London Connect

The kids are back in school, the summer that never was is over and theatreland is once again incandescent with the bright lights of new shows. But while the spotlight may be on the big West End openings at the moment, we at Time Out always have one eye elsewhere.

It’s a busy week Off-West End, with at least half of the 20 or so venues wheeling out new shows over the next seven days. Jane Horrocks returns to the Young Vic with ‘Annie Get Your Gun’. Considering its previous track record for brave and brilliantly staged musicals (it won an Olivier Award for ‘The Magic Flute’ presented by the same team behind ‘The Mysteries – Yiimimangaliso’ at the Garrick until Saturday), this is full of promise. Over at the Lyric Hammersmith, the astonishing resurrection of Matthew Kelly’s career continues unabated in Trevor Griffiths’ 1970 drama ‘Comedians’, directed by Sean Holmes.

Yesterday’s announcement that the Hackney Empire is set to close in the New Year is bad news for east London and the theatre community-at-large, so make sure you head to its studio space to catch ‘Lulu’ - Rififi Theatre’s cabaret-style reimagining of Frank Wedekind’s nineteenth century tragedy. Other Off-West End openings worth keeping an eye on include ‘Yasser’ and ‘it felt empty when the heart went at first but now it is alright’, both at the Arcola, and Susan Glaspell’s 1931 Pulitzer Prize-winning play ‘Alison’s House’ at the Orange Tree Theatre.

Over on the fringe, ‘Shooting Rats’, presented by Fanshen Theatre and Oval House, tells the story of a teenage first date and is set in a purpose built rubbish dump (complete with exploding car) at the Octagon Hall in the Old Lilian Baylis School in Kennington. Rich Mix stages a modern Beijing Opera in the shape of ‘Monkey King’ by British Chinese violin duo Chi2 on Friday and Saturday, while ‘Pianoman’, David Weedall’s quirky tale of a mute piano virtuouso plays for two nights only at the Etcetera Theatre from Friday until Sunday.

Performance storytelling is currently in vogue with the Crick Crack Club residency at Soho, but this week you can catch Art Admin’s ‘Are You Sitting Comfortably?’ at Toynbee Studios on Thursday. Elsewhere ETT’s production of ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ plays at New Wimbledon Theatre for three nights only from Thursday; a new production of Ronald Harwood’s 1972 play ‘The Guests’ opens at the Etcetera on Tuesday while some of theatre’s finest (Mark Ravenhill, Anthony Neilson, Lucy Kirkwood and Neil LaBute) celebrate Halloween in gloriously gory style with ‘Terror 2009’, a new season of short horror stories playing at the Southwark Playhouse from Wednesday 7.