The Mistress Contract

Royal Court
26 February

There is a glass house
in the desert where
they carve their own
contract of coupling,
and the terms
of compensation;
sit there in the dark,
drink wine, make love,
safe in the strictures
of their love evasion.


The Mistress Contract runs at the Royal Court until 22 March
http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/the-mistress-contract

Orlando

Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

24 February 

Here are time’s whippet fingers

running on, lifting the boy
who lies beneath the bowing oak tree

casting rhymes;

he barely breathes

before she has him by the ankles,

twirling his stockings,

barely a breath or rosebud kiss

upon his lover’s cheek,

a rush of ice beneath his feet

as he sweeps down the frozen river

to the sea, before

the last few seconds of the century

usher him on, a woman now,

learning the artfulness

of her own body

and the tricks that time may yet

have up her sleeve,

tugging her bodice, pulling her up

and on, into a circle, spinning,

lamp-lit, and the stark realisation

of the present moment.

Orlando runs at the Manchester Royal Exchange until 22 March
http://www.royalexchange.co.uk/event.aspx?id=778

Ellen Terry with Eileen Atkins

Sam Wanamer Playhouse, Shakespeare's Globe
16 February

By golden candlelight

they tumble out: 

women of heart and wit;

weedy Ophelia, Viola pale,

cleverest Portia,

Beatrice strong as steel.

Ellen Terry with Eileen Atkins ran in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare's Globe from 11 January - 13 February
http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/theatre/whats-on/sam-wanamaker-playhouse/ellen-terry-with-eileen-atkins

The Robbers

New Diorama

15 February

Bandits and shoe-boozers,

burning brains and writing up

the body count.
 

 Robbers by The Faction runs at New Diorama until 22 February

http://newdiorama.com/whats-on/the-robbers 

Gorilla

Polka Theatre

12 February

By night they go,

girl and gorilla, hat

and coat, into a city

of glittering windows,

tree tops, picnics

of cherries

and moonlight.

 

Gorilla runs at the Polka Theatre until 15 February

http://www.polkatheatre.com/whats-on/gorilla 

The Hotel Plays

The Langham
12 February
Pink Bedroom
Pale pink, this love nest
where love has wallowed, waited,
and wasted away.
 
Green Eyes
Drink from the bottle,
try to understand the cuts
on her legs, the lies.
 
Sunburst
She is at anchor,
washed up on pillows, wearing
her fate on a finger.


The Hotel Plays by Defibrillator Theatre 
run at the Langham Hotel until 9 March
www.thehotelplays.co.uk

Brand New Ancients

Southbank Centre
29 January

Thursday, the sky is heavy
and the river slow;
two brothers kick up dust
and waste their time
as they grow up like gods
down on the streets,
strangers to themselves,
spinning their stories.


Brand New Ancients by Kate Tempest is now on a national tour until 20 April
http://brandnewancientstour.com/