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	Sex With A Stranger Valentine’s Day is just around the corner but, at last night’s opening of Stefan Golaszewski’s Sex With A Stranger, romance certainly wasn’t in the air. Q&A: Absent Friends Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy about six friends and a tea party that goes horribly, and hilariously, wrong opens at the Harold Pinter theatre this week, so Official London Theatre decided to find out whe... Schwimmer brings Dry Ice to Younis’s debut Bush season David Schwimmer will make his UK directing debut with Sabrina Mahfouz’s Dry Ice as part of New Writing, New Artists, Madani Younis’s inaugural season as Artistic Director at the Bush theatre. London hosts musical Two Cities As the world celebrates the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’s birthday, a new musical version of A Tale Of Two Cities is to open at London’s Charing Cross theatre. Malfi announces full cast to join Best Tom Bateman, Mark Bonnar, Harry Lloyd and Finbar Lynch have joined the cast of Jamie Lloyd’s forthcoming production of The Duchess Of Malfi. SFX Weekender Pontins, Prestatyn, February 3-5 Sex with a Stranger, Trafalgar Studios 2, London The singular comic talents of Stefan Golaszewski are mostly expended on works for television - as in Him & Her, a sitcom that applies Royle Family techniques to twentysomething slackerdom with inte... Zach Braff: Medicine man has the last laugh "Cereal and no coffee for breakfast at my house. Never a cappuccino or a latte – that was splurging. Then two slices of pizza and a Snapple for lunch. And a falafel sandwich or maybe a burrito fo... Louise Rennison: The teen queen who never grew up From the sanctuary of one's 20s and 30s, it is easy to regard our teenage years as a gauche wasteland of hormonal-fuelled angst best airbrushed from history. In author Louise Rennison's world, th... The Play’s The Thing for Spiro at the Globe Olivier Award-winning actress Samantha Spiro will star in Shakespeare’s Globe’s production of the Bard’s controversial comedy The Taming Of The Shrew this summer. Bloody Poetry, Jermyn Street Theatre, London The hotel on the other side of Lake Geneva cashed in on the delicious shamelessness of it. They hired out binoculars so that tourists could gawp pruriently at the Villa Diodati and its scandalous... The Rodin Project, Sadler’s Wells, London It takes a while for The Rodin Project, the latest work from choreographer Russell Maliphant, to get out from under its own draperies. Inspired by the work of the French sculptor, with a fascinat... Olivier Audience Award voting opens Voting is now open for the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Olivier Audience Award which gives theatre fans the chance to decide their favourite long-running show. Billy Connelly Llandudno Venue Cymru, February 1 Heads Up: Shakespeare with Wainwright What are we talking about? A Shakespeare-inspired evening at the Barbican, featuring the UK premiere of singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright's musical setting of five Shakespeare sonnets. She Stoops to Conquer, NT Olivier, London The House of Bernarda Alba, Almeida... Location, location, location. Marlow, a young city buck out in the sticks, has lost his bearings in Oliver Goldsmith's 18th-century comedy She Stoops to Conquer. Sporting fancy breeches and trico... The Dream/ Song of the Earth, Royal Opera House, London Without Warning, Old ... If anyone had set out on Wednesday night feeling short-changed by the absence of Sergei Polunin – scheduled to dance his first Oberon at Covent Garden but now in self-imposed exile – they had for... Acting dynasties: There's no business like family business Overqualified and under-employed – that is the lot of most young actors. But not if mummy or daddy is already treading the boards. Meet the new generation of me-toos following their parents on to... The National conquers SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER Review: Midnight Tango ELEGANCE, passion and the thrilling rush of the love of dance; never has the old adage describing the Argentinian tango, a vertical expression of a horizontal desire, been more vividly realised. Review: Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte and Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, Royal Opera What To Do, See & Buy: Niki & The Dove; Mary Shelley; The Forgetting of Prope... Flying high Ellis and Langford among 1000 Voices A host of West End stars will be behind some of the many voices participating in this year’s The Night Of 1000 Voices at the Royal Albert Hall, which will take place in May. Noises Off takes off Michael Frayn’s Noises Off will transfer to the West End following its overwhelming success at the Old Vic theatre. The Changeling Thomas Middleton’s asylum sub-plot in The Changeling is a somewhat confusing addition to his dark revenge tragedy. To counteract this