EDINBURGH THEATRE
Waiting for Godot
Royal Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street
Until October 10

“What are we doing here? That is the question,” posed by two of Scotland’s great stage actors, Brian Cox and Bill Paterson. They play Vladimir and Estragon in Samuel Beckett’s existentialist classic where, on a bare country road and by a single tree, two down-and-out friends meet at dusk to await the arrival of the mysterious Godot. As they wait, they pass the time laughing at who they are, arguing over what little they have and speculating on the meaning of life. Deadly serious yet seriously funny, this elusive play continues to provide food for thought. With these two in the leads, best book soon, though.
lyceum.org.uk

WALSALL EXHIBITION
Mat Collishaw
The New Art Gallery
Gallery Square
Until January 10

Fascinated by the darker side of human nature, Mat Collishaw’s new show certainly doesn’t shy away from discomfiting subjects. Images of death, destruction and decay abound in a world where seduction meets repulsion, the shocking becomes alluring, the beautiful becomes squalid and desire meets pain. He’s an artist who’s aware of the power of the image to manipulate and he draws inspiration from the media, popular culture, nature, mythology, the slick vernacular of advertising, the rich seams of art history and the proliferation of images available through the internet.
thenewartgallerywalsall

HARROGATE/TOURING THEATRE
The Winter’s Tale
Harrogate Theatre
Oxford Street
September 26

Northern Broadside’s new production of Shakespeare’s tale of reconciliation, love and forgiveness gets a decidedly contemporary interpretation. It opens on New Year’s Eve in 1999 as the millennium bells ring out with hope for the new century. But a lower, ominous note underscores these festivities as a beguiling love story — underpinned by live music, song and dance — unfolds and winter gives way to the brightness and vibrancy of spring. Tours until November 28 after this date in Harrogate.
northern-broadsides.co.uk

LONDON EXHIBITION
Frank Auerbach
Tate Britain
Millbank, SW1
October 9-March 13

Frank Auerbach’s depictions of people and the urban landscapes near his London studio in Camden show him to be one of the greatest painters alive today. This exhibition, featuring paintings and drawings from the 1950s to the present day have a depth, texture and sense of space and place which are unforgettable. As Auerbach says: “This part of London is my world. I’ve been wandering around these streets for so long that I’ve become attached to them and as fond of them as people are to their pets.” Don’t miss.
tate.org.uk