Open-air theatre in London

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre boss Timothy Sheader takes his love of musicals to the next level this season…

You would have to have been exiled to Verona to be unaware of the Globe’s recent troubles…

Here it is, then. Barely a year after she directed her first Shakespeare play for the Globe, this 'Twelfth Night' marks current theatre boss Emma Rice's last Shakespeare in the main theatre, and probably - pending on her final, indoor season - her last one at the Globe generally (and perhaps ever)…

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre boss Timothy Sheader takes his love of musicals to the next level this season…

As the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, Dickens' Victorian novel about social inequality feels as timely as ever. Or at least, that's what Regents Park Open Air Theatre are banking on with Matthew Dunster's contemporary adaptation.

'Please sir, can I have some more?' Workhouse orphan Oliver is best known for the 1960 musical of the same name. But Royal Court playwright Anya Reiss' family-friendly adaptation of 'Oliver Twist' should bring his story to a whole new audience…

One of the many contradictions that underpin the life and career of Andrew Lloyd Webber is that his musical about Jesus is about a gazillion times more fun than his musical about cats…

You would have to have been exiled to Verona to be unaware of the Globe’s recent troubles…

Here it is, then. Barely a year after she directed her first Shakespeare play for the Globe, this 'Twelfth Night' marks current theatre boss Emma Rice's last Shakespeare in the main theatre, and probably - pending on her final, indoor season - her last one at the Globe generally (and perhaps ever)…

A Cornish King marries his enemy's sister in 'Tristan & Yseult', a reimagining of the classic medieval romance that's seen through the eyes of a cuckolded husband…

After his explosive gangland reimagining of 'Cymbeline', last year's 'Imogen', Matthew Dunster is reimagining well-loved comedy 'Much Ado About Nothing'. It's a play that's famous for its pair of warring lovers, Beatrice and Benedick. Dunster's amped up the tension by relocating their sparring to 1910 Mexico, a country locked in revolution.

As artistic director of Shared Experience, Nancy Meckler is known for using physical theatre to imagine characters' inner lives. Shakespeare's tragedy 'King Lear', her debut Globe show, will throw up plenty of psychological complexities to work with. 

The Globe is taking a break from all that Shakespeare with this fearsome new play by Tristan Bernays. As the name suggests, it's a look at the Celtic warrior queen who fought the Romans for the throne they denied her.  

Touring company Three Inch Fools are performing Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' in the atmospheric surrounds of an East London churchyard - the final resting place of two of Shakespeare's partners at the Globe Theatre. The audience sit on blankets to watch this stripped down version of this twin-filled comedy, performed by five actors.

Greenwich and Docklands Fest makes a rare move into staging 'proper drama' with this updated version of Arthur Miller's classic play. His story of Brooklyn dockworkers will be given new relevance in a staging that puts it slap bang in the middle of Greenwich's riverscape

A calvalcade of glowing white horses will parade through the streets in 'FierS à Cheval', part of Greenwich and Docklands Festival's annual influx of lavish outdoor spectacle. These giant puppet-costume hybrids are the handiwork of French outdoor theatre specialists Compagnie des Quidams, who make dreamlike, playful night-time shows.

Iris Theatre celebrate a decade in action with Shakespeare's violent tragedy 'Macbeth'. It'll bring blood, guts and Hieronymous Bosch inspired design to the pansy-lined gardens of Covent Garden's St Paul's Church. Daniel Winder directs David Hywel Barnes in the title role, after his turn as fellow historical villain Richard III three years back.

Take the whole family outdoors for this magical free show. Giant light-up puppets from Germany will tell a story of togetherness and friendship with a storming drum soundtrack from Worldbeaters. Accompanied by their West African-inspired rhythms, Dundu's 'Sense of Unity' takes the form of a procession down Bow's Roman Road. 

As a sprawling former Victorian town hall, Battersea Arts Centre isn’t short of space, so its decision to turn a previously unloved courtyard into a brand new outdoor performance space is a surprising one. But it makes perfect sense once you see what playful theatre scamps Little Bulb can do with it. They make its brick walls reverberate with supernatural horrors in a melodrama that harks back to the theatre’s Victorian heyday. 

Flying carpets, magic lamps, beautiful maidens and adventuring sailors: the stories of the Arabian Nights have captured kids' imaginations for centures before Disney's 'Aladdin'. This outdoor promenade show from London Bubble will tell some of Scheherazade's best stories in two South London parks, Greenwich Park and Southwark Park. 'Tales from the Arabian Nights' is the handiwork of playwright Farhana Sheikh, who first created it for community-focused company London Bubble. This revival, directed by Jonathan Petherbridge, with designs by Yasuko Hasegawa, is a welcoming show for all ages - and you can even bring the family mutt along

The biggest draw of this family show might just be the life-size edible gingerbread house Iris Theatre are promising to build (although how edible it'll be after a month exposed to the British weather is anyone's guess). But their 'Hansel & Gretel' promises all manner of magical beasts and forest adventures around the gardens of St Paul's Church. Amy Draper directs this fairytale adventure for kids.