problem, director Joe Hill-Gibbins has chosen to transform his ... Donmar announces Gill’s Noise cast Full casting has been announced for the Donmar Warehouse's forthcoming triptych Making Noise Quietly, with previous Donmar performers Susan Brown and Sara Kestleman joined by John Hollingworth, Mat... Dormer fronts After Miss Julie cast Natalie Dormer, Kieran Bew and Polly Frame will star in the Young Vic’s revival of Patrick Marber’s play After Miss Julie, which has extended its run by an additional week due to popular demand. Chancellor and Farrell star in double bill transfer Anna Chancellor and Nicholas Farrell will reprise their roles in Chichester Festival Theatre’s critically acclaimed double bill South Downs and The Browning Version when it transfers to the Harold ... Without Warning The Old Vic Tunnels London Without Warning has a brilliant location, but takes a while to make the most of it. The Changeling, Young Vic, London All the world is a madhouse at the Young Vic lately. Thriller of a night with Jacko tribute MICHAEL Jackson fans are in for a real Thriller as The World’s Greatest Michael Jackson Tribute heads to the Theatre Royal on Saturday, March 24. The Diary: Yayoi Kusama; Stephen Unwin; Charles Dickens; Other Cinema; Julian... Spot the difference Review: She Stoops To Conquer, National Theatre OLIVER Goldsmith's 18th-century comedy of manners proved a rumbustious triumph in the playwright's own lifetime and has pretty much been performed ever since. Review: Umoja, Peacock Theatre There is time and there is Africa time. This is a show that runs on Africa time. Unabashed it starts 15 minutes late and with encores and extra sequences overruns by an hour but nobody seems to care Jesus Christ Superstar could be woman TV bosses have not ruled out casting a woman in the lead role of Jesus Christ Superstar after launching a search for a new musical star. RAD summer courses for young dancers The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) has announced forthcoming workshops for budding young dancers taking place this summer. ANGLE at the Bush ANGLE scoured six West London boroughs for new plays, the resulting double bill is 45 minutes of nuanced, polished rawness. Mike Gunn and Sean Collins- Still on the Roadshow Catrin Finch Centre, Glyndwr University, Wrexham, Feb 1 The Dream/Song of the Earth Royal Opera House London Frederick Ashton’s The Dream and Kenneth MacMillan’s Song of the Earth are two of The Royal Ballet’s most-loved classics, making a terrific double bill. The Pitchfork Disney, Arcola, London It's the twenty-first anniversary of Philip Ridley's The Pitchfork Disney, the play that is often credited as being the started point of the 1990s "In-Yer-Face" school of writing. Oliver! - Palace Theatre has a huge hit on its hands OLIVER! is bursting with songs you want to hum along or tap your feet to. Review: Oliver! @ Palace Theatre, Manchester FOUR years ago, Samantha Barks was an unknown, teenage hopeful competing to play the iconic musical theatre role of Nancy. Ballet rebel may be kicked out of UK after losing his work permit Sergei Polunin, the rising star of the Royal Ballet who sensationally quit last week, will no longer be able to dance in the UK after his work permit was revoked. Theatre Review: Fair And Tender, Jackass Youth Theatre, Bishop Auckland Town ... CHILLING and deep but that Death fellow is a funny guy – my summations of this performance. Midnight Tango, Aldwych Theatre In Midnight Tango, Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace make traditional big entrances. She Stoops to Conquer, Olivier, National Theatre I was amused to see a credit for an Etiquette Consultant in the programme for the National Theatre's new She Stoops to Conquer. Brendan Cowell: An exclusive interview with the co-writer of The Slap Brendan Cowell, angry young man of Australian fringe theatre, co-writer of gritty TV drama The Slap, wants to talk Sex and the City. AN INSPECTOR CALLS The Lowry, Salford Quays Review: Strictly Come Dancing @ Manchester Arena MANCHESTER was awash with fake tan as the Strictly brought high camp, glitz and glamour to town. Black British actors told to head for Hollywood if they want big roles Black British actors should head to Hollywood as quickly as they can because they won't find leading roles in the UK, David Harewood, the acclaimed National Theatre performer, has advised. First Night Review: Midnight Tango with Flavia and Vincent FOR all its limitations, tango remains as popular as ever among the British public. It is not hard to see why, especially when danced with the spectacular histrionics of Vincent Simone and Flavia C... Review: TNA Impact @ Manchester Arena CUPPING his ear, flexing his 24 inch ‘pythons’ and milking the applause for all it was worth, it almost seemed like Hulk Hogan had never been away. Theatreland packs them in with record takings Economic doom and gloom may be sweeping the nation but