FIVE BEST PLAYS

Burnt by the Sun (NT: Lyttelton, London)
Peter Flannery’s play, based on the Oscar-winning 1994 film set in 1936 Russia, is a panoramic portrait of a family feeling the heat of Stalin’s rule, told with an inexorable dramatic tread. (020-7452 3000) to 21 May

Tusk Tusk (Royal Court, London)
Polly Stenham has followed up her sensational debut, ‘That Face’, with another coruscating, highly skilled piece of work, about three youngsters left to fend for themselves in a new apartment when their mother goes missing. (020-7565 5000) to 2 May

War Horse (New London Theatre, London)
Transfer of the National Theatre’s moving adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel, about a farm horse sold to the cavalry and pitched into the thick of the battle in the First World War. (020-7432 4220) to 26 Sept

Enjoy (Gielgud Theatre, London)
Alison Steadman crackles with comic energy in this revival of Alan Bennett’s satirical gem from 1980. (0844 579 1940) to 16 May

Othello (West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds)
Lenny Henry towers physically over the rest of the cast in this Northern Broadsides/West Yorkshire Playhouse co-production, but the show is rightly more of an ensemble evening than a star vehicle. (0113-213 7700) to 14 Mar