Lear

Union Theatre

7 June

She is old now, slowing down

and losing sight of things

like where the fine lines lie

between duty and friendship,

love and artifice; picking at holes

in what was motherhood,

and leaving tatters

where a queen once stood.


Lear runs at the Union Theatre until 28 June
http://www.uniontheatre.biz/lear/4584217902

Alice

V&A Tunnel Theatre

15 May

Dormice are a comfort 
you know, and who can say

that soldiers do not dream

of them and think of stories

they heard long ago,

as the war goes on, 
bombs fall, and loving sons 

turn into telegrams

and flutter home.

Alice by Metta Theatre is on national tour until 28 June

Wolf Hall & Bring Up the Bodies

Aldwych Theatre

17 May

Katherine: face of an angel,

niece of an emperor,

hard as nails. She will not bend

like a sapling, though

she is dragged of her queenship

and left out to die like a dog.

Anne, dancing in yellow
on her grave: a virgin bride,

eye like a hawk, a mouth full of serpents.

Maybe a step too far, maybe a bed

or guilty door that leads her at last

to the headsman.

Jane, a dormouse creeping

into conversation: quiet, sweet,

with skin and will like thick, rich cream,

and on her cheek a blush

that is like nothing more than a pink rose,

thorns carefully plucked.

 

Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies run 

at the Aldwych Theatre until 6 September 2014

http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/wolf-hall/

King Charles III

Almeida Theatre
16 May

Trouble at Whitehall
as a wilful king
steps in to stop
the well oiled wheels
of the state.

Trouble at home
as he exerts his right,
pissing off people,
parliament
and Kate.


King Charles III runs at the Almeida until 31 May
http://www.almeida.co.uk/event/kingcharles3

Grounded

Gate Theatre, Notting Hill
5 May

Slow as forever,
this white knuckle ride
of war wavers
above a stone grey desert:
like a god's eye
in a far off sky,
picking its prey
in stone cold distance.

 

Grounded runs until 30 May
http://www.gatetheatre.co.uk/events/all-productions/grounded

The Comedy of Errors

10 April
Théâtre de Marseilles, La Criée

In Ephasus confusion reigns
high as a house,
dinner and ducets fly, and men
with better reputations rage
to get their hands upon
a rope, a ring, a golden chain
to hang about the neck
of some broad amazon;
whilst in the streets, gaudy
and bright, their women rush
to light over a pair of brothers,
pretty enough, lost once at sea
and now, it seems, the same
in face, fate, dress and name.


The Comedy of Errors by Propeller is on tour until 29 June
http://propeller.org.uk/productions/a-midsummer-nights-dream-and-the-comedy-of-errors/tour-dates 

The Big Meal

Ustinov Studio
5 April

Long enough, this life,
racing from love and sex
to all the things
she never thought
would come after:
grandchildren, grief,
age creeping up on her,
a girl waiting at tables
long ago, and the boy
who smiled,
bought her a drink,
began it all.

The Big Meal ran at the Ustinov Studio, 6 March - 5 April
http://www.theatreroyal.org.uk/page/3029/The+Big+Meal/798