Robert Lindsay plays cinematographer Jack Cardiff, “the man who made Hollywood’s greatest divas beautiful”, and Tara Fitzgerald takes the role of his wife Nicola in Terry Johnson’s Prism at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham from Monday until Saturday.
Samantha Womack is Rachel Watson in The Girl on the Train, Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel’s adaptation of Paula Hawkins’s novel, at Malvern Theatres from Monday until Saturday.
Hattie Naylor adapts Sarah Waters's novel The Night Watch, a play about the effects of World War II on a mixed group of Londoners, which is brought to the stage by The Original Theatre Company and York Theatre Royal at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry from Monday until Saturday.
Eclipse Theatre Company hikes into Nottingham Playhouse with Black Men Walking by the rapper Testament, the story of three men who find themselves forced to walk backwards through 2,000 years before they can move forwards, on Monday and Tuesday; Dougie Blaxland’s Getting the Third Degree, which charts black footballer Laurie Cunningham’s rise to fame, kicks off in the Neville Studio on Wednesday; Wasteland, the new show from British choreographer Gary Clarke, dances onto the main stage on Friday and Saturday; and Ben Santamaria’s Really Want to Hurt Me, Flaming Theatre’s dark comedy about growing up gay in the ’80s, can be seen in the Neville Studio on Saturday.
Northampton’s Royal and Derngate hosts A Night at the Musicals featuring the London Musical Theatre Orchestra on Tuesday.
Created by Jonathan Rockefeller, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show adapts four Eric Carle stories with 75 puppets at the Albany Theatre, Coventry on Tuesday while Wizard Presents brings Michael Morpurgo’s I Believe in Unicorns to life on Thursday.
Jodie Prenger plays Helen in Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey, a National Theatre production which tours to Leicester’s Curve from Tuesday until Saturday.
August Wilson’s “vivid portrait of everyday lives in a defining moment of American history” Two Trains Running, an English Touring Theatre and Northampton Royal and Derngate co-production, visits Derby Theatre from Tuesday until Saturday while Jonny Cotsen and Gareth Clark’s Louder is Not Always Clearer, which tells the story of a deaf man’s experience of “disconnection, difference and desperation to belong”, is in the Studio on Friday and Nouveau Riche reaffirms the joys of sisterhood in Queens of Sheba in the Studio on Saturday.
Poet Andrew McMillan’s first play Dorian, a re-telling of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, is a Proper Job Theatre Company presentation at mac Birmingham on Wednesday.
Newly formed theatre company Chronic Insanity stages Politer Guests by Joe Strickland, an “immersive and interactive piece looking at loneliness, friendship and ghost hunting”, in The Laundry, a section of the basement of the National Justice Museum, Nottingham on Wednesday and Thursday.
John Godber’s comedy about trying to find a moment of calm in these challenging times, Gym and Tonic limbers up at the Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield from Wednesday until Friday before Ballet Theatre UK follows the yellow brick road into the Pomegranate with The Wizard of Oz on Saturday.
Comprising three monologues by Maeve Clarke, Rachael Mainwaring and Rochi Rampal, Prime Time, featuring actress and comedian Janice Connolly, explores deep-rooted gender issues when it has its première in The Door at Birmingham REP from Wednesday until Saturday.
Birmingham Stage Company returns to the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry with a Horrible Histories half-term double-bill, Terrible Tudors and Awful Egyptians, from Wednesday until Saturday.
The Russian State Ballet and Opera House is at Buxton Opera House with Don Quixote, set to the music of Ludwig Minkus, on Wednesday while rock ‘n’ roll variety show That’ll Be The Day raves on in the Opera House on Saturday; and Buddy Holly and the Cricketers should raise heart beats in the Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton on Friday.
Inspired by Agatha Christie, Noël Coward and P G Wodehouse, New Old Friends’ Crimes on the Coast has a murderous trip to Key Theatre, Peterborough on Thursday.
Lost Dog’s take on Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers, Juliet and Romeo, tours to Thimblemill Library, Smethwick, West Midlands on Thursday and Colston Bassett Village Hall, Nottinghamshire on Saturday.
Packed with “original music, puppetry, tap dancing and even a trip to the moon”, Zoo Co presents a “magical, visual story” Messy, performed by a mixed deaf and hearing cast at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry on Friday and Saturday.
Dougie Blaxland’s Getting the Third Degree, which charts black footballer Laurie Cunningham’s rise to fame, aims to score in The Lab at The Core at Corby Cube, Northamptonshire on Saturday.
Claybody Theatre Company’s new “warm-hearted comedy” The D-Road continues at the Spode Works, Stoke until Saturday.
Leicester Curve’s New Work Festival, showcasing “the most dynamic and exciting talent from the Midlands”, continues until Saturday.
The Northampton Royal and Derngate and York Theatre Royal co-production of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge continues in the Royal, Northampton until Saturday.
Two Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough productions, Season’s Greetings and Birthdays Past, Birthdays Present, both written and directed by Alan Ayckbourn, continue at the New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme until Saturday.
Based on the true story of Irene Danner-Storm, The Escape Act – A Holocaust Memoir, which tells the “riveting and powerful” story of a Jewish acrobat who hid in a German circus during World War II to escape the concentration camps, is a one-woman theatre and puppetry production performed by Stav Meishar at CircusMASH, Kings Heath, Birmingham on Saturday and Sunday.
A "comically gruesome adventure of pirates, monsters and the ingenuity of a small girl", Toby Hulse's new play The Pirate Cruncher, adapted from Jonny Duddle's picture book, sails into mac Birmingham on Saturday and Sunday.
Isobel McArthur’s “adaptation like no other” of Jane Austen’s work, Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort of) continues at Birmingham REP until Saturday 2 November.
Shakespeare's rarely-performed history play King John featuring Rosie Sheehy in the title role continues in the Swan Theatre, Stratford until Saturday 21 March 2020 while Hannah Khalil’s A Museum in Baghdad continues in the Swan Theatre until Saturday 25 January (press night Tuesday 22 October).