Theatre picks of the week

The Count Of Monte Cristo, Leeds Writer Joel Horwood and director Alan Lane make an irresistible combination for this swashbuckling tale of adventure and revenge performed by a cast of just six, who each take on dozens of roles. Adapted from Alexandre Dumas's novel, it's an epic adventure story about revenge and what it does to the avenger which focuses on Edmond Dantès, a man whose life is riding high, until an unexpected knock at the door and the arrival of armed guards turns his world upside down. Locked in the notorious Chateau D'If prison, Edmond fears that he will rot there until he dies, so he starts to plan how he will take out his suffering on those who betrayed him. Designer Barney George whisks us from Marseilles to prison and down to the bottom of the ocean and back to Paris 20 years later for a reckless tales that proves that it's easier to forgive your enemies once you've tasted revenge. West Yorkshire Playhouse, Fri to 16 May Lyn Gardner Counted, London It's expected that the turnout at the general election will be pretty poor. Large swathes of the British populace are more likely to vote for The X Factor or I'm A Celebrity... than the next prime minister. Why? Are people so disillusioned with sleaze and the broken promises of politicians? Not so, says documentary theatre company Look Left Look Right, which is staging Counted close to the national seat of power, at County Hall. A verbatim play of real stories, it aims to be an entertaining look at why we are rejecting a basic democratic right when others don't have it and the world is in a parlous financial state. Next weekend, Camden's Roundhouse hosts performance and debate for youngsters in Do You Feel Counted? The Debating Chamber, County Hall, SE1, Thu to 22 May (tickets from the Roundhouse) Mark Cook Forest Fringe Micro-Festival, Glasgow The second Forest Fringe Micro-Festival takes place in Glasgow this week before heading off to Bristol's Mayfest and Swansea in association with National Theatre Wales. The micro-festivals are a great touring concept, drawing on the talent of local artists at each venue and also offering work in progress, intimate experiences and audio work from a range of international theatre-makers. The Arches lineup includes The Tip Of Your Tongue, a wonderful piece from Home Sweet Home creator, Abigail Conway; an attempt by Deborah Pearson (pictured) to recreate her last day in Canada using home movie footage; a one-to-one with Tania El Khoury in which you become her relationship guidance counsellor; Tim Etchells's poster installation; a micro-gig experience with the drummer from Temporary Autonomous Zone; plus Forest Fringe's unique Travelling Sounds Library of audio pieces. The Arches, Fri & 17 Apr Lyn Gardner Brontë, Newbury Chekhov's Three Sisters was inspired by the Brontë sisters, forever holding a candle to their wastrel brother, Branwell, who they believed to be a genius, while their own lives were limited by the windswept moors and 19th-century values. But there was no limit to their imaginations and to their creative powers which they poured into novels that tingle with passion and sexual desire. Polly Teale's play, first produced by Shared Experience in 2005 and now getting a welcome revival by Nancy Meckler, considers gender politics, the sisters' inner emotional lives and the nature of creativity itself. Watermill, Thu to 22 May Lyn Gardner Ruined, London Ruined, by US playwright Lynn Nottage, comes trailing seven major awards plus a Pulitzer Prize. Based on interviews Nottage conducted with refugees in Africa, it's set in a brothel deep in the Congo in a mining town where civil war is raging and owner Mama Nadi tries to run a decent, clean house – no guns, no politics. But with the arrival of two new women scarred by the world outside, she is forced to rethink her priorities. Nottage, whose Fabulation, Or The Re-education Of Undine played at the Tricycle (then, as now, directed by Indhu Rubasingham), acknowledges the influence of Brecht's Mother Courage, and Mama Nadi is a similar pragmatist who adapts and finagles in order to survive. While Ruined is an unsentimental piece about the human spirit and women brutalised by atrocities, it retains some vestiges of optimism. Almeida Theatre, N1, Thu to 5 Jun Mark Cook Comedians, Bolton Trevor Griffiths's piece about a group attending a comedy workshop in Manchester in the mid-70s is back in fashion. It recently had a high profile revival at the Lyric in Hammersmith and now David Thacker turns his attention to a play, still relevant in our taboo-busting but also politically correct age, that asks questions about the nature of comedy and what we laugh at. Burnley actor Richard Moore plays the one-time top comic who believes that comedy is more than just gags. Octagon, Thu to 8 May Lyn Gardner Llwyth (Tribe) Cardiff It's the night after a rugby international in Cardiff. Although Wales have lost, four gay Welshmen remain determined to paint the town pink, but when a fifth person joins their party the stakes rise and loyalties shift. Some performances of this Welsh language play – which examines what it means to be a man living in Wales and how to belong – will have English surtitles, and the show will move on to eight more venues in Wales prior to a run at London's Oval House. Chapter, Thu to 24 Apr Lyn Gardner Bingo; Scenes Of Money And Death, Chichester This year's Chichester season is a rum old mix that embraces Henry Goodman and David Haig in a stage version of Yes, Prime Minister, Howard Goodall and Stephen Clark's musical of Love Story, as well as Howard Brenton's new take on The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists and this rare revival of Edward Bond's remarkable play about Shakespeare's dying days. Set in a Stratford-upon-Avon alive with dispute as local landowners try to drive the tenants off the heath outside Stratford and enclose the land, it paints an unflattering picture of the dying playwright who wants to protect the wealth that he has created for himself and his family. But as Ben Jonson arrives in town with news that the Globe has burned to the ground, Shakespeare takes to the heath like King Lear to face his own guilt. Patrick Stewart leads a cast including Catherine Cusack, Richard McCabe and Jason Watkins. Minerva, Thu to 22 May Lyn Gardner