As the week of the Queen's Golden Jubilee draws to a close, there's a real sense of change in the air, with a raft of closings marking the transition from spring to summer in the West End.

Lady Windemere's Fan leaves the Theatre Royal, Haymarket; Daisy Pulls It Off says an early goodbye to the Lyric, Shaftesbury Avenue; The Island of Slaves sinks beneath the waves at the Lyric, Hammersmith; Life After Life leaves the Loft; and Where Do We Live moves out of the Royal Court's Jerwood Theatre Upstairs.

Along with the closures, there are, of course, a number of openings as well: on June 10 Julie Burchill Is Away opens at Soho Theatre, and As You Like It opens at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre; on June 11 Prunella Scales stars at the Greenwich Theatre in An Evening with Queen Victoria; on June 12 The People Are Friendly opens at the Royal Court; on June 13 A Prayer for Owen Meany at the National; and Rose Rage - Parts 1 and 2, at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket on June 16.

For fans of big brassy musicals the West End has several newcomers to offer: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Palladium, Bombay Dreams at the Apollo Victoria and We Will Rock You at the Dominion.

Speaking of loud, Umoja, the South African dance and drums show, which had to leave the Shaftesbury Theatre earlier in the year when Camden Council served the theatre with a noise abatement order, is to reopen at the Queen's on June 18, following previews from the 5th.

The Globe has begun its summer season on Bankside with a well-received Twelfth Night, and the classic seasonal show A Midsummer Night's Dream also just opened on June 5.

—By Paul Webb Theatrenow