London's theatres are still packing in the punters, with ticket sales hitting an all-time high for the eighth year in a row. Men in Motion, Sadler’s Wells, London Men in Motion, a celebration of male dancing arranged by Ivan Putrov, was upstaged before the curtain went up. The House of Bernarda Alba, Almeida, London Bijan Sheibani's mesmerically haunting and handsome production of this 1936 Lorca classic is performed in one hundred interval-less minutes. Strictly Come Dancing: The Live Tour, The O2 Arena, London Panto season is still with us. The Strictly Come Dancing live tour is a re-enactment of the television series, with everybody playing themselves. The cheesy training videos, the judges’ comments an... Henry V and The Winter's Tale, Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham (4/5, 4/5) Jingoistic jamboree or anti-war drama? The bracing thing about Henry V is that it is both. Hugh Cornwell The Lowry, Salford Paul Robeson Ucheldre Centre, Holyhead, January 28 First Night Review: Henry V & The Winter's Tale, Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham TRUST the text. Sir Peter Hall's son, Edward, has evidently inherited his dad's mantra for performing Shakespeare. And his all-male company is the perfect vehicle for his ambitions. The Trial of Ubu, Hampstead, London The Madness of George III, Apollo, Shafte... King Ubu is a glove puppet going psycho. In the prologue to Simon Stephens's new play The Trial of Ubu, as staged by Katie Mitchell, this miniature scabrous clown, resembling Mr Punch, zips around ... Men in Motion, Sadler's Wells, London At the start of last week, the name Sergei Polunin was barely known beyond hardcore ballet fans. On Tuesday, the 21-year-old walked out of his job as a principal dancer at the Royal Ballet. Heads Up: The Leisure Society What are we talking about?A starry new West End production of François Archambault's satire, a dark comedy in which a yuppie dinner party spirals out of control. Keep kingly David Haig in mind THE MADNESS OF GEORGE III 4/5 Apollo Theatre, London W1 (Tickets: 0844 412 4658, £20-£49.50, premium £65) THE TRIAL OF UBU Hampstead Theatre, London NW3 (Tickets: 020 7722 9301, £22-£29) BIG SOCIET... The odd couple: Mackenzie Crook and Mark Gatiss are back together again British TV comedy seems like it must be a small pond, what with the same familiar performers frequently popping up in different programmes. As I recall, the BBC made an engaging documentary, Come... Cultural Life: Kara Tointon, actress Theatre: I try to go to the theatre as much as possible. I saw 'The Ladykillers' at London's Gielgud Theatre, which was hilarious. The run has been extended because it has been so popular. It was... The Diary: Roman Polanski; BBC Radio; Denmark's best stand-ups; Royal Court Go no more a Roman This Shrew's subtleties get lost in the shouting WHAT is it about RSC actors and their private parts? For some time now they seem to find it necessary to fiddle and rummage around in their breeches for cheap laughs. And here we are again, with Ni... A new king reigns supreme FOR many, Alan Bennett's historical play will forever be associated with Sir Nigel Hawthorne, who played the ailing monarch in the original 1991 production and went on to immortalize it in film. Da... Eddie’s Up and Under SKY Sports commentator Eddie Hemmings will be featured in the new production of Centenary Theatre Company. National Theatre stages new Bennett play An Alan Bennett play and an adaptation of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time will be among the attractions at the National Theatre. Exit stage left: Royal Ballet in shock after losing leading man Sergei Polunin The Royal Ballet's biggest star, a 21-year old part-owner of a tattoo parlour who loves gangster movies, has left the industry in shock by walking away from Covent Garden. Not even his mother kno... Ruling the roost: The amateur actors who are taking on the role of Johnny 'Ro... It is one of the most celebrated plays of the 21st century, and, in Johnny "Rooster" Byron, it boasts one of modern theatre's most iconic characters. But so central was Mark Rylance's performance... Theatre Review: (The Reduced) School for Scandal, St Mary’s Parish Hall, Barn... THE Castle Players are out and about touring their winter production of (The Reduced) School for Scandal in a show that’s a visual banquet of colour with the most sumptuous costumes and no clutte... Theatre Review: Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers, Salturn Community Theatre WHAT a wonderful experience was my first and hopefully soon-to-be-repeated visit to Saltburn’s old Community theatre to see West Coast act Zoe Muth and her four-piece band. Awe inspiring - Beauty and the Beast at The Lowry BIRMINGHAM Royal Ballet’s production of Beauty and The Beast is certain to drain every ounce of awe out of everyone who sees it. First Drafts, Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London