.SOME TRACE OF HER

Cottesloe, National Theatre

inspired by The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky and adapted by Katie Mitchell and the company

A woman lies dead on a bed in her wedding dress, a silver knife through her heart. The two men who loved her lie beside her.

(from 23 July 08 to 21 Oct 08)

AMAZONIA

Young Vic Theatre (Main House)

by Pedro Cardoso and Paul Heritage.

Christmas Brazilian style! Inspired by the stories and culture of the rainforest.

(from 27 Nov 08 to 24 Jan 09)

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

Lyttelton, National Theatre

by Tracy Letts

When the large Weston family unexplectedly reunites in Oklahoma, after their father disappears, their home explodes in a maelstrom of repressed truths and unsettling secrets

(from 21 Nov 08 to 21 Jan 09)

BE NEAR ME

Donmar Warehouse

By Andrew O'Hagan, adapted for the stage by Ian McDiarmid

David Anderton, an Oxford-educated Catholic priest is assigned to a parish in a dispirited Scottish town on the Ayrshire coast. Lonely and adrift he befriends two unstable teenagers from the local school and is drawn into their exotic world.

(from 22 Jan 09 to 14 Mar 09)

BRIEF ENCOUNTER

Cinema Haymarket

by Noel Coward, adapted by Emma Rice

Stage adaptation

(from 2 Feb 08 to 16 Nov 08)

BROTHERS SIZE, THE

Young Vic Theatre (Maria Studio)

by Tarell Alvin McCraney

It tells the story of two brothers: Ogun who owns an auto-repair shop, and Oshoosi, who's just left prison and always manages to take the wrong track. When his ex-cell mate Elegba gives him a clapped-out car, true freedom seems just around the corner.

(from 8 Oct 08 to 8 Nov 08)

CREDITORS

Donmar Warehouse

by Strindberg, in a new version by David Greig

Anxiously awaiting the return of his new wife, Adolf finds solace in the words of a stranger. But comfort soon turns to destruction as old wounds are opened, insecurities are laid bare and former debts are settled.

(from 25 Sep 08 to 15 Nov 08)

DIMETOS

Donmar Warehouse

by Athol Fugard

Exhausted with life in the city as a highly skilled engineer, Dimetos escapes to a remote coastal village with his niece and housekeeper in search of a simpler existence. Five years on, a stranger from the metropolis arrives to tempt him back with devastating consequences.

(from 19 Mar 09 to 9 May 09)

DOLL'S HOUSE, A

Donmar Warehouse

by Henrik Ibsen, in a new version by Zinnie Harris

Nora loves her husband above all else. But when she risks her reputation in order to save his, she begins to question her devotion and finds herself fighting for her own life.

(from 14 May 09 to 18 Jul 09)

EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FAVOUR

Olivier, National Theatre

by Tom Stoppard and Andre Previn

A play for actors and orchestra - A dissident is locked up in an asylum. If he accepts that he was ill, has been treated and is now cured, he will be released. He refuses.

(from 12 Jan 09 to 30 Jan 09)

FACES IN THE CROWD

Royal Court Theatre Upstairs

by Leo Butler

Offers an insight into 21st century London and the debts we accrue in the wake of seeking out our ambitions.

(from 17 Oct 08 to 8 Nov 08)

FAMILY REUNION, THE

Donmar Warehouse

by T.S. Eliot

After eight years absence, Harry returns to the ancestral home to celebrate his mother's birthday.Tormented by a dark secret, he confides in Aunt Agatha only to discover that the family too have their own hidden demons.

(from 20 Nov 08 to 10 Jan 09)

GETHSEMANE

Cottesloe, National Theatre

by David Hare

This play about British public life looks at the way business, media and politics are now intertwined tonobody's advantage, as, in an unforgiving world, one character after another passes through Gethsemane

(from 04 Nov 08 to 24 Feb 09)

GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING

Haymarket, Theatre Royal

by David Joss Buckley. This play is a stage adaptation of Tracy Chevalier's novel, which was subsequently made into a film

Johannes Vermeer is the greatest painter of his time. When he hires a young girl Griet to help in his house, it is not long before she becomes more than a servant - she starts to help him in his studio, learning the art of painting by watching the master. And then, secretly, Vermeer begins to paint her and Griet becomes model and muse for his greatest masterpiece 'Girl With A Pearl Earring'.

(from 24 Sep 08 to 1 Nov 08)

GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE , THE

Royal Court Theatre Upstairs

by Alecky Blythe

This play is created entirely from edited conversations recorded inside a real brothel.

