What's On: Further afield

MUSICAL
Sister Act
London Palladium

A 24-year-old actress Patina Miller has stepped into the habit of Deloris Van Cartier, the lead in Sister Act made famous on film by Whoopi Goldberg, who is co-producer of the stage version.

Already in previews and starting its run on Tuesday, Sister Act tells the tale of a disco diva (Miller) who witnesses a murder. She is put in protective custody in the one place the bad guys won't look - a convent.

There she falls under the watchful eye of Mother Superior played by multi-Bafta nominee Sheila Hancock.

Goldberg said of her star: "Boy, can she sing. And in order to match her, we went for the best and we got the brilliant Sheila Hancock, a legend and not just in my mind. Together they will reinvent Sister Act and bring it to a whole new level. Can you tell I'm excited?"

Go to london-palladium.co.uk

DRAMA
Arcadia
Duke Of York's

The son of Tom Stoppard, Ed, appears in his father's award-winning play Arcardia which is revived at the Duke Of York's from June 11 (previews on now).

David Leveaux directs one of the playwright's most rewarding works which explores the past and present, order and disorder and the certainty of knowledge.

In April 1809, gifted pupil Thomasina, alights upon a theory that is beyond her comprehension. All around her, the adults, including her tutor Septimus, are preoccupied with secret desires, illicit passions and professional rivalries.

Some 200 years later, academic adversaries Hannah and Bernard are piecing together puzzling clues, recalling those events of 1809, in their quest for an increasingly elusive truth.

The cast includes Samantha Bond as Hannah, Neil Pearson as Bernard and Jessie Cave who makes her West End debut as Thomasina. Ed Stoppard, pictured, plays Valentine, a mathematics graduate who tries to deny Thomasina's genius.

Go to arcadiatheplay.com

DRAMA
Hamlet
Wyndham's Theatre

Jude Law has often faced accusations that his acting style is unyielding and unemotional. Now he has the biggest opportunity to silence his detractors as he takes on Hamlet at Wyndham's which opens on Wednesday (previews from tomorrow). The cast for Shakespeare's tale also features Penelope Wilton.

Go to wyndhamstheatre.co.uk.