The Royal Ballet’s First Drafts makes an appealing evening of new work. All of human life is here - Two at the Royal Exchange TWO is a remarkable piece of theatre. Joe Orton: The life and crimes of a great playwright Over the next fortnight, Islington Museum in north London is marking an obscure, quirky and subversive slice of British literary history. On 25 April, it will be 50 years since Joe Orton, the pla... Theatre Review: Donna Disco, Newcastle Live Theatre DONNA is a 14-year-old, clumsy, bespectacled fat lass. She’s the victim of bullying by her school mates and her mum. Even her beloved nana, who makes great teas, isn’t really very helpful. Two with Justin Moorhouse and Victoria Elliot The Royal Exchange, Manchester Cliff hanger Sherlock Holmes at Garrick Sherlock Holmes’ arch-enemy, Professor Moriarty chases him and his side-kick Dr Watson across Europe in Altrincham Garrick’s Sherlock Holmes – the Final Case. The Two Worlds of Charlie F, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London The cast biographies in the programme for The Two Worlds of Charlie F are not your average trawl through rep theatre, Casualty appearances and RSC roles. Rather they list the actors’ rank, their to... Rice and Lloyd Webber: The row resurrected It was one of many attempts to reunite the most successful music and lyric-writing partnership in musical theatre. If Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice could just be locked in a room together, wit... A great leap forward for male dancers Are men in ballet upwardly mobile? It certainly looks that way – and it isn't only the leaps. This week Ivan Putrov, the Ukrainian-born star dancer formerly of the Royal Ballet, is presiding over... Mary Stuart, New Diorama, London Faction Theatre Company won this year's Peter Brook/Equity Ensemble Award, a gong founded by the visionary Blanche Marvin, in recognition of the fact that ensembles -- the best training ground thes... Breakin’ Brass, Rich Mix, London Breakin’ Brass is a club night, alternating funked-up brass band playing and a breakdancing showdown. It’s an unexpected mix, but a jubilant one. Energy levels are high, with some terrific dancing. The Prisoner of Second Avenue - Club Theatre I TOOK an overdose on Sunday night - an overdose of middle aged angst. The Two Worlds of Charlie F: A journey of discovery “I need more mongness from you,” director Stephen Rayne calls across the hallowed, ancient auditorium of the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Ghosts: Our love affair The supposed visit by Princess Diana's spirit to Chinese tourists in Scotland, revealed last week, was a timely apparition: ghosts are gearing up to make their presence felt this year, thanks to ... Crazy For You, Novello, London What's a likely tonic in a time of economic gloom? A musical made for an earlier time of economic gloom. Oh yes, and a hero desperate not to be a banker. Travelling Light, NT Lyttelton, London Constellations, Royal Court Upstairs, ... The silent movie has certainly made a comeback, what with The Artist nominated for 12 Baftas, alongside its Golden Globe wins. And the National Theatre is impressively on the ball – or so one mig... Review: Ysgol Bryn Elian performs West Side Story at Theatr Colwyn Theatr Colwyn played host this week to students from Colwyn Bay’s Ysgol Bryn Elian and other schools, performing Arthur Laurents’s and Stephen Sondheim’s famous musical West Side Story for three n... Constellations, Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court, London Not since Mike Bartlett's Cock, so to speak, have I been so exhilarated by a new play premiered at the Royal Court's Theatre Upstairs. Blood Brothers are back by popular demand MEMBERS of CODYS youth theatre group will perform Willy Russell’s play version of Blood Brothers at The Brindley. The Diary: River Phoenix; Arthur Darvill; Adam Fogerty; Kate MccGwire; Owen S... River remix Travelling Light, Lyttelton, NT, London Nicholas Wright is one of my favourite dramatists. I love the way that he can take vastly heterogeneous subject matter - from Melanie Klein to Vincent Van Gogh, from James Mossman to Terence Rat... L’Immediat, Barbican Theatre, London It must be terrifying to set up this show. L’Immédiat starts with a stage full of clutter. Furniture, cardboard boxes, ladders and stage equipment pack the whole space, out to the wings and right b... Theatre Review: Dreamboats and Petticoats, Sunderland Empire THIS production is set in 1961, when music was having its own revolution and was becoming a defining part of a whole new way of life. Plenty to think about in Sherica NATALIE is a problem child, a typically gobby teenager whose been in the care system and is being raised by her big sister, Katie. Translunar Paradise, The Pit, Barbican, London Theatre Ad Infinitum’s Translunar Paradise is a show about death and memory. A hit at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe, it