June felt like a quieter month for announcements - or did I miss a load of stuff, please let me know if I did…

* The Donmar announced its next two plays with Christian Cooke in David Harrower’s Knives in Hens directed by Yael Farber and then Nikki Amuka-Bird is taking the lead in Ibsen’s The Lady From The Sea directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah.

* The Almeida’s fabulous Mary Stuart is transferring to the Duke of York's next year and then goes on tour.

* Downton Abbey’s Laura Carmichael has been cast alongside Stockard Channing in Alexi Kaye Campbell's Apologia at the Trafalgar Studios. Jamie Lloyd is directing.

* Young One (I’m showing my age, I know) Adrian Edmondson has been cast as Malvolio in the RSC’s Twelfth Night. OK it's on in Stratford rather than London but there will be a live broadcast on February 14.

* Anne Marie Duff and Kenneth Cranham (pictured) will star in the UK premiere of Simon Stephen’s play Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle at the Wyndhams which is being directed by Marianne Elliott under the umbrella of her new, post-National Theatre, production company. There's a nice little intro video to the production on the website but don't scoff too loud when the Wyndhams is described as an 'intimate house', I do wonder what planet theatre people are born on sometimes.

Thesp spots

It was a shy month for thesps with only two spots: Simon Stephens and Dorothea Myer-Bennett were both at the Kiss Me press night.