The stars of Dirty Dancing are kicking up their heels, Faustus offers a smorgasbord of theatrical delights and Faust provides an evening you're unlikely to forget...
Dirty Dancing
The Aldwych, WC2
Dirty Dancing, adapted by Eleanor Bergstein from her fairytale script for the madly popular movie, proves a virtual replica of the original. And even if it offers little of the film's pelvic-thrust dancing, this stage version offers something distinct and more intimate than the celluloid experience as Josef Brown's muscle-flaunting Johnny Castle and Georgina Rich's adventurous, virginal Baby bring the musical's game of mutual seduction into close, breathless focus. (0870 4000 805). Booking to 20 October, 2007. Nicholas de Jongh
Faustus
Hampstead, NW3
A triumph of wit over substance it may be, but Rupert Goold's Faustus is nonetheless a triumph. This adaptation presents a smorgasbord of theatrical delights spread across two intermeshing narratives: Christopher Marlowe's Dr Faustus and a story involving Brit artists Jake and Dinos Chapman. Even as one wrestles to find a coherent vision of the piece, there are genuine treats in store: an hilarious turn from Mark Lockyer as an envious arts pundit, constant surprises from Laura Hopkins's set and a closing tableau that takes the breath away. (020 7722 9301). Until 18 November. Kieron Quirke
EXTENDED: Faust
21 Wapping Lane, E1
Inside this abandoned building that looks like a maximum security prison is an astonishingly vital hub of theatrical activity. Theatre in one of the looser senses of the word, for this new work from Punchdrunk is a site-specific installation - and one of the most memorable evenings you're likely to have as an audience member all year. Issued with a white mask, you proceed to one of five floors, on which the action unfolds simultaneously in two continuous 90-minute loops. Directors Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle cleverly ensure that the quality of sensory experience more than compensates for the fragmentary narrative. (020 7452 3000). Until 30 December. Fiona Mountford
Major Barbara
Orange Tree, Richmond
George Bernard Shaw's brilliant contrarian play of 1905 is well revived at the Orange Tree. Sam Walters's production shows us a piece overbrimming with modern ideas, in which, despite its light-hearted upper-class setting, we never feel far from murderous gunfire. Andrew Undershaft is a millionaire arms dealer estranged from his family and determined to reconnect with his feisty daughter Barbara, a major in the Salvation Army. Through Machiavellian cunning and deep pockets, he succeeds in discrediting her religion's moral superiority, only to advocate a new moral system where poverty is recognised as evil's root, and the great realities of money and weapons are venerated as instruments of political change. (020 8940 3633). Until 9 December. KQ
Summer and Smoke
Apollo, W1
Of all Tennessee Williams's plays none has been more mysteriously neglected here than this beautiful, poetic lament for a sexually desolate preacher's daughter, Alma Winemiller. Adrian Noble's production misses Williams's bleak comedy and becomes too winsomely picturesque, but reveals the play's enduring vitality as Rosamund Pike's Alma seeks a soulful and spiritual bond with the violently sexual Doctor next door, John Buchanan as Williams wrestles fascinatingly with sex and love. It makes a fine match. (0870 890 1101). Booking to 12 December.
NdJ