comes to London as part of the London International Mime Festival. Director Georg... Our New Girl, Bush Theatre, London Fictional nannies tend to range from the magical Mary Poppins ("practically perfect in every way") to the Nanny from Hell who arrives nursing secret dreams of a twisted takeover. There's something about Mary Nighy Mary Nighy decided to become an actress when she was at junior school. She promptly made her first film when she was 11 – a gothic ghost story – and then found herself being directed by Sofia Cop... Haptic + Holistic Strata, Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London Hiroaki Umeda's dance double bill offers technological marvels, and not much happening. Mixing dance, computer imagery and video projection, Umeda surrounds and transforms himself with shifting lig... The Man in the Middle, Theatre 503, London "The most dangerous man in the world" or "splendide mendax" (the Horatian tag meaning "nobly untruthful")? A "high-tech terrorist" or the visionary who "invented a new way of keeping governments h... Pss Pss, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London Simone Fassari and Camilla Pessi, the award-winning double act Baccala Clowns, bow in triumph because they’ve managed to juggle a single apple. Then they flip coolly through challenging acrobatics,... Nomads Cinderella - traditional and up-to-the-minute SALE Nomads’ Cinderella written by their own Justin Morley, is a must for all ages. Although his version is child-friendly, there are above-their-heads jokes appreciated by the adults. The Moscow City Ballet, The Nutcracker Venue Cymru, Llandudno Cast of 'Les Mis' in revolt over royalties They made their names in the world-famous musical about revolution. Now actors from the first stage production of Les Misérables are gearing up for a revolt against the company behind the origina... The Table, Soho Theatre, London Romeo and Juliet, Royal Opera House, London Marketing the London International Mime Festival must be an annual headache. Lovesong, Lyric Hammersmith, London Huis Clos, Trafalgar Studios, London Man ... Elderly Maggie opens her wardrobe door and a young woman sashays out. For a while, family life in Lovesong seems frightfully overcrowded, resembling a game of sardines, or perhaps the more recent a... After 320 years, Paris theatre's stage hands demand égalité The most prestigious theatre company in France, the Comédie Française, has been thrown into confusion over a 332-year-old pay agreement. 'It's bigger than Harry Potter': fans queue for Jerusalem's curtain call Theatre lovers have camped outside the Apollo theatre in London for up to 36 hours to secure the last tickets to the most acclaimed play in the West End. David Lister: When will David Cameron make a song and dance about song and da... Whether or not you agree with what David Cameron said about the film industry this week, whether or not you think it insufficiently mainstream (as he does) or too mainstream, at least the Prime M... Review: PANTOS ON STRIKE - Manchester Opera House It is that time of year again when the immortal slice of theatre badinage is thrown back and forth from stage to stalls and back again. Oh no it isn’t! Oh yes it is! Cabbie's snooker story is right on cue On an unremarkable night in 2004, Middlesbrough taxi driver Ishy Din was listening to Radio 5 Live in his cab, when the station announced a competition to find short stories with a sporting theme. ... Mark Thomas: Walking The Wall, The Stand, Newcastle GIVEN the title, you’d be forgiven for thinking Mark Thomas was talking about walking along Hadrian’s Wall. As beautiful as that historical monument is, Thomas is an avowed political activist com... 'Wikiplay' tells Assange's story up to the most recent chapter In September 2011, Julian Assange's unofficial autobiography was published. It told of his nomadic childhood in Australia, his account of the events leading up to the sexual assault allegations t... The Art of Concealment, Jermyn Street Theatre, London Jermyn Street Theatre, which has just deservedly won The Stage's Fringe Theatre of the Year Award, kicked off 2011 with Less Than Kind, a fascinating, hitherto unperformed draft of an early play b... The Table, Soho Theatre, London The latest show from puppet theatre company Blind Summit goes from puppet stand-up to blockbuster movie effects in doodled form. Performed with deadpan precision, The Table is ambitious, unexpected... The King & I Venue Cymru, Llandudno Review: The Kind and I at Venue Cymru THEY reigned supreme as kings of musical theatre in the 40s and 50s and more than 50 years later the work of Rodgers and Hammerstein keeps packing audiences into theatres around the globe. Romeo and Juliet, Royal Opera House, London Running down from her balcony, Tamara Rojo’s shy Juliet can’t quite meet her Romeo’s eye. So, taking a gulping breath, she catches his hand and presses it to her heart. Israeli