Best of August: Theatre

Grimeborn
4th - 23rd August
For the second successive year the Arcola hosts a season of brand new opera for a media savvy, youthful crowd, with affordable prices and a blend of new stars and old hands pushing the boundaries.
Best For: Chin stroking Hoxton fins

Little Howard and the Magical Pencil of Life and Death
4th - 8th August
Created by a stand up comic and animator, this charming children's show at the Soho about friendship, fatherhood and death is perfect for kids and sharply observant enough to have the adults rocking with laughter.
Best For: Brownie points for taking the kids out, without dying of boredom

I, Lear
Until 16th August
Comedic pastiches of the history of theatre are risky business, alrady brilliantly done by Monty Python, Beyond the fringe and the reduced Shakespeare Company. Stand up comics Andrew Jones and Ciaran Murtagh aim low with plenty of ridiculous material, and come up trumps.
Best For: Knowing laughter

Piaf
From 8th August
An extraordinary life story and a stellar catalogue of songs make France's most famous pop diva a natural subject for the theatre and this revival of Pam Gems' 1978 musical biography is a treat for fans.
Best For: Tears of happy nostalgia

Twelfth Night Filter
From 1st September
A superb multi-media interpretation of one of Shakespeare's finest romantic comedies, complete with live music, vinyl and special effects. This super-innovative but dramatically coherent version by The Filter comes to the Tricycle courtesy of the RSC.
Best For: Cool Shakespeare that really works