Lyn Gardner's Weekly Picks
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It is [*1536*](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/play/1536-tickets) (Ambassadors), and far away in London, **Anne Boleyn**, the Queen of England, has been arrested. But surely what is happening in London won’t affect the lives of Anna, Jane and Mariella, who have lived in the same Essex village all their lives. But maybe the royal drama and its consequences have more parallels with their own lives than they can imagine, and perhaps the impact will play out in violent ways. Can their friendship survive the threat? **Ava Pickett**’s humdinger of a play transfers from the Almeida to the West End and explores some uncomfortable truths about love, desire, power and patriarchy and reminds us how often history neglects to tell us herstories.
The RSC brings [*The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind*](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/the-boy-who-harnessed-the-wind-tickets) to @sohoplace. **Lynette Linton**, who did such brilliant work running the Bush, directs this feel-good musical which tells the true story of **William Kamkwamba**, whose Malawi village faces catastrophe after a terrible drought and brings succour by using scrap metal to make a life-saving windmill. **Chiwetel Ejiofor** made a film of the story in 2019. The show had a brief run in Stratford before transferring to the South, where London audiences should connect with the epic yet touching story which brings an entire village alive with help from **Frankie Bradshaw**’s designs, which capture all the heat of the Malawian sun.
The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre opens its summer season this week, and the theatre is, of course, situated just a stone’s throw from Baker Street and the home of **Arthur Conan Doyle**’s fictional detective. So, this new [*Sherlock Holmes*](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/play/sherlock-holmes-london-tickets) adventure set in 1890 and telling of the arrival of a mysterious jewel at 221b Baker Street feels like the perfect match for the theatre. Even better, it’s written by **Joel Horwood**, who wrote the richly entertaining and touching *The Ocean at the End of the Lane*.
Director **Timothy Sheader** is definitely turning water into best-quality wine with [Jesus Christ Superstar](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/jesus-christ-superstar-tickets), a revival of the **Andrew Lloyd Webber** and **Tim Rice** rock musical originally seen at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, then at the Barbican and which this June heads to the London Palladium. It is a frequently heavenly revival, on one level a simple retelling of a familiar story but on others a biting examination of religious and political fanaticism and state expediency. On this outing **Sam Ryder** plays Jesus, **Tyrone Huntley** is Judas, and there is a multitude of Herods with **Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Simon Russell Beale, Richard Armitage, Boy George, Layton Williams** and **Julian Clary** splitting the villainy between them on various dates during the run.