Wicked
Apollo Victoria, W1
No musical as weird or steeped in fairytale magic as Wicked has cast its multimillion pound spell upon the London stage in decades. This prequel to the Wizard of Oz belongs in a rare pantheon of musicals in which the music does not matter much. It is the spectacle, the experience of a magical mystery tour through the fantasy land of Oz that takes and holds attention. (0870 4000 751). Booking to 24 February, 2007.
Nicholas de Jongh

A Voyage Round My Father
Wyndham's, WC2
This is the Derek Jacobi show. There are a few other good points to John Mortimer's autobiographical play but Jacobi, revelling in the father's acerbic wit and curmudgeonly ways, is utterly dominant. Mortimer builds the story of his life under the paternal influence through a series of linked character sketches, but Dominic Rowan puts little vim into the narrator son. Yet Jacobi is superb and the death scene, beautifully underwritten and underplayed, will only fail to choke the soulless. (0870 950 0925). Until 16 December. Kieron Quirke

Pump Girl
Bush, W12
Abbie Spallen's tale from the estates of Northern Ireland is gritty, witty and intricate. Three interweaving monologues from a husband, his wife and his young tomboy mistress tell a story of marital boredom and sexual manipulation that feels sordid from its petrol-stained opening to its nasty climax. The monologue form can feel static, but good performances, particularly from Maggie Hayes as the betrayed and benumbed Sinead, tease out your sympathy even as you expect more atrocities. (020 7610 4224). Until 14 October.

Tom and Viv
Almeida, N1
Frances O'Connor's astonishingly raw and wracked performance as TS Eliot's first wife, Vivienne Haigh-Wood, carries the dramatic and emotional charge of Michael Hasting's play in this powerful production by Lindsay Posner. The playwright persuasively restores the reputation of Vivienne, whom Eliot and his literary friends wrote off as a crazy nuisance. Two decades after its premiere, this tragicomedy of pre-war manners and morals has not lost its high-level impact. (020 7359 4404). Until 4 November.

LAST CHANCE
Rabbit
Trafalgar Studios, SW1
Just when you thought no more fun could be had from the sex lives of middle class young adults, a play proves again that they are an inexhaustible mine of entertainment. Nina Raine's self-directed comedy has its clunks and dithers, but a knack for truth and dialogue plus some fine performances compensate for the naive moments. The real meat is in the banter; birthday girl Bella and her chums, including seething ex-boyfriend, Richard, talk like your friends, but with twice as much eloquence and four times as much emotional honesty. (0870 060 6632). Until 7 October.