Helter Skelter/Land Of The Dead- TNT

Fans of Neil LaBute's work for stage and screen won't be surprised that surface pleasantry soon turns to something darker in this emotionally chilling double bill. Running at just more than an hour, these two short New York pieces (though thematically linked by pregnancy, mobile phones and the communication gap between men and women) weren't originally intended to be performed together. But they make for a mesmerising, if unsettling, evening, as Ruth Gemmell's finely observed female characters face first an abortion and then the spectre of adultery. Meanwhile the men (jokily immature John Kirk and tactlessly self-absolving Patrick Driver) evade and avoid until ultimately there's no escape from the final nasty stings in the tail which characterise so much of LaBute's writing.
Bush Theatre, Shepherd's Bush Green, W12 (020-7610 42240). Until February 16. £15-£10

The President's Holiday - TNT

Drawing on material from the diaries of Raisa Gorbachev, Penny Gold's clumsily pedestrian new play attempts to draws parallels between the short-lived coup in August 1991 during which Mikhail Gorbachev was temporarily deposed and the fate (decades earlier) of the last Russian Tsar. As the president prepares to leave his Crimean holiday home and return to Moscow to sign the controversial Union Treaty, he and his family find themselves held incommunicado whilst a state of emergency is declared.There's the potential for a taut drama here, but neither the uninspired sketching in of the political background nor the superficial portrayal of the Gorbachevs at a time of crisis generates much interest. The various comings and goings within the dacha have little internal logic — and even less credibility — and even his daughter's collapse at the end of the first act proves a damp dramatic squib. Though real life husband and wife Julian Glover and Isla Blair evince appropriate degrees of ( respectively) irate political impotence and wifely concern, this is an unconvincing and tedious work which runs out of steam faster than the historic event which inspired it, but has none of its long-lasting resonance. Hampstead, Eton Ave, NW3 (020-7722 9301) Until February 16. £22-£13

La Cage Aux Folles - TNT

Once again this intimate venue has come up trumps with Terry Johnson's touching revival of Herman and Fierstein's 1983 Broadway hit. With enough frocks to fill the largest closet, Douglas Hodge's transvestite homosexual Albin is a petulant, mincing Bette Midler clone — until he whips off his wig to reveal a balding scalp. Philip Quast's elegant St Tropez nightclub owner Georges beautifully affirms his love for his more outré partner, while barely daring to touch his hand in public, and Jason Pennycooke's butler-cum-maid is a scream in tumble-high heels and tutu (discarded under protest when disapproving potential in-laws come to call). The flamboyant Cagelles in drag flaunt themselves shamelessly through the audience and a West End transfer beckons for this feel-good comedy musical.
Menier Chocolate Factory, 53 Southwark St, SE1 (020-7907 7060) Until March 8. £25

Othello - TNT

Though Ewan McGregor's name was responsible for the sell-out popularity of this revival of Shakespeare's tragedy, his adequate (though far from memorable) performance is easily eclipsed not only by an intensely compelling Othello, but also by newcomer Tom Hiddleston, who is definitely someone to watch. His tactile Cassio flirts openly with Kelly Reilly's girlish Desdemona. She, in turn, reveals increasing depth and vulnerability as her husband's love turns to an unwarranted and uncontrollable jealousy, incited and fanned into fury by the poisonous doubts voiced by McGregor's low-key IagoPlayed out on an almost bare stage, with flickering lanterns and subtle lighting to evoke the move from Venice to Cyprus, Michael Grandage's production is straightforward and uncluttered. And at its centre is Chiwetel Ejiofor's noble Moor, a dignified soldier whose delight in his new young bride is eroded into uncomprehending disbelief and, ultimately, a cruel and fatal despair.
Donmar, Earlham St (0870-060 6624). Until February 23. Days seats and standing only - available in person from box office from 10.30am

OTHELLO - Donmar Theatre - This Is London

Once it was announced that Ewan
McGregor would be playing Iago, it was
virtually guaranteed that this small scale
West End venue would sell out almost
as soon as tickets went on sale.
But, although he gives an adequate
performance as the discontented
manipulator, his is far from a starry
performance. His low key Iago almost
fades into the background, a scheming
catalyst who plants the seed of jealousy
in the trusting Moor's heart and returns
at regular intervals to nurture it till the
tragic end.
Tom Hiddleston's tactile Cassio is far
more showy, a youthful flirt who can't hold
his drink and whose over-familiarity with
Desdemona plays right into Iago's hands.
As Othello's doomed wife, Kelly Reilly is,
at first, a slightly irritating and coquettish
bride, but ultimately proves intensely
moving as she prepares for what will be
her deathbed with the help of Michelle
Fairley's impressive, worldly-wise Emilia.
But in Michael Grandage's
straightforward production (played out
on an almost bare stage, with subtle
lighting and flickering lanterns marking
the shift from Venice to Cyprus) it is
Chiwetel Ejiofor as the noble Moor who
gives the most compelling performance.
As Iago's insidious words take root,
his surprised delight in his new wife is
cruelly replaced by the unfamiliar
tortures of the green-eyed monster,his
face clouds over with an almost
uncomprehending disbelief, and a deep,
deep despair fatally – and memorably –
takes its place.
Louise Kingsley

