Stephen Fry and Fyfe Dangerfield of indie troupe Guillemots are amongst those involved in a new stage adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones’ fantasy novel ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’. Fry lends his narratorial voice to the production, which runs until 7 Jan at the Southwark Playhouse Vault, while Dangerfield is responsible for the music.

In seeking a fresh interpretation of Wynne Jones’ story, the creative team behind the new production – including Dangerfield – have deliberately sidestepped comparisons with Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning 2004 animated adaptation of the story. In fact, in Fyfe’s case, he made a “conscious decision” to not even read the book. The Guillemot told the BBC: “Some people may come expecting to see a stage version of the film and it’s nothing like it really. I just wanted to take my inspiration as directly as I could from the script”.

You can find the BBC’s full interview with Fyfe alongside thoughts from ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ producers Davy and Kristin McGuire, here.

US actor Zach Braff confirmed late last week that he’ll make his first ever West End appearance early next year in ‘All New People’, a self-penned piece set to play at the Duke Of York’s theatre from 22 Feb. Though best known for playing loveable kook John ‘JD’ Dorian in now-defunct hospital sitcom ‘Scrubs’, Braff’s been doing more serious stuff for a good while now, not least ‘The Garden State’, the quirky feature film he wrote, directed and starred in back in 2004.

For the initial off-Broadway run of Braff’s new play Justin Bartha, star of the ‘The Hangover’, took the role of central character Charlie. But with Bartha now seemingly out of the picture, Braff will make his debut as Charlie – a 35 year-old man in crisis who seeks solace in his Long Island beach house, only to be interrupted by a pageant of oddball guests – for British eyes only.

Says Braff: “It’s always been a dream of mine to do a play in the West End. I never imagined I’d be lucky enough to have it be a play I’d written. I would have been happy to set up shop in Hyde Park”.

The stage adaptation of ‘American Idiot’, named after and featuring songs from US punk-rockers Green Day’s 2004 album, will arrive in the UK for the first time next autumn.

First staged in California in 2009, the show has enjoyed an extended Broadway run, picking up a couple of Tony Awards – admittedly for Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting – in the process. Producers have now given the green light on a transatlantic transfer, and are planning an inaugural UK performance of the musical in October of next year. Londoners will get a chance to take in the sights and sounds of the one-act rock spectacle two months later, when it visits the Hammersmith Apollo for six consecutive nights in early December.

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, who wrote the book on which the musical is based, says this: “We can’t wait for our friends across the pond to see the musical. We played to some of the most insane crowds when we toured the album there”.

No word yet as to whether he’ll  step in to play the role of highly-strung drug-dealer St Jimmy, as he did on several occasions in America. Though either way, here’s what that might look like:

Reps for David Bowie have denied reports that the singer has licensed songs from his catalogue for use in a new stage show called ‘Heroes: The Musical’.

Various media, including The Observer, reported last weekend that writer Deep Singh had devised a musical including various songs from Bowie’s repertoire, and that – having got the green light from the singer’s people – the show would debut at The O2′s IndigO2 venue next March. The paper quoted Singh as saying: “We could not really believe it when they gave us permission. His people had warned us that it was very unlikely that he would be interested and that he had been asked many times before. We did not want Mr Bowie to think it was going to be a tribute show, and that seems to have had an effect”.

But it seems Singh may have jumped the gun, because Team Bowie deny any knowledge of the show. A statement posted on the official David Bowie website shortly after The Observer article appeared reads: “Neither the David Bowie Organisation, nor its co-publishers EMI Music and Chrysalis, has issued a license for a Bowie musical at The O2, as has been reported in the UK. There are no negotiations pending for a long-running musical featuring the music of Mr Bowie”.

So look at that, apparently some things are sacred.

A slightly embarrassing tourist trap to some, a quaint national treasure to others, whatever you make of the West End staple that is Agatha Christie’s theatrical thriller ‘The Mousetrap’, surely its unbroken run since 1952, so sixty years next October, deserves at least a smattering of applause?

Well, whatever, as next year will mark the show’s sixtieth anniversary, present producer Stephen Waley-Cohen has just announced that, come next September, the venerable whodunit is to embark on its first ever UK-wide tour. Beginning on 11 Sep at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, the 60-week run, which also includes 60 shows outside the UK, will take place in addition to the regular performances at London’s St Martin’s Theatre (so don’t worry London-based Mousetrap fans, you’ll still be able to get your regular fix).

Perhaps aware that some might question whether such an extensive tour might not have a negative impact on the London production, Waley-Cohen says no. The BBC quote him thus: “Even with very good houses for the last 59 years, only about 10m people have seen the play in London – that’s about the number for one episode of a good soap or ‘Downton Abbey’. I really don’t think that taking a high-quality production around the country is going to damage London in any way”.