The Week on Stage: From Much Ado About Nothing to Closer

A guide to the week’s theatre

From L-R: ‘The Darkest Part of the Night’, ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, ‘Closer’, ‘Oh Mother' (Tristram Kenton/Manuel Harlan/Marc BrennerThe Other Richard)

Sexual politics dominates the stage this week, with stories of warring couples opening across London’s theatres. At the National, Katherine Parkinson and John Heffernan star as bickering Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, while Patrick Marber’s steamy relationship drama Closer gets a revival at the Lyric Hammersmith. Elsewhere, experimental theatre company RashDash have a radical take on motherhood, and playwright Zodwa Nyoni explores family history at the Kiln.

Come back next week for our verdicts on Sister Act starring Jennifer Saunders, and a new musical adaptation of 101 Dalmations.