runs through 18 June 2011.
ALSO ON WEDNESDAY, (previews from 3 June), The Mighty Boosh‘s Julian Barratt stars in David Harrower‘s new version of Gogol’s Government Inspector at the Young Vic until 9 July 2011.
OPENING THURSDAY, 9 June, following its sell-out season in 2008, English National Ballet’s Strictly Gershwin tribute, featuring Maria Friedman, returns to the Royal Albert Hall, running until 19 June.
OPENING SATURDAY, 11 June (previews from 8 June), Nimby, Lola Stephenson‘s comedy about a neighbourly disagreement, opens at the Old Red Lion, where it will play until 25 June 2011.
– Brenna Weingus
