Previews: Stage

STAGE
Wheel of Life, Hackney Empire

The warrior monks of China’s Shaolin Temple, bring their breathtaking display of physical feats to the Empire with their hit show Wheel Of Life.

Direct from the Shaolin temple, 20 monks and five trainees will demonstrate their martial arts expertise.

The Shaolin Monks are the ultimate masters of Kung Fu – Buddhist soldier monks who have refined defensive martial arts over 15 centuries to a rare and spectacular point of perfection. Wheel Of Life showcases the near-miraculous feats of physical endurance.

The show tells the story of how the monks’ loyalty to their Emperor was betrayed, of how they were almost destroyed, and how five young monks survived.

Nov 4-22, £15-50-£29.50, 8pm (mats 3pm), 020 8985 2424, www.hackneyempire.co.uk, Rail: Hackney

STAGE
Ockham's Razor, Stratford Circus

Aerial theatre troupe Ockham’s Razor is performing a triple bill of Arc, Every Action… and Memento Mori.
Arc tells the story of three people who find themselves stranded together. It is how relationships form and break apart. It explores the experience of isolation in close proximity.

Every Action… is a playful look at bonds that form when people are thrown together. Four strangers meet below 25 metres of suspended rope. As they explore this elevated set of scales they discover a world where everything you do will affect someone, somewhere.

Memento Mori is a powerful duet performed on a suspended metal frame. It is based on Holbein’s woodcuts of The Dance Of Death, where death is represented as a skeleton that dances each of us to our grave.

Stratford Circus, Nov 6-7, Thu 1.30pm, Fri 8pm, £8-£12, 020 8279 1015. www.stratford-circus.com, DLR/Jubilee: Stratford

STAGE
Africa's Hope, Greenwich Theatre

While the horrors of Rwanda in 1994 slip inexorably into the history and take their place in the Hall of Infamy, for the Rwandans, the trial continues.

Inspired by their personal experiences as survivors and refugees of the genocide, Rwandan youth theatre group Mashirika come to Greenwich with the acclaimed and moving Africa’s Hope, a fusion of vibrant Rwandan music, beautiful traditional and modern choreography, lively drum rhythms and vivid colour and movement.

The cast explore how and why one million people were murdered when the Rwandan Government attempted to wipe out the Tutsi minority and the international community withdrew.

Following the performance, the audience will have the chance to discuss issues raised by the genocide with the cast and with staff of the Aegis Trust.

Nov 4, 7.30pm, £15 (concs), 020 8858 7755, www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk, DLR: Greenwich

SHOW
Invaders of Mars, Royal Observatory, Greenwich

After the moon, comes Mars.

We’ve left footprints on one and track marks on the other as a precursor to further exploration and a possible manned mission. For the red planet remains one of the most enigmatic sirens in the Solar System.

Visitors to the Royal Observatory can now explore mankind’s fascination with the planet in a new planetarium show called Invades Of Mars.

The show highlights ongoing exploration of Mars as seen by the Earth’s various spacecraft ‘invaders’.

Discover what the earth’s fleet of space probes have uncovered in their expedition into space as they try to reveal what mysteries lie hidden on the surface of the Earth’s closest neighbour.

Narrated by Tom Baker and under the care of Emmy award-winning space artist, Don Davis, viewers explore the Martian surface using computer generated imagery.

From Oct 20, £4-£6, www.nmm,ac.uk/invaders