Kebab - TNT

The Royal Court's International Playwrights season continues with this disappointing offering from Romania by Gianina Carbunariu. Its heart may be in the right place, but the narrative trajectory is far too predictable as it follows underage Madalina from Bucharest to Dublin where she joins her manipulative older boyfriend, Voicu. Needless to say, her low-waged job in a kebab shop doesn't last long and Voicu soon has other more lucrative plans to reap the rewards of living in the West. At first reluctantly - and then with distastefully eager compliance - he is helped by geeky post grad student Bogdan who, with his laptop and camera, sees in Madalina's on-line sexual violation a promising subject for his Visual Arts project.Matti Houghton's Madalina tolerates the sharing of her body with surprising equanimity, but Orla O'Loughlin's production blanches out such personality as Carbunariu invests in her characters and this account of disillusioned immigrants resorting to abusive exploitation proves creepy rather than convincing.
Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, Sloane Square, SW1 (020-7565 5000). Until November 3

Rhinoceros - TNT

Rhinoceroses take over the town in Romanian-born French playwright Eugene Ionesco's dark absurdist comedy which premiered in 1959. What begins with the sighting of a single animal on the rampage soon becomes a mass stampede as, one by one, friends and colleagues morph into horned pachyderms. Supposedly written in response to the rise of Fascism in the country of his birth, the light philosophical humour of the opening scene quickly gives way to something more alarming as an innocent cat becomes the first bloody victim of the invasion. Benedict Cumberbatch gives a suitably dishevelled performance as Ionesco's everyman figure, Berenger, who hasn't the willpower to stay off the booze but somehow musters the requisite self-respect to resist the encroaching ideological conformity. And Jasper Britton's fastidious Jean makes a disturbing transformation from dapper man to bellowing beast. But despite the witty translation, first-rate prosthetics and well-paced production, Ionesco takes longer than he needs to get his message across.
Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Sq, SW1 (020-7565 5000). £25-£10. In rep till December 15

Shadowlands - TNT

Be prepared for tears in this poignant account of a late-flowering love between CS Lewis and American poet Joy Gresham. Lewis (best remembered for his Chronicles Of Narnia books) is portrayed as a fusty bachelor, sharing his house with his brother and his evenings with fellow, and exclusively male, academics. But in the course of an exchange of letters and meetings, his feelings for the outspoken and intellectually astute Joy grow from an acknowledged friendship into something deeper that, until tragedy strikes, he cannot admit to either himself or to her. Originally staged in 1989, William Nicholson's script is witty, intelligent, funny and thoughtful. The play is brought to life by Charles Dance's Lewis, slowly realising how sterile his adult life has been, and by Janie Dee's courageous and determined Joy.
Wyndhams, Charing Cross Rd, WC2. (0870-950 0925). Until December 15. £45-£15

Present Laughter -TNT

Alex Jennings is perfect in Howard Davies' amusing revival of Noel Coward's comedy — and it's not his fault he's got more hair than the follicly-challenged playwright who created the semi-autobiographical role of matinee idol Gary Essendine. Nor can he be blamed for the fact that, more than 60 years since its premiere, audience patience with this lengthy account of a spoilt existence is likely to wear pretty thin, too. Wafting about in many dressing gowns, Jennings gives an eye-catching central performance, Sara Stewart is suitably businesslike as his ex (but still friendly) wife, and Sarah Woodward maximises the laughs as his purse-lipped, fond, down-to-earth secretary who doesn't bat an eyelid as yet another female admirer emerges from his over-used spare room.
Lyttelton at the National, South Bank, SE1 (020-7452 3000). Until January 9. £10- £39.50

Dealer's Choice - TNT

Even if you've never played poker in your life, you'll be caught up in the mounting tension of Samuel West's excellent revival of this fast-paced drama which has more than one psychological sting in its wittily amusing tail.Premiered in 1995, this was Patrick Marber's first play for the stage, written after he himself had spent a fair few nights glued to the tables. The superb performances match Tom Piper's realistic design which shifts from the clean kitchen and brightly mirrored dining room of an upmarket restaurant to its gloomy basement. Here, once a week after closing time, owner Stephen, his staff and his debt-ridden gambler son sit round the green baize table and risk a lot more than their wages on bluff, skill and the luck of the cards. Marber's sharp, edgy dialogue balances outright comedy (Mugsy the waiter's ludicrous plan to convert a Mile End Road toilet into an eatery) with darker insights which reveal the damage that compulsive behaviour can cause — and it's no laughing matter when a fortune can be thrown away on the toss of a single coin.
Menier Chocolate Factory, 53 Southwark St, SE1 (020 7907 7060) £22.50 (£15 Sat mats). Until November 17

Macbeth - TNT

This is Macbeth like you've never seen it before. From its opening scene, Rupert Goold's interpretation makes the familiar frightening as the three witches, here a trio of sinister nurses, kill off the injured soldier bringing news of battle.Then, knife-wielding and bloody, they are sinister servants in the white-tiled bunker which serves as military hospital, kitchen and banquet room. With its post-war Soviet references, this is an innovative and chilling account of Macbeth's ambition. In the title role, Patrick Stewart submits memorably to the troubled callousness that eventually overpowers him. He is well-matched by Kate Fleetwood as his equally treacherous spouse, scrubbing her hands clean of the psychological consequences of her crime. And Michael Feast's Macduff registers his grief with a prolonged silence that speaks volumes of despair.
Gielgud, Shaftesbury Ave, W1 (0870-950 0915). Until December 1. £49.50-£20

Moonlight and Magnolias - TNT

Ron Hutchinson's hilarious and witty new comedy goes behind the Hollywood scenes in 1939 to reconstruct the fraught creation of probably the biggest grossing movie ever, the Civil War epic Gone With The Wind,. The original director, George Cukor, has been fired three weeks into shooting, production has ground to a halt and a pile of potential screenplays have all been rejected. Faced with disaster, producer David O Selznick pulls a reluctant Victor Fleming off the set of the unfinished Wizard of Oz to direct what he is convinced will be a turkey, tempts former journalist Ben Hecht to leave his political conscience behind with a hefty fee and locks them in his office for five days, by which time Hecht (who not only has no respect for Fleming but also disliked the book so much that he never got past page one of Margaret Mitchell's 1000-plus page blockbuster) has to knock the screenplay into shape. Just in case there's anyone else out there who isn't familiar with the story of Rhett and Scarlett, Andy Nyman's hyper, driven Selznick and Steven Pacey's increasingly exhausted Fleming act out the plot for Duncan Bell's Hecht as he sits blearily at the typewriter trying to achieve, in less than a week, what 17 previous screenwriters had failed to accomplish.Selznick's secretary appears briefly — wading through the screwed up balls of paper to top up their supply of peanuts and bananas (the only 'brain' food her boss will permit), but this is virtually a three-hander that, so long as the excellent actors can sustain the exhausting pace, definitely deserves a West End transfer. Tricycle, Kilburn High Rd, NW6 (020-7328 1000). Until November 3