On Stage

Arts Ahead: What’s On in London 1 – 7 February

Susan Hiller is our pick of the week, with not one but two exhibitions opening in London. There's also an international flavour to this week's Arts Ahead: Russian ballet, American dance, images from Communist East Germany and your last chance to see Japanese fashion at the Barbican.

Ticket Alert: See Kevin Spacey Play Richard III at the Old Vic

Today's the day you can break away from this winter of discontent and book tickets to see Richard III at the Old Vic; it's sure to be the theatrical event of our glorious summer 2011.

Mime Fest Review: Upswing’s ‘Fallen’ @ Purcell Room, QEH

Upswing’s latest venture is an elegant, powerful portrait of loss, longing and a crisis of identity and a cross-discipline amalgamation of aerialism, animation and dance.

Tori Amos, Mike Leigh and Stalin: The National Theatre’s New Season

A new musical by singer-songwriter Tori Amos, a new play by Mike Leigh and Simon Russell Beale playing Stalin are all part of the National Theatre's plans for next year.

Theatre Review: King Lear @ The Roundhouse

David Farr's production of King Lear, the last in the Royal Shakespeare Company's current London season, is a mix of successes and failures. Despite excellent acting, there's little light to be found in this perennially gloomy play...

Fringe Benefits: New End Theatre

The latest in our series looking at London's fringe theatres travels to a venue that was once a mortuary.

Arts Ahead: What’s On in London 25–31 January

Our top recommendation for this week is Sampled at Sadler's Wells. But there's more to life than dance! Find out about Hamlets closing, photography exhibitions opening and some cultural tips for little londonists in this week's Arts Ahead...

Review: Becky Shaw @ Almeida Theatre

A sharply-written comedy of emotions and relationships at Islington's Almeida Theatre.

Review: Tiger Country @ Hampstead Theatre

Casualty, Holby City, Doctors, Young Doctors, Flying Doctors...it seems that our capacity for medical melodrama is infinite. Nina Raines, award-winning writer of critically acclaimed plays including last year’s Tribes, adds to the canon with her latest play Tiger Country.

Mime Fest Review: Flesh and Blood & Fish and Fowl @ The Pit, Barbican Centre

American theatre artists Geoff Sobelle and Charlotte Ford bring their hugely entertaining, dark satire on corporate life, office politics and human nature to the Barbican as part of the 2011 London International Mime Festival.

Lost Musicals Return for 2011

The excellent Lost Musicals seasons returns to Sadler's Wells this summer with The Band Wagon, Coco and Mexican Hayride.

Theatre Review: Bane & Bane 2 @ Tristan Bates

Is this credit crunch theatre? No, this is Joe Bone’s thrilling one man show which boasts car chases, gun fights and a rampaging monster.

Arts Ahead: What’s On In London 18–24 January

Sculpture, two Swan Lakes, Scissor Sisters and Shakespeare: just some of the shows opening in London this week. Plus a few gentle reminders for things that are closing. Just so you don't miss out.

Theatre Review: The Painter @ Arcola Theatre

Coming on like a neophile's wet dream, Dalston's Arcola Theatre has kickstarted the new year by rising from the ashes at a new venue with a new specially commissioned play based on the life of JMW Turner, the famous nineteenth-century painter.

Theatre Review: As You Like It @ The Roundhouse

As You Like It is one of the Bard's comedies that ticks several Elizabethan mirth-making boxes; love at first sight, cross dressing, plain speaking fools and flirty freedoms when courtly townspeople head out to the countryside. Director Michael Boyd has added a dash of darkness to the proceedings too...

Theatre Review: RSC's Julius Caesar @ The Roundhouse

Friends, Londonists, commuters, Lend me your eyes. I come to praise Caesar, not to bury it. The good that men do lives on after them, Their works oft inspire and amaze. So let it be with Shakespeare…

Fringe Benefits: Finborough Theatre

Find out about The Stage 100's Fringe Theatre of the Year, based in Earls Court.

Theatre Preview: 33% Festival @ Oval House Theatre

A festival conceived and created by bright things plucked from the 33% of Londoners who are under 25 opens at Oval House Theatre today.

Arts Ahead: What's On In London 11-17 January

Here's what's new and what's closing this week in London. There are a lot of things on our last chance to see list: make sure you don’t miss out!

Theatre Review: A Doll’s House @ Theatre Delicatessen

A Doll’s House, first staged in 1879, is typically hailed as the first truly feminist play. Sophie Reynolds’ adaptation is absolutely captivating but ladies, take care in the bar.

Review: Alice in Wonderland At The Little Angel

Review: Hansel & Gretel @ Southbank Centre

The glut of seasonal theatrical entertainment for children is almost at an end. Ostensibly a morality tale which boils down to "don't talk to strangers offering sweets, even if those sweets are literally the size of a house", KneeHigh have gone all Roald Dahl by stuffing their adaptation with macabre overtones, clever contraptions, a larger-than-life villain and precocious children.

Arts Ahead: What's New in London in 2011

Most Tuesdays, we like to let you know what's happening in the next seven days on London's cultural calendar. With very little in the way of new openings in London this week, we've decided to look a little further ahead so you can plan your arty choices for the next 12 months. Here's what's new in 2011.

Theatre Review: A Flea In Her Ear @ The Old Vic

No panto for the Old Vic this Christmas. Instead, A Flea in Her Ear is a 1907 French farce by the master of the genre Feydeau, in a translation by the late, great John Mortimer. And although you don't get to shout "He's behind you!" at any time during this show, you still get the right dose of festive fun in this fantastic play...