The Independent Recommends: The Five Best Plays

Making Noise Quietly (Whitehall Theatre, London)

Very welcome West End run for Deborah Bruce's lovely poetic revival of Robert Holman's sensitive, elliptical triptych about the emotional effects of war. To 22 May

Mamma Mia (Prince Edward Theatre)

Designed to bring out the "Dancing Queen" in the straightest soul, this silly, ridiculously enjoyable compilation musical finds flagrant plot excuses for 27 Abba golden oldies. To 11 Sept

Good (Donmar Warehouse, London)

Starring Charles Dance, CP Taylor's play about accommodations with conscience is revived in a sensitive production by Michael Grandage. To 22 May

Volpone (Swan Theatre, Stratford)

Comedies don't come any funnier or more astringent than Ben Jonson's brilliant dissection of avaricious, over-reaching egotism. To 9 Oct

Tales from Ovid (Swan Theatre, Stratford)

Ted Hughes's brilliant adaptation of the Metamorphoses (right) gets the Tim Supple treatment, vividly demonstrating the inherent theatricality of these myths. To 7 Oct