Cindy Marcolina

Caryl Churchill meets ‘il dolce far niente’ in this reimagined production of her 2016 play Escaped Alone. Italian companies lacasadargilla and Piccolo Teatro present a timid adaptation written by Monica Capuani and directed by Lisa Ferlazzo Natoli and Alessandro Ferroni. It’s a pity that the quintessentially bleak English approach of Churchill’s four ageing women as they spend their summer between tea and gossip fails to translate. Caught between the shackling boredom of retirement and a desire to maintain their identities, they reminisce and dig up the past, unearthing a few uncomfortable truths. In all this, Mrs. Jarrett slips into apocalyptic speeches that detail environmental disaster and societal collapse.

An awkward school reunion between childhood friends turns into a seething, horrid thriller in Morgan Lloyd Malcolm 's play The Wasp . The long-term

A virus has decimated the entire population, turning them into zombies. Or has it? Whilst all hell breaks loose, a man is isolating in a bunker alone. Deep underground, his thoughts are his only company and entertainment. His reality slowly alters. Why do we keep going in the face of hardship? Is the fight for survival enough to define a life? Jishik Kim and Seungyeon Kwon’s hit musical hails straight from South Korea in a re-imagined version with Jethro Compton at the dramaturgy and Daljung Kim at the direction. Led by Lex Lee (who shared the role with Nabi Brown through the run), it’s a spunky, bleak, compassionate, riveting piece of solo theatre.

Art imitates life, and life imitates art in Sarah Ruhl’s 2014 play Stage Kiss. When two ex-lovers are cast in the same show, their on-stage relationship bleeds into their off-stage one, and vice versa. The weight of their baggage threatens to ruin their relationships, but Ruhl is excessively compassionate and wholly unoriginal.

It might still be some time until Death Becomes Her hits London, but the West End was ablaze with its spirit this past weekend, when Megan Hilty graced the stage of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

Kenneth Branagh has returned to Stratford-upon-Avon to tread the boards of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, where we last saw him 33 years ago as the

Kurt Vonnegut 's anti-war sci-fi is probably one of the most censored novels of the 20th century.

Turning 30 has always been portrayed by the media as a dead end, especially for women. Say goodbye to the ingénue, you need to have your life together now. Meg Travers and Laura Kirman think about it differently. They put on a romp of a show, a relatable two-hander that celebrates womanhood and all the nightmares that come with becoming a fully fledged adult. It’s genuine, no-filter, all-female, thought-provoking fun. Directed by Nancy Zamit, Kirman and Travers introduce two characters you want to be friends with.

Read our review of *Relics*, starring Sally Phillips, JJ Feild, Charly Clive and Sam Swainsbury, now in performances at the Lyric Hammersmith to 18 July. Read more theatre reviews on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Edmond Rostand 's classic comes back to the West End with a new adaptation by Simon Evans and Debris Stevenson . This is a drastically different