If you are still undecided whether or not you should vote, then go see Counted? at County Hall in London this week, a new documentary play about democracy from Look Left, Look Right, who also produced The Caravan. The other big openings in the capital this week are Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, starring Toby Stephens, at the Old Vic and Lyn Nottage's Ruined at the Almeida. I've got my eye on the Mick Gordon and Billy Bragg collaboration, Pressure Drop, at the Wellcome Collection. The Wellcome has been a terrific supporter of some really interesting theatre in recent years.
Chichester opens up for business this week with Patrick Stewart in a revival of Edward Bond's terrific play about the ageing Shakespeare, Bingo. The Globe also opens its doors next Friday for the summer season. First off is Lucy Bailey's revival of Macbeth, with Elliot Cowan in the lead. Bailey delivered a superb Titus Andronicus here a few years ago so I have high hopes, and in any case, Shakespeare at the Globe is always a real event – the place has long banished any lingering hint of a theme park. I can't think of a better place to introduce children to Shakespeare.
If you can, catch Elaine Murphy's Little Gem at the Bush. I saw it in Edinburgh at the Traverse and loved its heart-on-sleeve generosity. The Traverse, by the way, is previewing Dominic Hill's Scottish premiere of Edward Albee's The Goat Or Who is Sylvia? about a man who falls in love with a goat. While we're in Scotland, don't forget John Tiffany's revival of Peter Pan at the King's in Glasgow, John Byrne's new version of The Cherry Orchard and the Forest Fringe Microfestival at the Arches tonight and tomorrow. (It's at the Ragged School in Swansea the following week.) Old Swansea Library is still playing host to Volcano's Shelf Live; I saw it last night and the review will be online this evening.
Jon Spooner's performance lecture The Ethics of Progress is fantastic – funny, perceptive, and not dry at all. It's at the Curve in Leicester from next Thursday. Jonathan Harvey's first play for some time, Canary, is at Liverpool, and Shelagh Stephenson had a new play, A Northern Odyssey, at the Live in Newcastle, which staged The Pitman Painters, another play about art. Improbable's Lee Simpson is directing No Idea, in which Lisa Hammond and Rachel Spence, one disabled and the other not, ask people to take a good look at them. It's at the Royal Exchange in Manchester until Saturday before moving to the Unity in Liverpool. In Leeds, Joel Horwood's new version of The Count of Monte Cristo opens at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, while The Gift and the Glory only has a week to go at the Duke's Lancaster and is a reminder that new writing thrives in regional theatres.
The Roundhouse's Circusfest is now in full swing. The Sugar Beast Circus double bill is in the studio until Saturday and is well worth checking out if you want to wonder at what circus can achieve. Marisa Carnesky's Dystopian Wonders considers waxworks and religious cults from next Wednesday, and Compagnie XY is in the main house with Le Grand C, which I'm going to see on Sunday evening. The Reveal festival taking place around King's Cross starts at the end of the week and includes all sorts of goodies, including, later in the month, Artangel's Smother.
