The Independent recommends: The Five Best Plays

Oklahoma! (Lyceum Theatre, London)

Widely regarded as the best ever, Trevor Nunn's glorious production of the Rogers and Hammerstein classic fully deserves its West End transfer. To 26 Jun

Copenhagen

(Duchess Theatre, London)

Michael Frayn's profound and haunting meditation on science, morality and the mysteries of human motivation (right). To 7 Aug

Toast

(Royal Court at The Ambassador's)

So you thought that the comic fascination of a mass-production bakery in 1970s Hull was somewhat limited? Richard Bean's delightfully funny play proves you wrong. To 6 Mar

The Winter's Tale (RSC, Stratford)

An amazingly rich and complex performance from Antony Sher in Gregory Doran's Romanov-style production. In rep to 4 Mar

The Tempest

(West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds)

Ian McKellen gives a low-key performance as a Prospero who presides over an island grimly reimagined as a correctional facility. To 27 Feb