Top 5 theatre shows to see this week (September 2-8)

Two Trains Running – Royal and Derngate, Northampton

Nancy Medina directs a revival of August Wilson’s play set in a diner in 1960s Pittsburgh. The English Touring Theatre co-production opens at the Royal and Derngate on September 4.

Two Trains Running rehearsals. Photos: Manuel Harlan

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A Very Expensive Poison – Old Vic, London

Tom Brooke – brilliant in Berberian Sound Studio – plays ex-Federal Security Service officer Alexander Litvinenko in John Crowley’s production of the new play by Lucy Prebble based on Luke Harding’s book. Reece Shearsmith and MyAnna Buring also star in the production, which opens on September 5.

Rehearsals for A Very Expensive Poison. Photos: Manual Harlan

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Hedda Tesman – Minerva Theatre, Chichester

There’s an abundance of Ibsen updates and adaptations around this autumn. First up it’s Cordelia Lynn’s take on Hedda Gabler, starring Haydn Gwynne, in a co-production with Headlong and the Lowry. Holly Race Roughan’s production opens on September 5.

The Duchess (of Malfi) – Tramway, Glasgow

Previously seen at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, Zinnie Harris’ acclaimed new version of John Webster’s bloody Jacobean revenge tragedy opens in Glasgow on September 6.

Chiaroscuro – Bush Theatre, London

Lynette Linton kicks off her inaugural season as artistic director at the Bush Theatre with a revival of the play by Jackie Kay starring Shiloh Coke. It opens on September 6.

Rehearsals for Chiaroscuro. Photos: Helen Murray

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Lynette Linton: ‘This is what I always wanted, it’s all I have ever wanted’