Gabriel

Devonshire Park Theatre, Compton Street, Eastbourne, Tuesday, April 11 to Saturday, April 15, 7.45pm (2.30pm, matinee Weds and Sat), 01323 412000

This drama, set in 1943 German-occupied Guernsey, stars Paul McGann as a Nazi commander. McGann will be familiar as onetime Doctor Who and the narrator in cult comedy Withnail and I. Von Pfunz is a forebidding yet vulnerable war villain, whose insecurities and past traumas begin to unravel the longer he stays with native Jeanne and her daughter Estelle. The arrival of the mysterious Gabriel only further thickens the plot.

Romesh Ranganathan

The Hawth, Hawth Avenue, Crawley, tomorrow, 8pm, £11.50, 01293 553636

The comedian’s profile has risen considerably in the last few years, with critics praising him for his quick-wittedness. The Guardian said “his ability to produce bitingly fresh gags marks him out from the crowd”. Ranganathan’s respected position in British comedy is evidenced by the fact he is now curating events; as well as performing himself at The Hawth, he is joined by comics Ian Stone and Laura Lexx. Ranganathan grew up in Crawley and will surely be relishing the prospect of a hometown gig.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea

De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill, Wednesday, April 12 (1.30pm) and Thursday, April 13 (11am and 2pm), £12.50, 01424 229111

Families can expect plenty of singalongs and cartoonish chaos from this popular production which comes straight from a run in the West End. Based on the book by Judith Kerr, the plot of the play is self-explanatory; a tiger interrupts a family’s dinner. The story is laden with more meaning than first meets the eye, though, as the Bexhill audience will discover. David Wood OBE, the man behind this adaptation, is arguably the UK’s leading children’s playwright.

The Kooks

The Prince Albert (1pm) and The Hope and Ruin (7.30pm), Brighton, tomorrow, tickets from Resident Music from 8.30am

The Brighton band are marking a new compilation with two intimate hometown gigs. 4. Best known for their hits Naive and She Moves in Her Own Way, The Kooks – who attended BIMM Brighton – achieved a number two spot in the charts with their debut album Inside In/Inside Out. Singer Luke Pritchard said: “It’s been the greatest pleasure to work, travel, fight, hate and love the best and most talented people I’ve met in my life.”

Million Dollar Quartet

Theatre Royal Brighton, New Road, Monday, April 10, to Saturday, April 15, 7.45pm (2.30pm matinee on Thursday and Saturday), from £15, 08448 717650

What happened when rock and roll icons Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins entered a recording studio together? This musical production seeks to answer that question with a score of rock hits – including Blue Suede Shoes, Great Balls of Fire, Hound Dog and more – and the inside story of the legendary occasion. Sure to be a swinging night.