New York’s Playful Theatre company with a 22-song show in which different men examine the joys and fears of manhood.Merlin (Theatre Workshop, 031-226 5425, Sat-3 Sept). A highly visual Polish version of the Arthurian legend using performers and puppets.Moscow Stations (Traverse, 031-228 1404, Fri-3 Sept). Tom Courtenay resumes his alcoholic odyssey in this adaptation of Venedikt Yerofeev’s novel which packed the Traverse in 1993.Nancy Sleekit (Netherbow, 031-556 9579, 15 Aug-3 Sept). Donald Campbell claims to have unearthed the first one-woman show: a piece of Victorian popular theatre in which Ms Sleekit – billed as a female Sweeney Todd – rails against the shortcomings of men.Playing for Time (Bedlam, 031-225 9893, Fri-27 Aug). British premiere of Arthur Miller’s stage adaptation of his moving screenplay about Fania Fenelon and the Auschwitz Women’s Orchestra.Playboy of the Western World (Traverse, 031-228 1404, 16 Aug-3 Sept). Synge’s masterpiece revived by Scotland’s pioneering Communicado Company; directed by Gerry Mulgrew.Poor Super Man – a Play with Captions (Traverse, 031-228 1404, 16 Aug-3 Sept). Love triangle for five characters by Canadian underworld specialist Brad Fraser (acclaimed author of Unidentified Human Remains).Portrait of a Nude (Adam House, 031- 650 8200, Sat-20 Aug).

A study of censorship by the Californian Fringe First Award-winning playwright Laura Shamas deals with attempts to censor Goya’s Naked Maja from the days of the Inquisition to the present.Seance (Hill Street, 031-226 6522, 22 Aug-3 Sept). First staged at the National Student Drama Festival last year, this erotic, dark piece certainly caught Alan Ayckbourn’s eye: he’s commissioned the author, Eric Prince, to write a play for him.Sermon (Greyfriars Kirk House, 031- 225 3626, Fri-3 Sept). The American critics loved this staging of James Dickey’s May Day Sermon to the Women of Gilmer Country, Georgia, by a Woman Preacher Leaving the Baptist Church, performed by Bridget Hanley.She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain (Southside, 031-667 7365, Fri-27 Aug). The co-founder of Trestle Theatre, John Wright, directs this study of love and survival in a refugee camp which won a National Student Theatre Company award for Imagination and Outstanding Performance.Size 12 (Marco’s, 031-228 9116, Fri-28 Aug).

The possibilities are endless for this black comedy which aims for an easy target: a glossy magazine.Sons and Lovers (Rifle Lodge, 031-226 5425, Fri-3 Sept). New adaptation of D H Lawrence’s novel of his Nottinghamshire upbringing, with passages from his letters.Tartuffe (Gilded Balloon, 031-226 2151, Fri-3 Sept). Moliere in Scottish rhymed couplets stands a better chance than usual in the accomplished hands of Liz Lochhead. See panel, above.Waterhole (Church Hill, 031-447 0111, 15 Aug-3 Sept). Desert recluse confronts a mission-driven Hollywood star in Kendrew Lascelles’s story of love and courage. British debut for South Africa’s Gylkor Theatre.Window Dressing (St Bride’s, 031-346 1405, 15-27 Aug). Twins search for a lost mother in this fable on media exploitation from the Trestle Theatre Company, Britain’s leading mask and mime troupe.What Have Bluetits Got to Do with It? (Jericho House, 031-229 3555, 21-27 Aug).

A group of former psychiatric patients explore ‘reality contradictions’ – where one has a vivid yet unacceptable vision of the world.Wrench (Adam House, 031-650 8200, 14-19 Aug). Double Edge Drama was highly commended by the Independent for last year’s interpretation of Caligula. This black comedy is one of three plays they’re taking up this time, and turns on a haunted man who rebuilds the car that killed his violent brother. Their version of Buchner’s Woyzeck might also be worth a visit.Yes (Church Hill, 031-447 0111, 15-28 Aug). Two ideas of the eternal feminine converge in this one-woman portrait of Joyce’s vulnerable Molly Bloom, performed by the invincible Eartha Kitt. Devised and directed by Steven Rumbelow.Yoho (Festival Club, 031-650 2395, 22- 27 Aug). A cast of 14- to 18-year-olds highlight the misery of young people who can’t go home in this musical by Nottingham’s Lace Market Youth Theatre.