The Glow at the Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Downstairs

PART of the London International Mime Festival, Big Boys Don’t Cry is at Jackson’s Lane from Jan 21-23. Adam and Dik are men. But they don’t feel as though they fit any macho stereotype that society seems to offer. A bittersweet story about manhood featuring dance, clowns and puppets. The PappyShow is at Shoreditch Town Hall until Jan 23 with What Do You See? A multidisciplinary performance interweaving words, song, movement and design with a 12-strong cast and team of 27 creatives representing the diverse identities in Britain today. The circus company, Barely Methodical Troupe, celebrate group dynamics and camaraderie in KIN at the Peacock Theatre from Jan 26-29. Six acrobats deftly deploy their physical skills, tumbling, flying and flipping in individual bids for recognition. At the Puppet Barge Theatre, Little Venice, The Red Balloon is about a small boy’s friendship with a balloon, told using wooden, long-string marionettes. Fri-Sun, until Feb 6. mimelondon.com

• The Glow by Alistair McDowall is at the Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from Jan 21 to Mar 5. An asylum. A woman is locked in a windowless cell, with no memory as to who she is, or how she arrived there. When spiritualist medium Mrs Lyall requires a new assistant, this nameless woman seems the perfect candidate. But as the woman’s past begins to reveal itself, so do powers that neither are prepared for. royalcourttheatre.com

• Kandinsky’s state-of-the-nation show, The Winston Machine, is at the New Diorama Theatre from Jan 25 to Feb 19. At the height of the Blitz, Charlotte is in a passionate affair with a Spitfire pilot, fighting fascism in red lipstick and living each day like her last. Eighty years later, her granddaughter Becky is stuck in her hometown, cooking dinners for her dad and singing old songs at other people’s weddings, dreaming of a better time. The 1940s are more real to Becky than her life, but when a friend moves back to town, she’s forced to face the present. newdiorama.com

• Edith Tankus’s one-person exploration of motherhood, exile and transformation, Wild Country, is at Camden People’s Theatre from Jan 25-27. Glasshouse Theatre’s Cell Outs, a dark comedy offering an insight into the world of those working behind bars, performed by two ex-prison officers, runs Jan 27-29. cptheatre.co.uk

• Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett will be at The Tower Theatre from Jan 25-29. Krapp takes out a bottle of wine, a banana and his tape recorder, and listens as his own voice from the past recounts the glories and hopes for himself as a younger man. The theatre is running at reduced capacity to allow for social distancing. Hackney residents can get £5 off by adding HELLO HACKNEY in the discount code box. towertheatre.org.uk

• Lennie James and Paapa Essiedu star in Caryl Churchill’s drama A Number, at The Old Vic from Jan 24 to Mar 19. Every parent makes mistakes. Salter makes several. Thirty-five years later, his only child realises he’s not alone. oldvictheatre.com