(from 18 Sep 08 to 11 Oct 08)

HAMLET

Novello Theatre

by William Shakespeare

(from 3 Dec 08 to 10 Jan 09)

HAMLET

Wyndham's Theatre

By William Shakespeare

(from 29 May 09 to 22 Aug 09)

IN A DARK DARK HOUSE

Almeida Theatre (Off West End)

by Neil LaBute

Two brothers brought together as one undergoes court-ordered rehab. The forced reunion brings to light barely-hidden animosities between the two and their troubled legacy, both inside and outside their dark family home.

(from 20 Nov 08 to 17 Jan 09)

IN THE RED AND BROWN WATER

Young Vic Theatre (Main House)

by Tarell Alvin McCraney

Oya is a star athlete. She never feels so right as when she's running. As a girl she has to choose between following her dream and caring for her sick mother. As a woman she is torn between two men and is desperate to bear a child.

(from 2 Oct 08 to 8 Nov 08)

IVANOV

Wyndham's Theatre

by Anton Chekhov, in a new version by Tom Stoppard

Once a man of limitless promise, Ivanov is plunged into debt.

(from 12 Sep 08 to 29 Nov 08)

KING LEAR

Young Vic Theatre (Main House)

by William Shakespeare

A daughter's love is put to the test. Two families tear themselves apart. As a community teeters on the verge of disintegration, can change ever come without loss?

(from 29 Jan 09 to 28 Mar 09)

LANDSCAPE / SLIGHT ACHE, A (Double Bill)

Lyttelton, National Theatre

by Harold Pinter

Takes an oblique view of a long-married couple, the irascible Edward and his frustrated wife Flora, when the arrival of a statuesque silent stranger splinters their loveless bourgeois marriage.

(from 13 Sep 08 to 1 Oct 08)

LIBERTY

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

by Glyn Maxwell, an adaptation of Anatole France's 1912 novel Les Dieux ont Soif.

ARevolutionary magistrate turns from being a radical idealist to a fanatical apologist forstate violence

(from 31 Aug 08 to 4 Oct 08)

MADAME DE SADE

Wyndham's Theatre

By Yukio Mishima, translated from the Japanese by Donald Keene

Against her mother's wishes, Renee remains vehemently devoted to her husband, the Marquis de Sade, the notorious aristocrat imprisoned in the Bastille for his lurid escapades and licentious behaviour.

(from 13 Mar 09 to 23 May 09)

MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, A

Novello Theatre

by William Shakespeare

(from 15 Jan 09 to 7 Feb 09)

MOUSETRAP, THE

St Martin's Theatre

by Agatha Christie

A group of people gathered together in a remote part of the countryside discover there is a murderer in their midst. The question is which one of them is the guilty party.

(from 26 Mar 74 to 16 May 09)

MRS AFFLECK

Cottesloe, National Theatre

by Samuel Adamson, from Ibsen's Little Eyolf

After six lonely weeks with nobody but her crippled little boy for company, Rita Affleck, wealthy, beautiful and consumed by jealous love, welcomes home her husband Alfred. But, far from the passionate reunion she so craves, there is only torment as Alfred's possessive half-sister arrives, and he announces his great revelation.

(from 20 Jan 09 to 28 Feb 09)

NO MAN'S LAND

Duke of York's Theatre

by Harold Pinter

Tragicomic gem about two aging writers, Hirst and Spooner. After meeting on Hampstead Heath, they return home for a late-night session of witty banter, sinister power games, and the worship of alcohol, watched by Hirst's henchman, Briggs and Foster.

(from 27 Sep 08 to 3 Jan 09)

NOW OR LATER

Royal Court Theatre Downstairs

by Christopher Shinn

Examines religion, freedom of expression and personal responsibility.

(from 3 Sep 08 to 1 Nov 08)

OEDIPUS

Olivier, National Theatre

by Sophocles, in a new version by Frank McGuinness

The people of Thebes look to Oedipus to lift a terrible curse from them and their city. He consults the oracle and learns that he must root out the late king's murderer. But his relentless interrogation of one man after another leads inexorably, and in the space of a single day, to his own savage conclusion.

(from 8 Oct 08 to 4 Jan 09)

PARADISE REGAINED

Royal Court Theatre Downstairs

by Mark Ravenhill

(from 30 Sep 08 to 4 Oct 08)

PIAF

Vaudeville Theatre

By Pam Gems, original composition is by Ben and Max Ringham.

A Play with Songs - Vividly capturing the glamour and squalor, the rise and fall, of this complex, fragile and enigmatic performer.

(from 16 Oct 08 to 24 Jan 09)

PITMEN PAINTERS, THE

Lyttelton, National Theatre

by Lee Hall, inspired by a book by William Feaver

In 1934, a group of Ashington miners hired a professor to teach an art appreciation evening class. Rapidly abandoning theory in favour of practice, the pitmen began to paint. Within a few years the most avant-garde artists became their friends and their work was acquired by prestigious collections; but every day they worked, as before, down the mine.

