Ladies first

Helen Mirren takes to the National’s stage as Phèdre in a version of Jean Racine’s tragedy by Ted Hughes (June 4-July 2). Meanwhile, the Donmar continues its siren call to A-list actresses: Gillian Anderson leads the all-star cast of A Doll’s House (May 14-July 18), while Rachel Weisz stars as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire in July. Over at the Royal Court, Jane Horrocks takes on another brave role in Wallace Shawn’s Aunt Dan and Lemon (May 20-June 27). But it’s a man who will probably have all the papers a-flutter come the end of May: in the final production of the Donmar’s starry season at Wyndham's, Jude Law plays Hamlet, guided by Michael Grandage (May 29-Aug 22).

Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park, NW1

Much Ado About Nothing kicks off the season (May 25-June 27), with The Tempest hot on its tail (June 5-28). Then comes a welcome dose of Wilde, with The Importance of Being Earnest (July 3-25), which is followed by Hello, Dolly! (July 30-Sept 12).

The Bridge Project

A collaboration with the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, this sees Sam Mendes direct Ethan Hawke, Simon Russell Beale and Rebecca Hall in The Winter’s Tale and Tom Stoppard’s translation of The Cherry Orchard (Old Vic, SE1, May 23-Aug 15).

Fringe

Punchdrunk looks to renew its past successes (Faust, Masque of the Red Death) at Manchester International Festival, thanks to a new production featuring music by Damon Albarn. It Felt Like a Kiss, a paean to the rise of pop in the early 1960s, is staged across five floors in a disused building. Another dreamy ride guaranteed (Hardman Square, July 2-19).

The Bard

Clare Higgins will star in Marianne “War Horse” Elliott’s All’s Well That Ends Well at the National (May 19-July 11). In Stratford, Greg Hicks leads Julius Caesar for the RSC (May 15-Oct 2). The Globe pursues its Young Hearts season while the sun is (hopefully) out, with Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, Troilus and Cressida and Love’s Labour’s Lost; plus a new version of Euripides’s Helen, by Frank McGuinness (Aug 2-23). And The Pantaloons will stage a youngster-friendly version of Romeo and Juliet in London and on tour, open-air and completely free (May 17-Aug 27).

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