On a still, cool day in the east of a city by the sea, three sounds only: a bulldozer’s engine, a forgotten song, a canon that tells the time. Behind the bulldozer, a sign: Luxury Mall Coming Soon. As the vehicle moves in to the clear ground, it strikes at something unexpected…

What Remains is a fusion of text, dance and movement to tell a story about the unexpected uncovering of a slave burial ground in Cape Town, the archaeological dig that follows and a city haunted by the memory of slavery. When the bones emerge from the ground, everyone in the city – slave descendants, archaeologists, citizens, property developers – is forced to reckon with a history sometimes remembered, sometimes forgotten.

Loosely based on the events at Prestwich Place, What Remains is a path between memory and magic, the uncanny and the known, waking and dreaming. Four figures – The Archaeologist, The Healer, The Dancer and The Student – move between bones and books, archives and madness, paintings and protest, as they struggle to reconcile the past with the now.

Taking a curtain call with a live snake in her wig...

Cavorting naked through the countryside painted green...

Acting opposite a child with a pumpkin on his head...

These are just a few of the things Dame Judi Dench has done in the name of Shakespeare.

For the very first time, Judi opens up about every Shakespearean role she has played throughout her seven-decade career, from Lady Macbeth and Titania to Ophelia and Cleopatra.

Here she reveals her behind the scenes secrets; inviting us to share in her triumphs, disasters, and backstage shenanigans, all brightened by her mischievous sense of humour and striking honesty.

Witty, provocative and inspiring, this is ultimately Judi's love letter to Shakespeare, or rather, The Man Who Pays The Rent.

'Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful.' This line, from the play, was adopted by Jean Anouilh, to characterize the first production of "Waiting For Godot" at the Theatre de Babylone, in 1953. He went on to predict that the play would, in time, represent the most important premiere to be staged in Paris for forty years. Nobody acquainted with Beckett's masterly black comedy would now question this prescient recognition of a classic of twentieth-century literature.

In "Lizzy, Darcy and Jane", Jane Austen pits her wit and will against her greatest adversary and ally - the intrepid heroine of "Pride and Prejudice", Elizabeth Bennet. Heady with her first taste of love for the dashing Tom LeFroy, Jane Austen, aged 20, creates "Elizabeth" in an exuberant moment of inspiration, with Mr Darcy taking on the role of her arch enemy and reluctant admirer. But when Jane's romance with Tom sours, she sentences Elizabeth to marry the odious Mr Collins, and herself to an equally disastrous marriage. The fates of the author, the novel and its heroine are at stake. Elizabeth Bennet must take action.

An unhappy game of romantic follow-the-leader explodes into murder one weekend at The Hollow, home of Sir Henry and Lucy Angkatell. Dr. Cristow is at the center of the trouble when his mistress Henrietta, ex-mistress Veronica, and wife Gerda, simultaneously arrive at The Hollow. Also visiting are Edward (who is in love with Henrietta) and Midge (who loves Edward). Veronica ardently desires to marry Cristow and succeeds in reopening their affair but is unable to get him to divorce his wife. Veronica unwisely states that if she cannot have him, no one shall. Within five minutes Cristow is dead. Nearly everyone has a motive and most had the opportunity. Enter Inspector Colquhoun and Sergeant Penny to solve the crime.

It is 1934. Winsome Manor is in financial difficulties and, with a heavy heart, the widowed Lady Winsome needs to fire long-standing servants Joe the gardener and James the chauffeur. However, unbeknown to Lady Winsome, James has been using the estate's Rolls Royce for a taxi business and Joe has been profiting from the garden produce. As the play unfolds, the two desperately attempt to prevent Lady Winsome from discovering their illicit dealings and from selling the Manor. But Lady Winsome is not so naive and with a final twist-in-the-tail this amusing one act play comes to a surprising conclusion.

Ex-boxer Spinks is myopic, poor and lonely, his one companion being the alcoholic Kingsley with whom he has a rather tetchy, exasperated friendship. To gain attention, Spinks pretends to win the National Lottery and he starts receiving freebies and handouts from people hoping to get a share of his fortune. Plain Dawn Pringle who loves Spinks for himself not his money, warns against her maneater identical twin sister Donna, who then turns up and seduces him. Just in time he makes an important discovery about his new-found loves.

Calvin, a ten-month old baby (acted by an adult), can still remember his previous life when he was happily married to Laura, despite the constant attentions of his womanising friend, Bob. Calvin will lose his blissful memories when he reaches his first birthday - or speaks - so he determines nothing will make him talk!3 women, 2 men

Following the success of their collaboration on Robin Hood, David Wood and Dave and Toni Arthur wrote Jack the Lad, a musical celebration of Jack, the ubiquitous hero or everyman of English legend, myth and folklore - from Little Jack Horner, through Jack and the Beanstalk to Spring Heeled Jack, the Terror of London. The setting is a gypsy encampment, where a series of Jack tales and songs are performed by the gypsies to celebrate the 80th birthday of their senior member - affectionately known as Jack the Lad. The play, therefore, depicts contemporary gypsy life, as well as traditional gypsy customs and superstitions, and is a delightful amalgam of the traditional arts of storytelling, singing and dancing, with a mumming play, a shadow-mime and puppetry also employed within the main framework.

This farcical comedy set in 1910 is a translation by Michael Pilch of Georges Feydeau's Feu la Mere de Madame. Things go seriously wrong when Lucien arrives home from a ball in the early hours of the morning dressed as Louis XIV. His late arrival and his enraptured account of the ball invites the wrath of Yvonne, his wife, which is heightened when he unwittingly makes disparaging remarks about her figure. The maid, Annette, is dragged from her bed to witness his discomfiture and the angry scene which follows. 2 women, 2 men

There are no less than eight intimate exchanges in this ingenious tour de farce and each has two different endings; you can see Intimate Exchanges sixteen times and not see the same play twice! And one actor and one actress play all 10 characters. This is Ayckbourn's most unusual look yet at the foibles of middle class living.1 woman, 1 man

More a musical play for children than a pantomime, yet with lots of audience participation, Old Father Time is set in and around London and in various different centuries. The inconceivable happens when Big Ben stops! Old Father Time, who lives in Big Ben and controls time, realizes that he is locked in combat with the villainous Flying Sauceress, who manages to steal his almanac, containing the mystic secrets of his trade. The colourful storyline takes Old Father Time, his charlady, Mrs. Sparkle, and his Watchdog on a quest through time, involving cavemen, Guy Fawkes, a baby Dinosaur and Dodger and Bodger, a pair of buskers.

The amiable, aristocratic crooks of Breath of Spring are at it again. Brigadier Rayne deploys his charity campaigns with military expertise, but little monetary success until Nan is passed a mink coat by a crook on the run. This inspires Rayne and his cohorts to become modern Robin Hoods running a meticulously organized receiving system for stolen furs and giving their profits to charity. Gradually operations become more dangerous. Finally with the house full of furs and a police inspector making inquiries, they decide to retire temporarily.