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Take me to the world: Hide and Seek @parktheatre

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In a small town where everyone knows everyone, if you don't like it, you might feel that the only logical thing to do is to disappear. Especially if you think it will help your social media rankings. The loneliness and isolation of youth meet influencers in the wild in Tobia Rossi's Hide and Seek. And while events take a darker turn, the humour and the intimacy make this piece about youth on the edge (of trending) fascinating and enjoyable. It's currently playing at Park Theatre .  Mirko (Nico Cetrulo) is exploring a cave with his camera when he stumbles on Gio (Louis Scarpa). Gio has been missing for a while, and the town has been looking for him. But Gio is more interested in how much he is trending on TikTok. He also had a crush on Mirko. Soon, they establish a friendship and a bond. In the cave, they explore feelings they would not dare share outside. However, things turn darker when Gio is confident enough to leave the cave, while Mirko doesn't want his double life

New legs to an old ride: Carousel @Arcolatheatre

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Carousel , the second musical from Rodgers and Hammerstein is given a new lease of life in this energetic and sexy production currently playing at the Arcola Theatre . Updating to 1930s against the backdrop of the Great Depression gives this production a chance to be a bit rougher, a bit more dangerous and a lot sexier. But the decision to sing without amplification and paring the production back to its bare essentials gives a chance for the characters to be understood better. It also helps minimise some of the sentimentality now attached to many of the songs from the piece.

Previewing wandering around Holland Park at night: The Dwindling House

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For some, catching Britten's The Turn of the Screw would be enough tense entertainment for an evening. But this week in Holland Park there is also the opportunity to see the opera and then embark on an eerie theatrical promenade piece, The Dwindling House of Holland. The piece will explore the tangled history of the Holland family. After catching the opera you then proceed (possibly with a sensible drink to calm the nerves) under the cover of darkness through Holland Park with the cast, who evoke visions and sinister tales of the dwindling families of Holland Park.

In jokes and big vocals: Forbidden Broadway @MenChocFactory

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If you are overly familiar with musical theatre and what is on offer on the West End, catching Forbidden Broadway at the Menier Chocolate Factory is a must this summer. The long running series from New York, conceived and written by Gerard Alessandrini, it is a combination of greatest hits from previous incarnations of the show and wry new observations. The new material includes send ups of Matilda and an over-reliance on child actors in British musicals, Once with its bizarre plot device and the foul mouthed Book of Mormon .

Pop ups and hijinks: Così fan Tutte @PopupOperaUK

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Popping up for one night in Vauxhall recently, Pop Up Opera's latest summer offering, Cosi Fan Tutte, proves that no space can be too challenging for the company's blend of wonderful singing and witty takes on opera masterpieces. This time Mozart's opera buffa has been updated to the Downton Abbey period where Edwardian frivolity and the Great War serve as a backdrop to the proceedings. The opera centres around two sisters, Fiordiligi (Eve Daniell) and Dorabella ( Chloe Hinton ), and their fiancés Ferrando (Adam Torrance) and Guglielmo (Samuel Pantcheff). The fianc wager with Don Alfonso (Alex Learmonth), who is presented here as a Charles Carson-like butler , to test the girls’ fidelity by posing as strangers and attempting to seduce them. In an attempt to win the wager, Don Alfonso enlists the support of the maid Despina to fool the girls.

The Rake's Progress: Mr Burns @AlmeidaTheatre

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Storytelling and pop culture is at the heart of Mr Burns , a bizarre and fascinating play currently showing at the Almeida Theatre . Is it an observation of what would happen to our society if it collapsed, a commentary on the evolution of a new religion, or an observation that people in catastrophic times would prefer to talk about anything other than the elephant in the room? Whatever its point - and it is more weird than funny - it is a fascinating piece and and enthralling throughout its three distinct acts. The first act opens with a power cut. Set in a post apocalyptic world where the power grid has failed, there is no electricity and society has failed, those that have survived pass the time by recounting their favourite television shows. And of course the one television show that people remember the most is The Simpsons. And in particular the Cape Feare episode.

Dead man dance real good: Here Lies Henry

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Here Lies Henry which concludes its brief run at the Camden People's Theatre on Saturday, reinforces all the stereotypes that gay men who live near Finsbury Park are just bad news, but they sure can dance. We are introduced to Henry (played by Matthew Hyde) who appears in a dazzling bright light. He is a bit on edge, he is twitchy and he has a spare room for rent in Finsbury Park. And there is a body in the room. Or is there? Henry is in his thirties and is a compulsive liar, optimist, potential drug addict and mildly romantic guy trying to make sense of his life. 

Good farce: Good People

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There is still time to catch David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People , which runs for another two weeks at the Noël Coward Theatre. Margie, played by Imelda Staunton, is a sharp-tongued single-mother who has been fired from her job as a cashier for showing up at work late. Hearing that an old boyfriend who has made good is in town, she decides to corner him. But her plan brings unexpected consequences for her and the unsuspecting Mike (Lloyd Owen). Both must look to the past to re-examine the choices and secrets that brought them back together.

Vocations and executions: Dialogues Des Carmélites @TheRoyalOpera

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A simple, and at times bare, staging of Francis Poulenc's Dialogues Des Carmélites makes for a memorable and moving production at the Royal Opera . While an opera about the martyrdom of Carmelite nuns during the Reign of Terror, is not going to be everyone's idea of a fun night out, a combination of fine singing, dramatic music and a beautiful production make it a night to remember. The piece is about the journey of Blanche, who leaves her aristocratic upbringing to join the Carmelite nuns, against the backdrop of the Reign of Terror and the nationalisation of all religious property (it helps to know your French Revolution history to appreciate the forces at work here).

Essential music: Life of the Party @MenChocFactory

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For the next couple of weeks, The Life of the Party - A Celebration of the Songs of Andrew Lippa , is playing at the Menier Chocolate Factory . For anyone with the slightest interest in new musical theatre this is a show not to miss. While Andrew Lippa's shows have not had big West End or Fringe productions (yet), the evening is an opportunity to savour the best of all of them.   He is joined by Caroline O'Connor , Damian Humbley and Summer Strallen , and it is an opportunity to hear and appreciate his songs, in a more intimate setting and savour the music and intricate lyrics.

Flapping about: Incognito

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A series of stories about the brain are the focus of Nick Payne's Incognito , currently playing at the Bush Theatre . While the stories are interwoven and mildly interesting, what keeps the piece together are the strong  performances by the leads who manage to change roles mid-sentence without skipping a beat. The piece is about how the role the brain and memory plays in who we are. But the three stories are a mix of facts, mild soap opera and pseudo intellectual sensationalism (potentially inspired by a  lowbrow documentary  about the "theft" of Einstein's brain).