The Shakespeare Schools Foundation will stage “the world’s largest youth drama festival”, the Shakespeare Schools Festival, at the Core at Corby Cube, Northamptonshire from Monday until Wednesday.
Bill Kenwright presents the Classic Screen to Stage Theatre Company’s Rain Man by Dan Gordon, featuring Mathew Horne and Ed Speleers, at Royal and Derngate, Northampton from Monday until Saturday.
Three “towering talents”, Hugh Dennis, Lesley Garrett and John Marquez, play a cast of thousands in The Messiah, a “new comedy of Biblical proportions” by Patrick Barlow at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham from Monday until Saturday.
Aakash Odedra’s #JeSuis explores themes of “freedom of speech, xenophobic attitudes and the displacement of people through conflict” in the Djanogly Theatre at Lakeside Arts, Nottingham on Tuesday.
I Infinite, a solo dance piece performed in a white cube space with a digitally animated environment by British choreographer Tom Dale, tours to Gloucester Guildhall on Tuesday.
Children aged between 3 and 17 take to the stage when New Youth Theatre performs Legally Blonde the Musical at Mansfield Palace Theatre on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A new adaptation by Jenny King of Bram Stoker’s bloodthirsty tale Dracula, a Touring Consortium Theatre Company production in association with Ewing Entertainment and Everyman Theatre Cheltenham, visits Wolverhampton Grand from Tuesday until Saturday.
Joseph Conrad’s “extraordinarily influential and timely novel” Heart of Darkness is retold by imitating the dog in the Studio at Birmingham REP from Tuesday until Saturday.
Little Angel Theatre presents a “heartwarming and very cute tale” of a mischievous baby and a very tired dad in Sleepyhead in the Foyle Studio at mac Birmingham from Tuesday until Sunday 2 December while Pins and Needles gets into the Christmas spirit with its original show Rudolf which continues until Monday 31 December.
OperaUpClose is touring the UK with its new English version of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin which arrives at Derby Theatre on Wednesday.
Chapterhouse Theatre Company performs Laura Turner’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol in the Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton on Wednesday and Thursday.
A retelling of William Shakespeare's Macbeth from Banquo’s perspective as he talks directly to the audience, sharing his side of the story, Tim Crouch's I, Banquo will be performed by Simão Vaz and presented by SE Theatre Company at The Attic Theatre, Stratford from Wednesday until Sunday.
Debbie Isitt’s adaptation of Nativity! The Musical, featuring Simon Lipkin as Mr Poppy and Charlie Brooks as the Hollywood producer, should fill the Theatre Royal, Nottingham with Christmas spirit from Wednesday until Sunday.
Written and performed by Javaad Alipoor, The Believers are But Brothers is a “bold new show that examines the smoke and mirrors world of online extremism, anonymity and free speech” in the Patrick Studio at Birmingham Hippodrome on Thursday and Friday while on the main stage Birmingham Royal Ballet’s evergreen production of Sir Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker, which has been part of the city’s Christmas tradition for more than 27 years, returns from Friday until Thursday 13 December.
Stoke-based Claybody Theatre Company transports the city’s Spode Works back to the 1950s for Deborah McAndrew’s Hot Lane which continues until Saturday.
Mark Gatiss and Adrian Scarborough team up in Alan Bennett’s The Madness of George III which continues at Nottingham Playhouse until Saturday.
Cameron Mackintosh’s Broadway production of Boublil and Schönberg’s musical Les Misérables continues at Curve, Leicester until Saturday.
Toby Hulse’s new adaptation of Pinocchio is the Christmas production at the Old Rep Theatre, Birmingham which continues until Sunday 30 December.
Eleven actor-musicians bring to life characters including Toad, Badger and Mole in Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows which continues at the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme until Saturday 26 January.
At the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, in the Swan Theatre, Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine continues until Saturday 1 December and Molière’s classic Tartuffe is brought up to date in a new version by Anil Gupta and Richard Pinto which continues until Saturday 23 February.