Theatre / Notices

Theatre director Peter Brook returns to work in England for the first time in 15 years for a three-week season at the National Theatre next spring. Brook left in 1978, since when he has worked from his Paris base, and while some of his shows have been seen in Glasgow, they have not come to London. But his production of Oliver Sacks's psychological drama The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat will be at the National Theatre next May, thanks to a joint sponsorship deal between the theatre and London's Evening Standard newspaper.

Annie Griffin's show How to Act Better, opening at the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, tonight, sounds like compulsory viewing for all thespians - but in fact she makes no promises to improve your soliloquies. 'I realise people might think 'who the hell does she think she is?',' Griffin admits. Her show explores the differences between acting for stage and screen: she will appear live and in close-up on a screen. 'We'll play with the fact that you won't be sure which Annie to watch.'

The company habit dies hard. Max Stafford-Clark, former member of Joint Stock and outgoing artistic director of the Royal Court, has formed a new touring company. Called Out of Joint, it will comprise a group of actors working for six months on a new work and a classical piece. It will launch next spring with an adaptation of Sue Townsend's novel, The Queen and I, in tandem with Jim Cartwright's Road.