Adding to the Bard mix is news that Simon Callow (best known as the guy who dies in Four Weddings and A Funeral) is bringing Being Shakespeare to the Trafalgar Studios in June. So if you feel like you’ve seen too many Hamlets and had enough Much Ado’s for one year, take a look at this one-man show. Being Shakespeare brings the Bard’s most memorable characters to life as it explores the man behind the world’s most famous plays. It runs from 15 June to 23 July.

From Shakespeare to Spice Girls! Yes, there’s going to be a Spice Girls musical. Viva Forever will be directed by War Horse co-director Marianne Elliot, and produced by Mamma Mia! producer Judy Craymer.

Judy said, “I am delighted that Marianne has agreed to direct Viva Forever. With her theatrical aptitude for exploring strong women and their relationships and her meticulousness to detail she is absolutely the right person to direct this new musical which is all about female friendship, celebrity and fame. I’m so happy to have her on board, together with Jennifer Saunders, who has written the musical.” Jennifer Saunders too! There’s enough Girl Power in that team to make the show a success, I reckon!

Finally, this week’s cast news. The National Theatre welcomes two returning actresses for A Woman Killed With Kindness in June. Sandy McDade last appeared in The Seagull, directed by Katie Mitchell. McDade is probably best-known as Lark Rise To Candleford’s Miss Ellison. Mitchell also directs the National’s revival of the 1603 domestic thriller A Woman Killed With Kindness. Liz White (from the BBC adaptation of The Crimson Petal And The White and Life On Mars) stars alongside McDade. White was last at the National in the double bill of Spring Storm and Beyond The Horizon last year.

What an exciting week for theatre fans!

First there’s the news that former Doctor Who co-stars, David Tennant and Catherine Tate will be reunited in London this summer, when they lead the cast of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing at Wyndham’s Theatre.

Plus the announcement that Cranford and Harry Potter star Imelda Staunton will join Penelope Wilton in Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance at the Almeida Theatre in May.

Then I learn that another TV star makes his debut at the Royal Court Theatre next month. Colin Morgan, who you’ll know from the BBC series Merlin, is appearing in Our Private Life, a “black comedy of twisted morality”, set in a Columbian village.

Anyone around my age will be interested to learn that former Blue Peter presenter Mark Curry will be starring in Company at the Southwark Playhouse from 2 February. This’ll be the Southwark Playhouse’s first musical since it opened in 1993: break a leg everyone!

And finally, Oliver Ford Davies (that’s Sio from the Star Wars prequels to me and you) will be playing Tom in a new adaptation of Goodnight Mister Tom. Just thinking about what was one of my favourite books as a kid makes me want to cry! Happily, this classic is in good hands: it’s being adapted by David Wood, the playwright renowned for his popular adaptations of Roald Dahl stories, including George’s Marvellous Medicine (currently getting great reviews at the Bloomsbury Theatre).

In other news, extensions have been announced for the following shows:

• End of the Rainbow – now playing until 16 April
• The Children’s Hour – now playing until 30 April

And I’d like to say congratulations to the Finborough Theatre in West London: they’ve won The Stage 100′s Fringe Theatre of the Year Award.

This tiny, 50-seat venue above a wine bar in Earl’s Court presents new writing and musical theatre, and has been gaining momentum in the last few years under the expert guidance of Artistic Director, Neil McPherson. If you’re in the area, be sure to check it out.