Soho Theatre

There’s been a frenzy of hype around Sam Grabiner’s debut play ‘Boys on the Verge of Tears’. It was the recipient of the prestigious Verity Bargate Award last year, and has found vocal support from big name playwrights Lucy Kirkwood and April de Angelis. But, the real attraction comes in the form of the director James Macdonald: a real industry legend, known for his work with the likes of Sarah Kane and Annie Baker. It is pretty remarkable that he’s take on what is in effect a fringe play – everything seems set for Grabiner to be something special. Short answer – he is. Set exclusively in a public toilet, with five main actors and over 50 characters, Grabiner has created an intimate study of men and boys, their potential for violence and pain. Following a rough chronology from boyhood to old age, with no break between the changing scenes, men from all walks of life flow in and out of the cubicles – sometimes pausing for conversation, to assess their appearance or for a second of solitude to take a breath. Although open to the world, the toilets feel like a place of private sanctuary: a home for lost, lonely children at birthday parties or a place for teenagers to get ready for the school disco. The door to the outside has the potential to swing open in an instant, but inside there is the sense of everything stopping. This is a space of confession, connection and frustration, somehow cut off from the rest of life. Yet, the potential for danger and cruelty is ever present. Fig

Hugely influential silent US comic Doctor Brown – real name Phil Burgers, astonishingly – returns with his first proper new show in 12 years, a period that has seen him mentor and nurture the current impressive glut of LA-based US clown comics. ‘Beturns’ (all his shows begin with latter 'b') comes with no real promise beyond being the first Doctor Brown show in a decade – and that should be enough for most of us. 

Finally following up her two acclaimed solos hows of the past, actress Emily Woof descends on Soho Theatre with her self-written new work, which is – we’re told – an ‘intimate epic about philosophy and neuroscience, dance and animals, body and soul’. It follows a woman whose brain scientist husband falls ill on the eve of his keynote speech in Switzerland – leading to him persuading her to deliver the speech instead.