| C U L T U R E | Follies From 12 February 2019 Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim New York, 1971. There’s a party on the stage of the Weismann Theatre. Tomorrow the iconic building will be demolished. Thirty years after their final performance, the Follies girls gather to have a few drinks, sing a few songs and lie about themselves. SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE 56 PARK STREET, SE1 9AR Macbeth To 2 February 2019 by William Shakespeare Returning as heroes from the battlefield, Macbeth and Banquo encounter three witches who prophesy that Macbeth will become King of Scotland. When Lady Macbeth learns of this, she compels her husband to murder King Duncan, unleashing a brutal cycle of bloodshed, paranoia and guilt. Doctor Faustus To 2 February 2019 by Christopher Marlowe Doctor Faustus sits in his Wittenberg study, restless for knowledge and frustrated with the limitations of conventional scholarship. Coveting fame and power, he conjures the menacing demon, Mephistopheles, who offers Faustus a deal. THE OLD VIC 103 THE CUT, SE1 8NB A Christmas Carol 27 November to 19 January by Charles Dickens and adapted by Jack Thorne Matthew Warchus’big-hearted, smash hit production of Charles Dickens’immortal classic A Christmas Carol returns to The Old Vic, joyously adapted for the stage by Jack Thorne. The American Clock 4 February to 30 March 2019 by Arthur Miller The American Clock turns, fortunes are made and lives are broken. In New York City in 1929, the stock market crashed and everything changed. In an American society governed by race and class, we meet the Baum family as they navigate the aftermath of an unprecedented financial crisis. THE YOUNG VIC 66 THE CUT, SE1 8LZ The Convert 7 December to 26 January 2019 by Danai Gurira It’s 1896 in what is modern day Zimbabwe and Jekesai, a young woman fleeing forced marriage finds herself working for devout Catholic priest, Chilford. He relishes the opportunity to mould his new convert but Jekesai’s salvation has a price. SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE 77-85 NEWINGTON CAUSEWAY, SE1 6BD The Night Before Christmas To 29 December by Anthony Neilson Gary’s life is not good. It’s Christmas eve, he’s broke, he’s promised his son some top of the range Power Ranger figures but he hasn’t delivered them, and now his ex wife is out to find him baying for blood. A mixture of South Park and Miracle on 34th Street by way of Scrooged, Anthony Neilson’s hilarious and cutting comedy about finding the true spirit of Christmas comes to Southwark for the first time. Seussical To 29 December by Eric Idle, based on the works of Dr. Seuss The fantastical world of Dr. Seuss bursts onto the stage in this larger-than-life musical extravaganza brimming with fun and excitement for“thinkers”of all ages. After all, a person’s a person no matter how small! THE RIVER MAGAZINE | Winter 2018 27 Ralph Fiennes in Antony & Cleopatra P H O T O B Y J O H A N P E R S S O N Siân Brooke in I’m Not Running P H O T O B Y M A R K D O U E T