ABOVE THE STAG 72 ALBERT EMBANKMENT, SE1 7TP Boy Toy (25 June To 21 July) by William Spencer A new dance show inspired by the classic comic ballet Coppélia. Freddie is engaged to Simon, but on his way home from his stag do he falls in love with what he believes is a beautiful young man in a window. Closer to Heaven (3 July To 4 August) by Jonathan Harvey with music and lyrics by Pet Shop Boys A thrilling musical with original songs by Pet Shop Boys, set against the backdrop of Soho’s pulsing nightlife. When Dave takes a job bartending in a Soho nightclub, he’s surprised to find himself at the heart of a new and very unconventional family. Making Porn (31 July To 8 September) by Ronnie Larsen Jack Hawk, a straight, out-of-work actor, finally gets a break! He’s signed up to star in Cops, the latest skin-flick from gay porn director Arthur Mack. But as Jack’s efforts to hide his new career from his wife fail, and his twink co-star embarks on an affair with the director’s boyfriend. BRIDGE THEATRE SOUTHBANK, SE1 9PX A Midsummer Night’s Dream (3 June To 31 August) by William Shakespeare The theatre becomes the forest – a dream world of flying fairies, contagious fogs and moonlight revels. Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Oliver Chris (Green Wing), David Moorst (Allelujah!) and Hammed Animashaun (The Festival) lead the cast. MENIER CHOCOLATE FACTORY 53 SOUTHWARK STREET, SE1 1RU The Bridges of Madison County (13 July To 14 September) by Robert James Waller Jenna Russell will play Francesca, an Italian immigrant housewife living a happy existence on a farm in the American Midwest. However, when her family go off to the Iowa State Fair, she meets Robert Kincaid, a National Geographic photographer. NATIONAL THEATRE SOUTHBANK, SE1 9PX Rutherford and Son (To 3 August) by Githa Sowerby Roger Allam (Les Misérables, The Thick of It) returns to the National for the first time in a decade to play Rutherford. Githa Sowerby’s astonishing play was inspired by her own experience of growing up in a family-run factory in Gateshead. Small Island (To 10 August) by Andrea Levy An epic, Orange Prize-winning novel bursts to new life on the Olivier stage. A company of 40 tells a story which journeys from Jamaica to Britain, through the Second World War to 1948 – the year the HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury. Top Girls (To 20 July) by Caryl Churchill Now hiring: top girls wanted for prestige positions. Must be self-motivated go-getters with an appetite for success. No timewasters. Peter Gynt (27 June To 8 October) by David Hare (after Henrik Ibsen) by David Hare (after Henrik Ibsen) Peter Gynt has always set his heart on being special. When he steals the bride from a local wedding, he sets off on a lifetime journey which will take him to Florida, to Egypt, to a mountain of trolls, and finally, only when death approaches, back to his home in Scotland. Hansard (From 22 August) by Simon Woods It’s a summer’s morning in 1988 and Tory politician Robin Hesketh has returned home to the idyllic Cotswold house he shares with his wife of 30 years, Diana. But all is not as blissful as it seems. As the day draws on, what starts as gentle ribbing and the familiar rhythms of marital sparring quickly turns to blood-sport. ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL SOUTHBANK SE1 8XX The Light in the Piazza (To 5 July) by Craig Lucas Theatre Listings ENTERTAINMENTS 24 THE RIVER MAGAZINE | Summer 2019 | C U L T U R E |