Lyn Gardner's Weekly Picks
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[*Hot Mess*](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/hot-mess-a-new-musical-tickets) at the Other Palace transferred straight from Edinburgh last year to Southwark Playhouse. Now it returns, and it’s no surprise because **Jack Godfrey** and **Ellie Coote**, the team behind the much-acclaimed *42 Balloons*, have created a musical two-hander which is both ingenious and witty. The premise is this: when Earth, on the rebound from her relationship with Tyrannosaurus Rex, which ended badly, and Hu (short for humanity) get together, they are a real power couple. But as Hu starts to exploit the natural resources which Earth shows him, the relationship looks increasingly doomed. It’s a clever device to explore climate change, and it’s done with a light touch. Lots of fun.
**Stephen Mangan, Ardal O’Hanlon, Sarah Hadland** and **Janie Dee** star in [*The Truth*](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/play/the-truth-tickets) (Apollo), a play which asks how much truth-telling any marriage can really bear. It’s witty and sophisticated stuff and stylishly written by French playwright **Florian Zeller**, best known for *The Father,* which was turned into a movie with **Anthony Hopkins**. It is a deviously plotted comedy telling of two couples, one of whom from each pair is cheating with the other’s spouse. If director **Lindsay Posner** does it justice, it’s an evening which doesn’t stint on the self-deceptions and sleights of mind that we all employ in our relationships when it suits us.
London has, of course, recently seen a sizzling [*Much Ado About Nothing*](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/play/much-ado-about-nothing-tickets-london) in J**amie Lloyd**’s revival with **Hayley Atwell** and **Tom Hiddleston**. But it is a joyous play, mixing melodrama with high-jinks comedy, and one well-suited to the delights of Shakespeare’s Globe in summer. Also, it’s directed by **Chelsea Walker**, who always brings unexpected insights to classic texts. **Pippa Nixon** and **Ken Nwosu** play Beatrice and Benedick, the couple whose verbal sparring suggests antipathy but masks a deep love. Will they or won’t they get together? Even if you know the answer, the journey is often fulfilling.
Relocating **Bizet’**s opera, *Carmen*, from a 19th-century cigarette factory in Spain to a garage and diner in early 1960s small-town America is the USP of [*The Car Man*](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/dance/the-car-man-tickets) (Sadlers Wells), **Matthew Bourne**’s dance drama subtitled “an auto-erotic thriller". **Bourne** revs up Bizet’s well-known melodies in a jazzy evening which upends gender expectations to tell a story of sex, jealousy, murder, betrayal and revenge. Strap in for the ride.