(from 27 Jan 09 to 17 Feb 09)

PRIDE, THE

Royal Court Theatre Upstairs

by Alexi Kaye Campbell

Examines changing attitudes to sexuality over a period of 50 years, looking at intimacy, identity and the courage it takes to be who you really are.

(from 21 Nov 08 to 20 Dec 08)

RAIN MAN

Apollo Theatre

Adapted for the stage by Dan Gordon based on the MGM motion picture, story by Barry Morrow

Stage adaptation of the 1988 film

(from 28 Aug 08 to 20 Dec 08)

RIFLEMIND

Trafalgar Studios 1 Theatre (formerly Whitehall Theatre)

by Andrew Upton

Twenty years after their frontman, John, walked off stage for good, the iconic rock band Riflemind are set to get together again. For John , a reunion might be his second chance; for his wife Lynn , it could be the end of the world as she knows it ... As the band descends upon John's country manor, one weekend fast becomes the ultimate test of talent, friendship and loyalty.

(from 15 Sep 08 to 3 Jan 09)

SH*T-M*X

Trafalgar Studios 2 Theatre(formerly Whitehall Theatre)

by Leo Richardson

Raggedy Anne is gagging to go out with LB, but he has a few guilty secrets. Dirty Debbie isn't really helping matters; all she's concerned about is finishing her first erotic novel. Maybe Bent Ben will find out what's wrong. And will anyone catch the eye of the elusive Harry the Hottie?

(from 30 Sep 08 to 25 Oct 08)

SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR

Gielgud Theatre

by Luigi Pirandello, in a new version by Rupert Goold and Ben Power

Blurs the borders between fiction and life, between the stage and the world outside.

(from 10 Sep 08 to 8 Nov 08)

TIMON OF ATHENS

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

by William Shakespeare

Timon, a rich and generous Athenian, showers everyone with gifts and hospitality. When the money runs out Timon turns to his 'friends' for help. One by one they refuse. Timon, enraged and penniless, leaves Athens for life in the wilderness where he discovers a hidden cache of gold. Having no use for the money, Timon plans his revenge on the city.

(from 26 Jul 08 to 3 Oct 08)

TO BE STRAIGHT WITH YOU

Lyttelton, National Theatre

by DV8 Physical Theatre, conceived by Lloyd Newson

'A poetic but unflinching exploration of tolerance, intolerance, religion and sexuality. It incorporates dance, text, documentary, film and animated projections to create a unique piece of theatre.'

(from 29 Oct 08 to 15 Nov 08)

TREASURE ISLAND

Haymarket, Theatre Royal

by Robert Louis Stevenson, new stage adaptation by Ken Ludwig

(from 7 Nov 08 to 28 Feb 09)

WALWORTH FARCE, THE

Cottesloe, National Theatre

by Enda Walsh

It's 11 o'clock in the morning in a council flat on the Walworth Road. In two hours' time, as is normal, three Irish men will have consumed six cans of Harp, 15 crackers with spreadable cheese and one oven-cooked chicken with a strange blue sauce. In two hours' time, as is normal, five people will have been killed.

(from 18 Sep 08 to 29 Nov 08)

WAR HORSE

Olivier, National Theatre

based on a novel by Michael Morpurgo, adapted by Nick Stafford

At the outbreak of World War One, Joey, young Albert's beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. But Albert cannot forget Joey and, still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home.

(from 10 Sep 08 to 24 Jan 09)

WASTE

Almeida Theatre (Off West End)

by Harley Granville Barker

Radical independent politician Henry Trebell is persuaded to join the Conservative Party in order to champion his Bill to Disestablish the Church of England and to use its funds to finance a vast education programme. But a liaison with a married woman, who dies after aborting their child, brings private scandal into the political arena.

(from 25 Sep 08 to 15 Nov 08)

WIG OUT!

Royal Court Theatre Downstairs

by Tarell Alvin McCraney

Enter the legendary House of Light, a hyper-glamorous, uber-competitive drag queen refuge where a daughter who was once a son, can find a family.

(from 20 Nov 08 to 10 Jan 09)

WOMAN IN BLACK, THE

Fortune Theatre

by Stephen Mallatratt from the novel by Susan Hill

Arthur Kipps , a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, the house's sole inhabitant, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows.

(from 7 Jun 89 to 25 Jul 09)

YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING, THE

Lyttelton, National Theatre

by Joan Didion based on her memoir

Adapted for the stage by Joan Didion from her best-selling memoir of the same name, chronicles the aftermath of her husband's sudden death.

(from 25 Apr 08 to 25 Oct 08)