A bureau director receives an incomprehensible memo written in “Ptydepe”, a new language invented by the government to ensure terms are so precisely defined that documents are error-free. In pursuit of an official translation of the memo, the director runs into a series of crises that spiral further and further into absurdity… Czech playwright Václav Havel was one of the key thinkers and leaders of the Velvet Revolution in 1989. He went on to become Czechoslovakia’s last president and the democratic Czech Republic’s first president following the division of the country in 1993. The Memorandum, also known as The Memo, is one of Havel’s most representative plays, using ironic humour to incisive effect in a brilliantly sharp satire of authoritarian bureaucracies and their word games.

One of Chekhov’s most famous works, this classic play distils the eternal themes of joy and sorrow through bitter-sweet moments in ordinary life. Exploring the glowering landscape of frustrated hopes, a meaningless job and a wasted life, the play echoes the sentiments of many people today. Vanya’s outburst, “I have never lived!”, has proved revelatory across a century.

In Persona. Marilyn. Lupa delves into the 20th-century sex goddess’s psyche, reaching across time and space through innovative set design and projected images. Sandra Korzeniak explores the boundaries of her double existence, as an actress and as Monroe. Unravelling the icon’s complex personality by Rembrandt-like photo dissection, Korzeniak gradually peels back the layers that made up Monroe, starting with media myths and images, through to the mask she wore in front of others, and finally her naked self.

With leaps, bounds and sabres in hand, legendary Cossack heroism is brought to the stage in a riveting tribute to traditional folk arts. The Don Cossacks from southwest Russia are as renowned for their artistic traditions as their fighting skills. Their m