veterans wounded by 'offensive' play Veterans of Lehi, the most extreme of the Jewish underground groups during the 1940s has launched an angry protest at a play it says depicts the group as having brutally persecuted Jewish women w... Review: Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, Colne Muni WE all know the tale of Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs Huis Clos, Trafalgar Studio 2, London I intend it as a compliment (I think) to suggest that the subterranean confines of Trafalgar Studio 2 provide an ideal venue if you want to create the sense of a stifling claustrophobic hell. Sometimes I Laugh Like My Sister, Finborough Theatre, London Rebecca Peyton describes the moment she knew her sister had died with this unholy, guttural noise from the back of her throat. Resolution!, The Place, London The Place’s Resolution! season is older than many of the artists appearing in it. Twelfth Night, New Diorama, London Faction Theatre's account of Twelfth Night is terrifically fresh in its stripped-back - not to say, at one point, half-naked - inventiveness. A riots drama that goes back to the scene of the crime If the people can't – or won't – go to the theatre, some theatres are taking their shows to the people, in the case of the Tricycle's latest verbatim play, The Riots, to Tottenham, where last yea... The Big Society emerges at last – as a musical You've heard the soundbite, you've listened to the speech – now enjoy the musical parody. For anyone still grappling with David Cameron's notion of the Big Society, help is at hand. The Prime Minis... Being Modern: Living statues You can just imagine the conversation on a blind date. "What do you do, then?" "Me? Oh, I stand up." "No, I meant for a living." "Yes, for a living. I stand up." "Hmm, are you a Beefeater? Do you... Shall we dance? Just try stopping us! On stage, a dozen of the world's most talented dancers are performing pirouettes and pliés. Their costumes sparkle, but over them are draped adidas tracksuit tops and sweaters. Beneath crystal-se... Resolution! The Place, London Getting started as a choreographer is a conundrum akin to high-board diving. To acquire the skills, you must put yourself through it, but to do that, and not to fall flat on your face, requires skill. Noises Off, Old Vic, London Pippin, Menier Chocolate Factory, London Fog, Fin... All's quiet at the start of Michael Frayn's classic farce Noises Off. Fog, Finborough Theatre, London The soldier who returns to find that he's a stranger in the country he fought for is a familiar figure in drama (one thinks of Simon Stephens' recent Motortown), as is the absconding father who is ... Totem, Royal Albert Hall, London Cirque du Soleil has a highly successful formula that surrounds strong, polished circus acts with bombastic glitter and vaguely uplifting sentiment. Frankland & Sons: Secrets and family lives You've seen BBC1's Who Do You Think You Are?, the show where famous faces delve into their family history. Now, comes Frankland & Sons, a new stage production by theatre-maker and performer Tom F... Back to La Source: Opera National de Paris breathes new life into a forgotten... In these straitened times a new full-length classical ballet is a rarity, so the Opera National de Paris deserves praise for breathing new life into a forgotten hit from the 19th-century. With musi... Cultural Life: Melissa Hamilton, ballerina Ballet: Being a soloist with the Royal Ballet Company means I am pretty much on stage in every production throughout the season, leaving very little time to see other companies performing. YouTube ... Strictly Gershwin, London Coliseum, London For the end of their London Christmas season, English National Ballet dive into Strictly Gershwin with a will. Derek Deane’s production blends ballet and ballroom, with a dollop of tap dancing and ... Wall-to-wall Bard (with strings attached) In the bleak midwinter, ie the first fortnight of January, it's always lean pickings in terms of big opening nights. Venture forth, however, and check out the London fringe. A silver year for Matthew Bourne, and moments of solid gold If the coming dance year belongs to any individual, it's Matthew Bourne, celebrating a quarter-century of mould-breaking dance theatre. In the next 12 months, Bourne's company New Adventures will... 2012: The unmissable cultural treats Political theatre's final curtain As sure as night follows day, shortly after a newsworthy event, a play tackling the issues raised will be staged. Most recently, three months after the riots during the summer, and three months b... The French Detective and the Blue Dog, Theatre Royal, Bath In a small town "somewhere between Brussels and Bruges" a trapeze artist disguised as a laundry worker has been murdered. So opens Hattie Naylor's new musical, The French Detective and the Blue D... Murmurs, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London At the start of