Fela Kuti lived a controversial life as an artist and political activist.

Before going to see Fela, I had heard mixed reviews about the show from Nigerian friends who had said it was a watered-down version of the real life of Fela Kuti.

They were concerned because the lead actor did not resemble the real life Kuti; there was no mention of the talking drums that he used to send messages to the people; and because The Shrine (a famous night club in Lagos) did not look like the real thing.

I sat down at the beginning of the performance greeted by the sounds of the drums and beautiful women moving to the rhythm, in tune and at one with the music.

I found the whole production and performance electrifying and it made me want to know more about the life and story that made this man.

I felt the need to grab every piece of merchandise being sold, from books to CDs and t-shirts, just to get a deeper insight into this man’s life. Simply brilliant!

Fela! is at Sadler’s Wells until 28 August. Book tickets

Grandage will step down as Artistic Director following Richard II. He said, “I am delighted this final year celebrates so much of the repertoire we have presented over the last decade. It is wonderful to be joined by so many friends and colleagues in this last season of work – it is these collaborations and creative partnerships both on stage and with the staff at the Donmar, that have made the achievements of the past 10 years possible.”

Other cast news this week includes:

• Actress Joanna Riding and cabaret star Meow Meow are appearing in Kneehigh Theatre’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg at the Gielgud Theatre from 5 March
• Niamh Cusack will star alongside Anne-Marie Duff  in Terence Rattigan’s Cause Célèbre at the Old Vic from 17 March
• And Les Dennis will appear in the London premiere of Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy about fame, Drowning On Dry Land, at the Jermyn Street Theatre from 22 February

This week’s transfer news is about Fela! The Broadway musical about the life of Afrobeat star Fela Anikulapo-Kuti will transfer from the National Theatre to Sadler’s Wells this summer, for a six week run starting 20 July.

Finally, exciting news about my favourite theatre in London: Shakespeare’s Globe. The Bankside venue will be performing all 38 of Shakespeare’s plays for the Cultural Olympiad in 2012; wait for it, in different languages – how amazing does that sound?

There’ll be a King Lear in Australian Aboriginal languages, a Spanish Henry VIII, an Italian Caesar and a Tempest in Arabic. Look out for Love’s Labour’s Lost in British Sign Language, too! Rawiri Paratene – who appeared at the Globe last year and is known for the film Whale Rider – will star in a Maori production of Troilus And Cressida, with Zimbabwean actors Denton Chikura and Tonderai Munyevu starring in a Shona version of The Two Gentlemen Of Verona.

Better still, the Globe is expanding. From 2013, there’ll be a new indoor Jacobean Theatre next to the existing “wooden o”. The new venue will seat 320 people, and is based on designs held in Worcester College, Oxford for a 17th-century indoor theatre. Construction work will start next year, in a shell that already exists in the Globe site. It’ll mean that the Globe can produce shows year-round, and that is a very good thing!

The first, Fela!, comes with a pretty impressive pedigree: associate producers on the project include Jay-Z, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Written by Tony Award-winner Bill T Jones it tells the story of the Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the Nigerian-born artist, musician, polygamist, commune founder and political activist, who died in 1997, through a winning blend of jazz, funk and African rhythms, dance, theatre and music.

Ditch is a new play by Beth Steel, and is being co-produced by HighTide in the Old Vic’s  Tunnels 228-332 under Waterloo Station. It tells of a near-future Britain where much of the country is underwater. The government has been reduced to a group of fascist fighters, and dwindling numbers of men patrol the moors for “illegals” in a rural outpost of the state. Ditch is the first of the Old Vic’s tunnel-based plans for 2010, which also include productions, installations, pop-up events and film screenings, with tickets either free or pretty damn cheap.

Americans are celebrating lots of success on the London theatre scene at the moment. After all the top reviews the Broadway revival of Hair got earlier today, it’s more good news from across the pond: an all-American cast for the Menier Chocolate Factory’s production of Paradise Found. The new musical is based on Joseph Roth’s novel The Tale Of The 1002nd Night, and is about the exploits of the Shah of Persia. The Tony Award-winning Mandy Patinkin is joined by more US names: Kate Baldwin, Shuler Hensley, Judy Kaye, George Lee Andrews (The Phantom Of The Opera, A Little Night Music), Lacey Kohl, John McMartin (Grey Gardens, Into The Woods), and Nancy Opel (Toxic Avenge, Urinetown).

In a more British show, A Thousand Stars Explode In The Sky at the Lyric Hammersmith features three of the UK’s finest writers: David Eldridge, Robert Holman and Simon Stephens. It’s a show about the family secrets that are revealed before the world comes to an end… Cast member Jemma Redgrave has sadly pulled out for personal reasons, but the cast remains strong. I really like Nigel Cooke and Ann Mitchell, and it’ll be good to see Harry McEntire back on the London stage after his appearance in the hit musical, Spring Awakening.