British Ambassador and the Belly Dancer
In 2004, the British Ambassador to Uzbekistan (Craig Murray) made 2 decisions that were to change his life: firstly he spoke out against the British Government using information gained under torture by states such as Uzbekistan; secondly he left his wife to be with a belly dancer (Nadira Alievar) whom he had seen dancing in a nightclub.
Murray promised her a life of comfort in the West. Little did he know that he would lose his job and become penniless. Craig Murray wrote this play and Nadira performs in it - http://www.artstheatrelondon.com . (Mon 04 - Sat 23 Feb, tickets L12.50, nearest tube Leicester Square). At times heartbreaking, this is no ordinary story.
London has a long history of Theatre - the first being built at Shoreditch in 1576 and the most famous one being The Globe Theatre circ 1599 (http://www.shakespeares-globe.org ) - constructed by a company in which William Shakespeare was a stakeholder.
Cheap and great
I love the theatre but don't love the high prices - typically you pay anywhere from L25.00 to L50 +. If you want to see something good and still have some change leftover, then the smaller, art house theatres are a good alternative being about half the price of mainstream theatres. Check out http://www.sohotheatre.com - in Dean Street where tickets start from just L10.
Another good one is Regents Park open air theatre (http://www.openairtheatre.org ) where you can see Shakespeare plays such as 'Romeo and Juliet' and a 'Midsummer Nights Dream'. Tickets also start at L10 with the season opening in June.
Pub and play
Pub theatre in London is also popular. For fresh and exciting talent The King's Head (http://www.kingsheadtheatre.org )offers some varied productions (nearest tube: Angel). Described as trendy, atmospheric and idiosyncratic, they also do matinee and lunch time performances.
Founded in 1979, the Old Red Lion Theatre (http://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk ) offers, in addition to its regular productions, Monday night speciality shows and comedy nights.
For Czech and Belgian lager on tap, plus a 60 seat theatre upstairs then look no further than the Rosemary Branch (http://www.rosemarybranch.co.uk ) .Upcoming production 'The Dating Game' (25-30 March) is meant to be quite good.
The Canal Café Theatre (http://www.canalcafetheatre.com ) is an award winning fringe theatre specialising in new writing. Candle lit tables and the allowance of drinks into the auditorium make for a relaxed atmosphere. They have about 14 shows a week including the world's longest running comedy show - News Revue (yes, it's in the Guinness Book of Records).
In Camden Town, the Etcetera theatre (http://www.etceteratheatre.com ) has an established reputation for staging quality, fringe productions.
Really fringe (how fringe can you go..) is the Hen and Chickens Theatre (http://unrestrictedview.co.uk ) who tend to focus on fun type productions, a quick example being: 'I think animal testing is a terrible idea, they get all nervous and give the wrong answers.'