Murmurs, we see illusionist and performer Aurélia Thierrée with her life in boxes, idly popping bubble wrap. The Charity That Began At Home, Orange Tree, Richmond The remarkable Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond will enter its fifth decade on January 1 2012. One of its many virtues is a knack for unearthing fascinating rarities, especially from the Edwardian era. Slava's Snowshow, Royal Festival Hall, London Compared to the Gale Force 10 blizzard that is blasted into the auditorium at the end of Slava's Snowshow, the tornado at the start of The Wizard of Oz is for wimps and friends of Dorothy. The Sleeping Beauty, Theatre Royal, Glasgow In Scottish Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty, Aurora’s christening is celebrated in a Victorian country house world, on the lawn by the cedar tree. White Christmas the Musical Aled Jones at Liverpool Empire Theatre We need to talk about 2011: Tom Sutcliffe tries to pin down the character of ... Trying to determine the character of a cultural year is a bit like trying to establish the shape of a cloud when you're inside it. Set aside for the moment that cloud shape identification, like c... Critical mass: The Independent's cultural picks of the year THEATRE Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Orchard Theatre, Dartford Ann Widdecombe is evidently a convert to the “prolonged frivolity” she enjoyed while competing on Strictly Come Dancing last year. She is back in sequins, feathers and ra-ra skirts this winter in... Model performance: Agyness Deyn takes to the stage Agyness Deyn is to attempt the transition from walking the catwalk to treading the boards, with a West End debut pencilled in for early next year. The role in The Leisure Society may not be too m... Mojo, Silk Street Theatre, Barbican Centre, London Early in Mojo, the new show from Theatre-Rites, Leo Altarelli blows his trumpet, and bubbles cross the black backdrop in response. Herding Cats, Hampstead Theatre, London Lucinda Coxon's play may be set in the run-up to Christmas but don't go expecting feel-good Yule-tide fare. Why don't more British theatres put on Václav Havel's plays? The death of Václav Havel is a loss to the world of a man of great moral integrity. His activities as a dissident, his essays, his bravery and ultimately his political career, have overshadowed h... The Importance of Being Earnest, Riverside Studios, Hammersmith Has Gyles Brandreth – witty man of many parts though he is – met his Waterloo (“the line is immaterial”) with this attempt to portray Lady Bracknell in a new musical version of The Importance of Be... Magical Night, Linbury Studio, London The discovery of a long-lost item from a composer's early output is not always a cue to get excited. There may be a reason why the score was so carelessly mislaid, and Kurt Weill's Die Zaubernacht,... Arts review of 2011 - Theatre: Words failed us. But never mind the writers, l... Electrifying actorsThe skeletally gaunt actor Tom Brooke was riding the crest of a wave. Arts review of 2011 - Dance: How ballet became a blast again It was a year when dance leapt from stage to screen and on to the news pages. Haunted Child, Royal Court Downstairs, London The scintillating actor Ben Daniels is back on stage, with Sophie Okonedo (from The Slap), in an eagerly awaited premiere by Joe Penhall. This is the first play in four years from the author of Som... BOING!, Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler’s Wells, London BOING!, the new Christmas show from Travelling Light and Bristol Old Vic, has a brilliant connection with its child audience. From the beginning, five-year-olds were absorbed and giggly. When the p... Rope featuring Hatcham Social Wrexham's Central Station The Diary: Nick Clegg; Alexandra Roach; Lucian Freud; Secret Cinema; Graham L... Nick Clegg: a tragedy Cultural Life: Oliver Chris, actor Theatre: 'Matilda: the Musical' is brilliant on every level. Tim Minchin is a genius. Bertie Carvel makes a delicious psychotic old hag. The kids are also unbelievable. If an eight-year-old getti... Nutcracker!, Sadler’s Wells, London Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! was his first update of a classic ballet. Foxfinder, Finborough Theatre, London (4/5) There hasn't been a bumper yield of great new plays this year, but now, at the eleventh hour, comes this spell-binding dystopian parable by Dawn King. Review: Scrooge, The Lowry, Salford Quays YOU know that you’re going to get a good performance when one of the UK’s best-loved actors, Tommy Steele is the star of the show. Review: Aladdin, York Grand Opera House THE annual seasonal show at this venue never pretends to be anything other than a straightforward commercial pantomime aimed at younger audiences. Review: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Blackpool Grand Theatre LAUGHTER was in the air at Blackpool’s Christmas panto starring East Lancashire’s Corrie star