Theatre
Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy
Ava Pickett has an impressive track record of imaginative historical dramas, including her award-winning Tudor-era play 1536, which had a West End run this year. Alongside co-writing a film about Joan of Arc with Baz Luhrmann, she has reconceived this ancient epic, with Michelle Dockery playing Helen returning to war-ravaged Troy.
Theatre Royal Stratford East, London, 3 September-10 October
Man to Man
At the Edinburgh festival in 1987, Tilda Swinton played a German widow who takes on the identity of her dead husband in a prose poem by the Berliner Ensemble's Manfred Karge. Almost 40 years later, she returns to the role of Ella/Max in a revised version, again directed by Stephen Unwin.
Royal Court theatre, London, 5 September-24 October. Traverse theatre, Edinburgh, 29 October-7 November
The Standard of Living
What greater “event theatre†than a new James Graham play? This one brings a twist to Keynesian economics. Directed by Nicholas Hytner, it stars Rory Kinnear as John Maynard Keynes and explores his relationship with the Bloomsbury group and his impact on arts funding. Royal Ballet principal Natalia Osipova co-stars, making her West End debut.
Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, 21 September-12 December
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
The celebrification of the West End continues apace with this version of Edward Albee's 1962 play, bringing two starry screen talents together, although both Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup have proved themselves on stage before now. Directed by Marianne Elliott, they will engage in toxic slanging matches, psychological warfare and marital meltdown.
@sohoplace, London, 21 September-19 December
I'll Be Seeing You
There is much to excite about this world premiere – a meta Martin Sherman play about the flamboyant pianist Liberace, with Simon Russell Beale taking the lead role. Fra Fee co-stars in the production directed by Alan Cumming and Ben Occhipinti. It promises rhinestones aplenty.
Pitlochry Festival theatre, 22 September-11 October
As You Like It
An all-male production of Shakespeare's pastoral comedy comes amid some striking gender reversals at the RSC – Harriet Walter is also reprising her Brutus in Phyllida Lloyd's all-female Julius Caesar. This show, directed by Daniel Evans, features Tony award-winner Jonathan Groff as Rosalind and the talented Fisayo Akinade as Celia.
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 26 September-7 November
Once Upon a Time in Sokoto
Poet-playwright Inua Ellams earned enormous praise for Barber Shop Chronicles and his adaptation of Chekhov's Three Sisters. His Alfred Fagon award-winning drama sounds promising, with the exploration of an unlikely friendship between an enslaved woman and her former master in the lead-up to the formation of Nigeria.
Royal & Derngate, Northampton, 28 September-10 October. Touring until 13 February
King Lear
There is more than one big-name Lear in store this autumn. Ian McKellen takes on the role (again!) in Simon Stephens's radically re-spun production at the Yard in east London, opening in November, while David Threlfall returns to Manchester's Royal Exchange after almost three decades in director Matthew Dunster's reimagined adaptation for the theatre's 50th anniversary.
Royal Exchange theatre, Manchester, 2 October-15 November
Balloon Girl
Louisa Maud Evans, otherwise known as Mademoiselle Albertina, was a young Welsh firebrand who died while parachuting during a balloon flight at the Cardiff Exhibition of 1896. Writer-director Hannah McPake creates an upbeat adventure that honours her spirit of curiosity and endeavour.
Sherman theatre, Cardiff, 9-24 October
The Lives of Others
Keira Knightley and Stephen Dillane star in an adaptation of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's 2006 film, a high-stakes love story set in Stasi-era east Germany. It may follow the trend for transposing hit films to the stage but is helmed by Robert Icke, who at his best makes old stories blazingly new.
Adelphi theatre, London, 14 October-9 January
Comedy
Sam Campbell
The success of Channel 4's oddball mockumentary Make That Movie, and his stint on Amazon hit Last One Laughing, broadcast more widely what insiders have long known: Aussie act Sam Campbell is one of comedy's most unpredictable talents. Touring set Kid Giblet offers new fans a glimpse of the indelible live experience.
Bristol Beacon, 31 August. Touring until 1 December
Kevin Bridges
Having unfussily built a reputation as one of the UK's greatest live standups, and off the back of his acclaimed World Cup curtain-raiser on the telly, In Search of the Beautiful Game, Glasgow's heir to Billy Connolly returns with his keenly awaited new tour, Here If You Need Me.
Eventim Apollo, London, 1-3 September. Touring until 20 February
Flo & Joan
Not many comedy acts ascend to the next level by absenting themselves from the stage. Musical duo Flo & Joan (AKA Rosie and Nicola Dempsey) managed it with One Man Musical, their for-the-ages bio show about a certain West End composer. In With Feeling, a new suite of comic songs, the pair return to their own spotlight.
Gala theatre, Durham, 19 September. Touring until 12 December
Ahir Shah
After winning the Edinburgh comedy award three summers ago, then conquering Netflix, with a counterintuitive and feelgood show about multicultural Britain and his family history, the Londoner now takes to the road with its follow-up, Golden, inspired (in typical boffinish fashion) by Nietzsche and Gerard Manley Hopkins.
Soho theatre, London, 5-17 October. Touring until 14 March
Frankie Thompson
“If you laugh, it's comedy; if you don't, it's live artâ€: so the cult clown-comic (and live artist!) Frankie Thompson describes her new set, Horrible Things. If we can credit her previous, unlike-anyone-else offerings at the Edinburgh fringe and beyond, expect another heart-and-funny-bone-teasing hour of uncategorisable performance.
Soho theatre, London, 12-24 October
Dance
London City Ballet
A mix of revivals, forgotten gems and brand-new choreography is the signature of London City Ballet. Its autumn tour programme differs at each venue, but all shows include a revival of Glen Tetley's Firebird, marking Tetley's centenary – his version is about a young woman breaking free from the constraints of her family.
York Theatre Royal, 18-19 September. Touring until 24 October
Jess & Morgs: Deepfake
The creators of Scottish Ballet's award-winning Coppélia – which set the classic ballet in an era of AI – return with a new work exploring the possibilities and pitfalls of technology. Using cutting edge tech, the set-up is an interview between a politician and a journalist. The question is: can you tell what's really real?
Jerwood DanceHouse, Ipswich, 25 September. Sadler's Wells East, London, 1-3 October
English National Ballet: Romeo & Juliet
Almost 50 years have passed since Rudolf Nureyev created his ballet of Romeo & Juliet, a version less often seen in the UK than Kenneth MacMillan's but just as powerful. It's a ballet packed with fast-paced steps and heightened drama from the two feuding families plus Prokofiev's sumptuous, stirring score.
Liverpool Empire, 15-17 October. Touring until 24 January
Meet the Hatter
Just one dancer and a stageful of magical projections is enough to create a wonderland in this multimedia family show from Joss Arnott Dance. Arnott's take on one of Lewis Carroll's best-loved characters sees the Mad Hatter turn up for a tea party – but there's no one there, so his imagination takes over.
Pavilion Dance South West, Bournemouth, 24 October. Touring until 26 June
