this week's recommendations

Well, here we are at the end of May and there's no sign of a let up in the city's arts diary.
So what does this week have in store?

First up, Laurence Wilson's new play Lost Monsters, loosely based on Shakespeare's The Tempest, gets its press night at the Everyman tomorrow.
The show centres around three teens who travel the country playing slot machines until a freak accident one night leaves them stranded outside a house belonging to the mysterious Richard, played by Joe McGann.

Across the water, Bill Kenwright shows his faith in the newly-refurbished New Brighton Floral Pavilion by bringing his touring production of Agatha Christie's Spiders Web for a week-long run. The show stars Butterflies' Bruce Montague and Catherine Shipton, erstwhile of Casualty.

Pauline Daniels' Actors Studio plays host to new young writers/actors in Scouse Potatoes from tomorrow until Saturday, while the Shaolin Warriors fetch up at the Empire for one night only on Thursday and Tmesis, formerly the Momentum theatre company, is at the Unity.

Not forgetting the final Vasily Petrenko-conducted concert of the main RLPO season at the Philharmonic Hall this Thursday - the programme features Elgar's weighty First Symphony, Gershwin's delightful American in Paris and the UK premiere of contemporary American composer Jennifer Higdon's violin concerto performed by the musician she wrote it for, Hilary Hahn.

Incidently, more of Petrenko later - see the Echo today for my "half-way" chat with the conductor who is coming to the end of the first three years of his six year tenure at the Phil, and read separately on my blog the Petrenko thoughts which didn't end up in the final article.....