Vicky Entwistle. A sparkling night in Pantoland Cinderella at The Stiwt, Rhos Rhydian Caneuon Cymraeg (Welsh Songs) CD now out Noises Off, Old Vic, London (4/5) There has never been a more brilliantly conceived machine for generating helpless audience laughter than Michael Frayn's 1982 classic Noises Off, which revived now by Lindsay Posner as a deliriousl... The Bollywood Trip, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre (1/5) The Bollywood Trip is a Danish musical about a self-proclaimed Bollywood star who transforms the lives of inmates and uptight staff in a Copenhagen psychiatric unit. It is every bit as awkward as t... Dick Whittington, The Journal Tyne Theatre, Newcastle Upon Tyne LET’S chuck Panto Suspension of Disbelief Dust over the fact that it seems to be London on Tyne and also that there seems to be some Alpine mountains on the “London” scene-cloths. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Middlesbrough Theatre THE cast and crew down at Middlesbrough Theatre have pulled it off once again this year. Review: Sinbad, Thwaites Empire Theatre, Blackburn We put this pantomime to the ultimate test by taking two young children whose usual choice of Saturday night entertainment is the X Factor. Review: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre and Coln... IF you are searching for a panto to watch this Christmas then look no further than Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre. You Can't Take It With You Manchester's Royal Exchange Dublin Carol, Trafalgar Studios 2, London (3/5) The straggling Christmas decorations look more than a little half-hearted (mostly bare spruce), but then the setting of Conor McPherson's play, first seen in 2000, is an undertaker's office and it ... You Can't Take it With You, Royal Exchange, Manchester (5/5) Frank Capra's classic film It's a Wonderful Life has become as established a landmark in the modern Christmas landscape as Dickens's story of Scrooge did in post-Victorian times. Aladdin Venue Cymru, Llandudno Annie, Quarry Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse I ALWAYS approach Annie with apprehension. A musical with orphans, a dog and a song – Tomorrow – that you find yourself singing involuntarily, has the potential to rot your teeth with sweet sentime... Magical Night, Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London (4/5) Of all the things you might expect from Kurt Weill, enchanted toys are low on the list. Cinderella Glyndwr University William Aston Hall Cinderella Mop In The Name Of Love Liverpool Playhouse Richard II, Donmar Warehouse, London Company, Crucible, Sheffield The Ladykil... Eddie Redmayne’s King Richard looks like an ivory tower personified. In Shakespeare’s drama of power struggle, Richard II – staged by Michael Grandage, the Donmar’s outgoing artistic director – R... The Nutcracker, Coliseum, London Six productions and rising. We're behind you! Panto has a bumper year! Christmas has come early for "resting" Hollywood actors and reality show also-rans. The Nutcracker, London Coliseum (3/5) Well, they’ve finished it. Last year, when Wayne Eagling unveiled his new Nutcracker for English National Ballet, it had visible rough edges: instead of coming to a conclusion, the finale just stop... Haunted Child, Royal Court, London (3/5) Actors are required to do some rum things in the line of duty. Review: Oliver, BASICS Junior Theatre School BURNLEY’S BASICS theatre group are, quite rightly, very proud of their successful alumni who’ve gone on to professional careers in musical theatre. Cultural Life: Joe Penhall, playwright Theatre: Arnold Wesker's 'The Kitchen' is one of my favourite plays. I saw a matinee of Bijan Sheibani's revival at the National and was transported. It's a warm, penetrating study of working lif... The Diary: Russell Tovey; Katie Leung; Martin Boyce; Sheridan Smith; Bennett ... Sex without Her The Ladykillers, Gielgud Theatre, London (5/5) Honour among thieves? Try telling that to the bunch of oddball crooks who wind up murdering each other in the classic 1955 Ealing comedy The Ladykillers. Pippin, Menier Chocolate Factory, London (3/5) This is going to take some explaining, so bear with me. Pippin is a musical of bouncy, Seventies pop vintage, the score and lyrics by Stephen (Godspell; Wicked) Schwartz. First night: Richard II, Donmar Warehouse, London Eddie Redmayne's brilliant Richard is already installed on his throne as the audience take their seats for this marvellous farewell production by the Donmar's departing artistic director, Michael... Vanessa Redgrave: A grande dame who won't conform An unprecedented tribute from the Academy of Motion Pictures in mid-November and, earlier this week, a Best Supporting Actress gong at the British Independent Film Awards for her overpowering per... Sydney Dance Company, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London Making its first London visit in more than twenty years, