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theatre^ 14-20 Oct 2017^ guide^36

Five of the best

theatre

1

Dr Seuss’s The Lorax

Max Webster’s deliciously

inventive staging of David Greig’s

stage adaptation of Dr Seuss’

environmental fable was fi rst

seen at London’s Old Vic in 2015;

Michael Billington hailed it as “the

best family show since Matilda”.

Now it returns for another run,

with Charlie Fink’s tuneful score,

Greig’s facility with rhyming

couplets and some magical

puppetry making it a surefi re hit

with junior eco-warriors and their

parents, too.

Old Vic, SE1, Sun to 5 Nov

2

Horizontal Collaboration

“Someone has been telling

lies about Judith K,” is the Kafk a-

esque beginning of David Leddy’s

play about truth and perception.

The audience must play jury

in a chamber piece that draws

on the biblical story of Judith,

who enters the Assyrian general

Holofernes’s tent and cuts off

his head. The play takes place

during a UN tribunal considering

war crimes in an unnamed

African country, gnawing away

at the truth to present a powerful

portrait of power abused.

St Andrews, Sat; Lockerbie, Tue;

Thornhill, Wed; Musselburgh, Fri;

touring to 5 Nov

3

Golem

If you have not caught

1927’s delicious show about the

relationship between humankind

and machines, then you should

do so before it’s too late. This

vivid mix of animation, live action

and music is a parable for our

times, particularly as predictions

grow for the number of jobs that

will eventually be automated.

There is nothing luddite about

either the sentiment or the

stagecraft in an evening of real

satiric wit.

Liverpool Playhouse, Wed to 21 Oct

4

Hair

First seen at the thriving

Hope Mill in Manchester in 2016,

Jonathan O’Boyle’s revival of the

1967 musical is rough and ready,

but like the show itself it has a

sweetness and a rough charm.

The underground Vaults should

be the ideal London venue

for a piece that really doesn’t

make much narrative sense

but boasts some terrifi c

songs, and is here performed

by an engaging ensemble of

youngsters who make you want

to join in and dance.

The Vaults, SE1, to 13 Jan

5

Jane Eyre

It is your very last chance for

Sally Cookson’s passionate staging

of Charlotte Brontë’s much-loved

novel, which has returned to

the NT for one last bow. This

is an evening full of theatrical

invention and one that proves

that it is possible to be true to the

spirit of a novel without being in

the slightest bit literary. It’s also

a show that demonstrates that

page-to-stage adaptation doesn’t

have to be theatre’s poor cousin.

National Thatre: Lyttelton, SE1,

to 21 Oct

Lyn Gardner

Seuss

company

The Lorax

reuturns to the

Old Vic

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