Much Ado About Nothing - TNT

Simon Russell Beale and Zoe Wanamaker give delightful performances of real depth as the reluctant middle-aged lovers at the centre of Nicholas Hytner's light-filled production of Shakespeare's comedy. Vicki Mortimer's airy design provides plenty of scope for comic eavesdropping - not to mention a surprise dousing - as Russell Beale's confirmed bachelor soldier Benedick (a comic tour de force infused with heartfelt emotion) and Wanamaker's spiky, cynical Beatrice are forced into the realisation that ( no matter what hurt they may have inflicted in the past) they really are made for each other. As their verbal sparring is replaced by an unexpected tenderness it proves, for audience and protagonists alike, a match truly made in heaven.
Olivier at the National Theatre, South Bank, SE1 (020-7452 3000). Until March 29. £10-£39.50

I Am Falling - TNT

A devoted marriage which lasted more than five decades is portrayed in words and movement in this short but poignant dance work. The three performers enter what looks like a rehearsal room, the younger couple in sweats and T-shirts, the older man more conservatively dressed, and describe the set and the few items on it. The pared down simplicity of the staging heightens the emotional power of the choreography as son Tony, in middle age, recalls a cliff-top incident when he was a child of six and compares it with the final farewell party held by his parents who (even when old and with his mother dying of cancer) are seen as in their youth. Only in retrospect can Tony come anywhere close to understanding the profound, mutual dependence of a relationship which would not permit one to carry on living without the other. It's an unusual venture for a tiny space above a pub, but the intensity of Petra Soor and Ben Duke's fluid performances movingly captures the ecstasy and pliant trust of an enduring, exclusive and unbreakable bond.
Gate, Pembridge Road W11, (020-7229 0706). Until February 2. £15 (concessions available

Absurd Person Singular - TNT

It's Christmas Eve three times over in Alan Ayckbourn's dark 1972 comedy, as a trio of unhappy couples gets together year after year. Tellingly, we only see what's going on in their kitchens — the panic, the despair and the less palatable truths behind the false bonhomie. In a top-notch cast, Lia Williams is excellent as her silent suicide attempts are inadvertently foiled by the guests she's forgotten to cancel; Jenny Seagrove's condescending banker's wife downs far too much gin; and Jane Horrocks (happiest in rubber gloves) scrubs away hilariously as a compulsively cleaning housewife. As this seasonal — but far from festive — revival draws to an end, her irredeemably unpleasant, social-climbing husband (David Bamber) gloats triumphantly over the clique of middle class acquaintances who will always despise him.
Garrick, Charing Cross Rd, WC2 (0870-040 0083). Until March 22. £45-£15

Marianne Dreams - TNT

Like many stories written for youngsters, Moira Buffini's adaptation of Catherine Storr's 1958 novel has a disturbing darkness about it. And there's also the discomfiting hint of the possibility of child mortality as Marianne contracts a severe viral illness on her 10th birthday. Confined to her bed for many long weeks, she passes the time drawing with an old pencil unearthed by her mother.But what she draws in her waking hours becomes the subject of her feverish dreams and, in sleep, she returns again and again to the roughly sketched house where she befriends partially paralysed Mark and is pursued by menacing stones endowed with eyes. There are lighter moments, too, when she dances round her bed like a ballerina in pyjamas, but Freud would have a field day interpreting the manifestations of her vivid imagination as nightmarish episodes overlap with reality. Yet despite the computer-generated graphics and a storyline which holds the attention, director and choreographer Will Tuckett's production lacks that elusive dusting of magic which distinguishes the very best of children's theatre.
Almeida, Almeida St, N1 (020-7359 4404). Until January 26. £29.50- £6

Jack And The Beanstalk - TNT

Gimme Gimme Gimme writer Jonathan Harvey tackles a more conventional form in this bland reworking of a traditional staple. Helen Baker has a great pair of legs as the eponymous Jack (who trades the family cow for a handful of magic beans, then climbs the beanstalk to vanquish the malevolent giant) but is outshone by Alison Pargeter's Princess Melody with a tuneful trill at the end of every sentence. Overall, the panto is high on energy, but low on innovation – though the bum-wiggling sing-along has its moments. Ultimately, the production fades as swiftly from the memory as melting snow and, even at this time of seasonal good will, that's not enough to recommend it.
Barbican, Silk Street, EC2 (020-7638 8891, 0845-120 7515). Until January 12. £35 - £12