Lucy Popescu’s theatre news brings a diverse array of productions this week, ranging from avant-garde revivals to comedy musicals and poignant dramas.
Nayatt School Redux
The Wooster Group, a New York theatre company celebrated for its avant-garde, multimedia approach, blends classic texts, technology, and live performance. This rare opportunity presents Nayatt School Redux, a contemporary reworking of one of their most famous productions, directed by Elizabeth LeCompte and featuring autobiographical monologist Spalding Gray. The company reinvents scenes from the original show, culminating in the climactic sequences of T.S. Eliot’s The Cocktail Party. Running at the Coronet Theatre until April 25. Visit thecoronettheatre.com.
JEEZUS!
Comedy musical JEEZUS! combines Catholic guilt with Latin heat. Set in 1990s Peru, a brutal military coup ushers in a decade of dictatorship under Alberto Fujimori. In the home of General José and his devoted wife María, altar boy Jesús prepares diligently for his first communion. But as the big day approaches, the hot man on the cross makes him feel something… unholy. At New Diorama until May 9. Visit newdiorama.com.
Between the River and the Sea
Written and performed by Yousef Sweid and directed by Isabella Sedlak, Between the River and the Sea explores family, fear, and imagining a future beyond borders. Yousef, a Christian-Arab-Palestinian-Israeli from Haifa, is raising two Jewish-Arab-Austrian kids in Berlin. Facing a custody battle, things grow complicated. At Jerwood Theatre Upstairs until May 9. Visit royalcourttheatre.com.
Sorry (I Broke Your Arms and Legs)
Join Sam Wilson for a nostalgic trip back to school. As the race to become Head Boy intensifies, will Sam cause someone grievous bodily harm? Sorry (I Broke Your Arms and Legs) combines PowerPoint, stand-up comedy, and the thrills of World Book Day. At Pleasance Theatre until May 9. Visit pleasance.co.uk.
Stickin’ Boy
Martin Muscatt’s punk rock ’n’ roll musical Stickin’ Boy, with additional material by Mick Jones of The Clash, is set in late-70s Soho—an underground world of vice, energy, and unapologetic rebellion. We follow Eddy, a 20-year-old aspiring musician weighed down by a growing gambling habit, desperate to break out of his monotonous life. Everything changes when he meets Candy, a sex worker who draws him to become her “stickin’ boy,” posting calling cards in phone boxes to promote her services. At Etcetera Theatre, May 5-10. Visit etceteratheatrecamden.com.
Entertaining Murder
Chris Burgess’s Entertaining Murder is a musical inspired by the true story of Edith Thompson and her young lover Freddy Bywaters. Their Old Bailey murder trial of 1922 became a cause célèbre, with people queuing for days to get tickets. Did Edith really collude with her lover to kill her husband? At Upstairs at the Gatehouse until May 10. Visit upstairsatthegatehouse.com.
Work While They Sleep
At Camden People’s Theatre, Brazilian playwright Filipe Pereira’s Work While They Sleep is a feminist sci-fi play about a woman who accidentally conjures a sinister alter ego who works for her between midnight and six in the morning. Merging physical theatre and video art, this absurd tale exposes how late capitalism traps women and society within a continuous cycle of abuse. May 13-16. Visit cptheatre.co.uk.
The Waves
Adaptor Flora Wilson Brown and director Júlia Levai reimagine Virginia Woolf’s The Waves for the stage. We follow six characters’ rites of passage from childhood to adulthood. They begin by the coast, move through school, youth, terror, and joy—alone and together. At Jermyn Street Theatre until May 23. Visit jermynstreettheatre.co.uk.
