THEATRE: THE FIVE BEST PLAYS IN LONDON

Merchant of Venice (Cottesloe, National)

With the magnificent Henry Goodman as Shylock, Trevor Nunn's 1920s- style production finds a rich complexity in a play too often simplified on the stage. Truly great directing. In rep to 11 Sept

Look Back In Anger (Lyttelton, National)

Five tremendously alert performances make this revival of Osborne's iconic play completely riveting. A production of enormous subtlety and power which will win awards. In rep to 11 Sept

Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell (Old Vic)

Peter O'Toole recreates his incomparably funny and melancholic portrait of the legendary boozer. With Bernard now dead, the play's musings on Closing Time assume a darker tone. See review, right. To 25 Sept

Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare's Globe)

Mark Rylance is a beguilingly persuasive Cleopatra - ironically much less of a drag act than Frances de la Tour in the current Stratford production. In rep to 26 Sept

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Regent's Park)

Winning larks in the park with this big-hearted revival by Ian Talbot of Stephen Sondheim's hilarious Roman scandals musical. To 31 Aug

... AND BEYOND

The Family Reunion (Swan Theatre, Stratford)

A masterclass in electrically incisive verse-speaking from Greg Hicks, who gives utter credibility to the Furies-haunted Harry in Adrian Noble's skilful revival of this rarely performed TS Eliot play. In rep to 7 Oct

Don Carlos (The Other Place, Stratford)

All quixotic humour and Oedipal anguish, Rupert Penry Jones gives notice of the excellent Hamlet he will one day give, playing the title role in this patchy but engrossing production of Schiller's play. In rep to 7 Oct

Arabian Nights (Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh)

This exotic, enchanting adaptation started at the Young Vic, the venue that makes nonsense of the idea that there need be a distinction between "children's theatre" and great theatre on any reckoning. Tue to 30 Aug

Tales from Ovid (Swan Theatre, Stratford)

Ted Hughes's adaptation of the Metamorphoses gets the Tim Supple treatment, vividly demonstrating the inherent theatricality of these myths. In rep to 7 Oct

Easy Virtue (The Chichester Festival Theatre)

Greta Scacchi scintillates as the glamorous "woman with a past" in Maria Aitken's assured revival of this early Coward. To 2 Oct