tuesday 18 april
 | | Majnoun at the Lyric Hammersmith |
The 1984 film Footloose is brought to the stage as Footloose – the Musical, opening at the Novello (following previews from 8 April) following a national tour. Directed and choreographed by Olivier Award winner Karen Bruce, it stars 20-year-old Derek Hough in the role originally played on film by Kevin Bacon, a too-cool-for-school teenager who dances his way out of Chicago.
Box Office: 0870 950 0935 ALSO TONIGHT: an Anglo-Iranian cast present Majnoun, running at Lyric Hammersmith from tonight to 22 April as part of a national tour. The production blends cabaret and physical satire to blast the popular western image of Iran through the roof.
Box Office: 08700 500 511 thursday 20 april Judi Dench plays Judith Bliss in Noel Coward's Hay Fever, revived at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in Peter Hall's production which also stars Peter Bowles and Belinda Lang (following previews from 6 April).
Box Office: 0870 4000 858 ALSO TONIGHT: the Barbican's Beckett Centenary Festival continues with Endgame in the Barbican Theatre (following previews from 19 April), with a cast comprising Kenneth Cranham, Peter Dinklage, Tom Hickey and Georgina Hale, for a season to 23 April.
Box Office: 020 7638 8891 saturday 22 april
 | | Split Britches return to the Drill Hall |
Split Britches return to the Drill Hall, revisiting their 1987 lesbian classic Dress Suits to Hire, for a season from tonight to 7 May.
Box Office: 020 7307 5060 monday 24 april Simon Stephens' Motortown, a response to the anti-war movement which was written during the London bombings, is premiered at the Royal Court (following previews from 21 April).
Box Office: 020 7565 5000 ALSO TONIGHT: the Independent Voices season runs at the Bloomsbury Theatre from tonight to 29 April, including Sir Willard White's Tribute to Paul Robeson (tonight), and Martin Moran's The Tricky Part, based on his autobiographical book (Wednesday).
Box Office: 020 7388 8822 tuesday 25 april
 | | A family scandal: The Voysey Inheritance |
Julian Glover, Dominic West, Nancy Carroll and Lucy Briers star in Peter Gill's revival of Harley Granville Barker's The Voysey Inheritance, opening at the National's Lyttelton (following previews from 18 April).
Box Office: 020 7452 3000 wednesday 26 april Sylvester McCoy stars in the world premiere of The Pocket Orchestra – The Unlikely Lives of the Great Composers, opening at the Trafalgar Studios 2 (preview 25 April) for a run to 20 May.
Box Office: 0870 060 6632
 | | Visible at Soho Theatre |
ALSO TONIGHT: the Barbican's Beckett Centenary Festival concludes with John Hurt reprising his performance in Krapp's Last Tape (preview 25 April), for a season to 6 May.
Box Office: 020 7638 8891 AND: Cardboard Citizens, the only professional theatre company working with homeless and ex-homeless people as performers, practitioners and audience, stage Visible, a new play by Sarah Woods, at Soho Theatre (preview 25 April) for a season to 6 May.
Box Office: 0870 429 6883 thursday 27 april The Motown musical revue Dancing in the Streets moves from the Cambridge Theatre to continue its West End run at the Aldwych, where it is booking to 22 July.
Box Office: 0870 400 0805 ALSO TONIGHT: Breakfast with Jonny Wilkinson, Chris England's new play inspired by the sporting legend whose left boot virtually won Britain the rugby World Cup, opens at the Menier Chocolate Factory (following previews from 19 April). It follows England's previous hit comedy An Evening with Gary Lineker.
Box Office: 020 7907 7060 AND: the UK premiere of Don DeLillo's Valparaiso, directed by Jack McNamara, takes place at the Old Red Lion (following previews from 25 April), for a season to 13 May.
Box Office: 020 7837 7816 friday 28 april
 | | On the move: Chicago |
Chicago moves from the Adelphi Theatre to the Cambridge, where the show was first seen (in a different production) in 1979.
Box Office: 0870 890 1102 AND: Babel Junction, a collaborative play by five writers from different cultural backgrounds, opens at Hackney Empire's Bullion Room (following previews from 26 April) for a season to 14 May.
Box Office: 020 8985 2424 (Interested? For more details and to book direct, go to the Useful Links in the right-hand column, where you can also find the first half of April's diary) | 
