Hot on the heels of Platonov at the National Theatre in the summer comes Michael Frayn's Wild Honey which is based on the same early Chekhov play which was untitled and discovered after the playwright's death. Directed by Howard Davies and Jonathan Kent, this comedy of errors is a tale of nineteenth century Russian life replete with classic misunderstandings, irrepressible desires and nostalgia for a vanishing world.  

Geoffrey Streatfeild stars as Platonov and the play opens for previews on Dec 2 and runs until Jan 14. Look out for my review in December.

Very excited about seeing this one next week. Have always had a preference for Mike Bartlett's 'smaller' plays such as Cock, An Intervention and Bull rather than big production numbers like Earthquakes in London - although King Charles III is an exception to that. Wild has a cast of three and from these pictures looks like a fairly straightforward setting so it's already ticking a lot of boxes. It runs at the Hampstead Theatre until July 16.

Jack Farthing (Andrew) in Wild at Hampstead Theatre. Photo by Stephen Cummiskey

Caoilfhionn Dunne (Woman) and Jack Farthing (Andrew) in Wild at Hampstead Theatre. Photo by Stephen Cummiskey

Remember the sexy promo photo for Kenneth Branagh's production of Romeo & Juliet with Richard Madden and Lily? Well the rehearsal images are in, here's a selection:

Romeo and Juliet (Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company) - Richard Madden (Romeo), Lily James (Juliet) Credit Johan Persson

Romeo and Juliet (Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company) - Kenneth Branagh, Lily James (Juliet) Credit Johan Persson

Official production photos have arrived for the Old Vic's The Caretaker starring Timothy Spall, Daniel Mays and George MacKay. I saw it last week and and found it challenging and rewarding. Set is pretty amazing too:

Daniel Mays (Aston), Timothy Spall (Davies), George MacKay (Mick) in The Caretaker at The Old Vic. Photo by Manuel Harlan.

Jonathan Broadbent as a silver cape wearing Oberon? Yes please and if the trailer (below) and rehearsal pics are anything to go by this looks fun. I'm also hoping to make up for missing him in Stratford last year. Cast also includes Ferdy Roberts, Hammed Animashaun, John Lightbody, Victoria Mosely and Clare Dunne. It runs at the Lyric Hammersmith from February 19 to March 19 and the trailer featuring Jonathan is at the bottom of the post. Click on the thumbnails for bigger versions.

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Looking forward to this one, it's a comedy based on a 1930's French play but in this version the action is moved to cold war era America. A soldier, missing presumed dead, returns home but is he really Captain Fox?  Lots of sitting and leaning going on in the rehearsal pics...but doesn't Rory Keenan look cute? Cast also includes Michelle Asante, Barnaby Kay, Katherine Kingsley, Trevor Laird, Sian Thomas, Danny Webb, Fenella Woolgar and Daniel York.

Welcome Home, Captain Fox! previews at the Donmar from Feb 18 and the first tranche of £10 Barclays Front Row tickets go on sale on Monday at 10am.

Photos are by Manuel Harlan, click on the thumbnails for bigger versions.

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The Homecoming production photos have landed in my inbox. The play, a Jamie Lloyd Production runs at the Trafalgar Studios until February 13, 2016.  Click on the images for bigger versions.

John Simm in The Homecoming. Photography by Marc Brenner

Gary Kemp, John Simm and Gemma Chan in The Homecoming. Photography by Marc Brenner

Sense of an Ending, Theatre 503. Photo by Jack Sain

Fringe theatre is where the difficult to watch plays are at the moment. Ken Urban's new piece, Sense of an Ending, is about a journalist investigating the case of two nun's who are standing trial for their part in the massacre of Tutsis during the Rwandan genocide.

While there are some necessary grim details about the murders and attacks this is a play that focuses more on the emotional agony, moral dilemmas, guilt and self justification.

Ben Onwukwe plays Charles, an American journalist who is trying to rebuild his career having made a mistake. He's been granted exclusive access to Sister Justina (Lynette Clarke) and Sister Alice (Akiya Henry) in order to interview them for a piece for the New York Times.

He arrives believing they must be innocent, believing that as women of God they wouldn't have allowed Tutsi men, women and children to be massacred in their church. The nuns' Hutu captors think otherwise and then there is Dusabi (Kevin Golding) who also has a story to tell about the massacre.

Harry Melling and Mark Arends in Angry Brigade at the Bush Theatre. Photo Manuel Harlan

Saw The Angry Brigade at the Watford Palace Theatre last Autumn and it's found it's way to the Bush Theatre with Harry Melling returning and three new actors taking the other parts.

It's the story of Britain's answer to the Baader Meinhof and 1st of May guerilla groups in the 1970s and the police efforts to unmask them. You can read more detail about the play itself and my thoughts in the Watford review, the second viewing is a bit of a clue as to how much I enjoyed it, but I was also curious how it would change in a different theatre space.

Watford is an old theatre, a very formal setting for a play that has anarchy at its heart. The Bush has a flexible studio space allowing more freedom.

In the first half when the story follows the police the action is appropriately contained within the marked performance space but when it turns to the Angry Brigade themselves in the second half it is a different matter.

The audience is sat on three sides, slightly raised from the main performance space which has a walkway sized shelf around it. "Please keep bags and feet behind the rail," those of us on the front row were instructed and yes at one point Harry Melling was lying at my feet.

There are multiple entry points which the 'Brigade' made the most of. Actors often appearing behind the audience or sitting in a seat at the back. It can have quite a startling effect particularly when the filing cabinet 'bombs' start going off.  It all adds to the atmosphere although I must admit that it felt just a little bit more rebellious watching it from a red velvet upholstered seat in a traditional theatre.