%26#183; Apollo Theatre, W1, Mon 21 to Feb 16Manipulate DundeeWith the London International Mime Festival in full swing, there’s also plenty of puppet activity north of the border with Puppet Animation Scotland’s festival, Manipulate. This new, annual celebration of visual performance brings together English, Scottish and European companies and includes Compagnie Mossoux-Bont%26eacute; with Light!, a piece about our fear of the dark, and Stephen Mottram’s acclaimed show The Seed Carriers. Other highlights include Theatre Velo’s Appel d’Air and Angel from Dutch company Duda Paiva, which blends dance and puppet theatre together to tell of a fall from grace. Lyn Gardner %26#183; Dundee Rep, Wed 23 to Jan 26The Vortex BathWith Uncle Vanya recently opening the new Rose Theatre in Kingston, Peter Hall is a busy man. He’s also directing this West End-bound production of No%26euml;l Coward’s 1924 play that shocked audiences on its premiere. Felicity Kendal plays glamorous socialite Florence Lancaster, a woman who is growing old disgracefully, and Dan Stevens, recently seen on TV in Sense And Sensibility and The Line Of Beauty, plays her hedonistic, self-destructive son, Nicky. Set against the glittering cocktail party circuit of the roaring 20s, this is a dark portrait of a savage world out of control, and as good as anything that Coward ever wrote. LG%26#183; Theatre Royal, Mon 21 to Jan 26The Polish Play On tourVillage hall tours are part of the life blood of British theatre, but seldom get much attention. So it’s good to see the Farnham Maltings reviving Gavin Stride’s play, which was a huge hit in villages and market towns in the south when it toured last year. Using Polish song and dance, it harks back to the 1970s when Martha and her father Stash arrive in England from Poland. Described as a “play about belonging, told by visitors”, it is a little show with a big theme: how do we each find our own place in the world? Featuring live accordion music and inspired in part by the story of Polish actor Agnieszka Korzuszek, who plays Martha, the show was so successful last time round that it is now embarking on a nationwide tour that will take it from Surrey all the way up to Scotland. LG%26#183; Farnham Maltings, Wed 23; Bramley Village Hall, Fri 25Translations GlasgowThe Arches had a hit at the Citizens’ with Juno And The Paycock and now Andy Arnold and his company return with another Irish classic, Brian Friel’s wonderful Translations. Set in a hedge school in County Donegal in 1833 and covering national identity, linguistic colonisation and cultural memory, it tells the story of a small community and the tensions and misunderstandings that arise with the arrival of English soldiers who are carrying out an official Ordnance Survey of the area as part of the process of mapping and anglicising Ireland. Friel wrote the play in 1980 against the then current background of escalating violence in Northern Ireland, and it was first produced by Stephen Rea and the Field Day Company. But it is a play that is a genuine modern theatrical classic and which bears many viewings. LG %26#183; Citizens’, Wed 23 to Feb 2Here Be Monsters LiverpoolRejects Revenge’s Peasouper was one of the most gloriously silly and clever shows of all time and the Liverpool-based company sounds as if it may be returning to similar territory with this brand new show inspired by the novels of HG Wells and Jules Verne. Set in 1908 it follows Dr Watt, a man who has recently invented the world’s first steam powered rocket. After an unfortunate wager at a gentlemen’s club, he finds himself pitched into a race against time: flying to the moon and back in time for tea. So kidnapping the grocery delivery boy may not be the best of starts and is unlikely to help him avoid the aliens with unfeasibly large tentacles. Rejects Revenge is one of the companies threatened with cuts by the Arts Council so it is good to see them out on the road, and if this show is another cracker maybe it will help their case. LG %26#183; Unity Theatre, Wed 23 to Sat 26The President’s Holiday LondonA series of five new plays with Russian themes starts at Hampstead Theatre with The President’s Holiday, a new play by Penny Gold and a co-production with Southampton’s Nuffield Theatre. Drawing on the diaries of the late Raisa Gorbachev, wife of former Soviet President Mikhail, who was instrumental in the fall of communism in the Soviet Union and beyond, it is both a political thriller and personal drama, the story of a family under siege and of a man who finds himself destroying what he once fought for. Set in August 1991, it finds the couple - played by real-life husband and wife Julian Glover and Isla Blair - at their summer house when it is suddenly invaded by secret police and armed officers. MC %26#183; Hampstead Theatre, NW3, to Feb 16Testing The Echo SalisburyHeading out on tour, the latest production from the popular Out Of Joint company has been written by David Edgar, whose take on the Charles Dickens classic Nicholas Nickleby for the Royal Shakespeare Company is currently running in the West End and whose previous work includes both Pentecost and Playing With Fire. In this latest piece, he examines how we define ourselves as a nation through the experiences of a group of people who are attending an English class in preparation to becoming English citizens. But soon it is Emma, the English teacher, who finds her assumptions tested as the class is faced with testing questions such as, what should you do if you spill someone’s drink, and where did Father Christmas originate? Matthew Dunster, who recently directed the revival of Carson McCullers’ Member Of The Wedding at the Young Vic, is the man in charge of this modern comedy of confusions and cultural identity. LG %26#183; Playhouse, to Jan 26
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