Firstly this week, I have news of two shows closing early, and another extending. So, if you’re eager to see Strictly Come Dancing stars Kristina Rihanoff and Robin Windsor in Burn The Floor at the Shaftesbury Theatre, you’ll need to be quick. The show is now closing on 30 June. The same date will be the final performance of Viva Forever! at the Piccadilly Theatre. The musical based on the songs of the Spice Girls has run for just six months, but producers have blamed poor ticket sales and bad reviews for the early closure. Fans of One Man Two Guvnors are in luck however; the National Theatre’s hit comedy celebrates its third year in London this week by releasing an additional 150,000 tickets for the show at the Theatre Royal Haymarket: it’s now booking until 1 March 2014.

I’ve also got news of two new shows coming to London in the near future. Dance troupe ZooNation bring the world premiere their “unique twist” on The Wizard of Oz, Groove on Down the Road to the Southbank Centre this summer. Featuring music from the original 1978 film The Wiz remixed with current tunes by DJ Walde, Groove on Down the Road runs from 10 August to 1 September at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. The acclaimed Sheffield Theatres production of The Full Monty will transfer to the West End next year for a 16-week season. The stage adaptation of the hit film will play at the Noel Coward Theatre from February next year. Following the news of American Psycho and The Commitments last week, it seems we can’t get enough of film adaptations on the London stage at the moment.

Finally, another summer treat to look forward to. The Lyric Hammersmith is running Theatre in the Square again this summer, encouraging visitors to indulge in free theatre from four of the country’s most innovative theatre companies over a four-week season. The shows’ themes range from water to motherhood to ice cream to The Bacchae. Theatre in the Square is part of the ever-brilliant Greenwich+Docklands International Festival.

London Theatre Cast News

• Ralf Little, Simon Day, John Gordon Sinclair and Con O’Neill will star in Sean Foley’s The Ladykillers when it returns to the Vaudeville Theatre in June
• West End regular Dianne Pilkington takes over as Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia! from 10 June, along with 24 other new cast members. It’ll be the biggest cast change since the show began performances in London back in 1999
• Darren Day will star in The Golden Voice, a new musical about the consequences of TV talent shows, playing at the Arts Theatre from June

Thomas could easily be described as “the best war poet you’ve never heard of”. Not traditionally part of the “War Poets” canon, he has remained something of a poet’s poet since his death at the Battle of Arras in 1917. But a new book by Hollis tracing the last five years of Thomas’s life, including his friendship with Robert Frost, is bringing his work to a wider audience.

Readers at the event, Andrew Motion, Michael Longley, Gillian Clarke and Sarah Hall, credited Thomas as not only a great poet, but a revolutionary one. His work brought in colloquial, idiomatic and conversational speech to poetry for the first time. In the words of National Poet for Wales Gillian Clarke, Thomas “set the century free”. The poems read last night were beautiful, evocative and to me, entirely fresh.

Tall Nettles

Tall nettles cover up, as they have done
These many springs, the rusty harrow, the plough
Long worn out, and the roller made of stone:
Only the elm butt tops the nettles now.

This corner of the farmyard I like most:
As well as any bloom upon a flower
I like the dust on the nettles, never lost
Except to prove the sweetness of a shower.

Upcoming events as part of the Southbank Centre’s autumn Literature and Spoken Word season include an evening with President Jimmy Carter, a screening of Louis Malle’s “My Dinner with Andre”, and Carol Ann Duffy reading from “The Bees”, her first full collection since becoming Poet Laureate in 2009.

Get more details on the Southbank Centre at www.southbankcentre.co.uk. For more information on Edward Thomas visit www.edward-thomas-fellowship.org.uk.

“Now All Roads Lead To France” by Matthew Hollis is available to buy from Amazon.

Last night I went to a very strange place. I could have been in a music hall in 19th century Paris, but the little boy and his mum pointing and laughing in amazement in the row in front were definitely rooted in 2011.

Such is the magical nature of French circus act, Le Cirque Invisible. The two stars, Jean-Baptiste Thiérrée and Victoria Chaplin (Charlie’s daughter), have been performing their tricks and transformations for more than 30 years, and while some of the costumes and props might look dated, it only seems to add to the charm of this quirky show.

Le Cirque Invisible is timeless, innocent and fun, appealing to the kid in all of us. The simple comedy of obvious magic tricks and an oversized wig (Jean-Baptiste Thiérrée) is juxtaposed with incredibly graceful dance and costume transformations by Victoria Chaplin. I particularly liked her umbrella dance, and the way she anthropomorphises almost everything: turning chairs, bicycles and bodices into incredible, mythical beasts. The scene where these eerily life-life creatures turned back into the trappings of a simple living room was captivating.

It’s a fantastic, family-friendly show. Kids will love the magic tricks, the wonderful costumes, the silly slapstick and the cute rabbits. And so will the adults!

Le Cirque Invisible is at the Queen Elizabeth Hall until 21 August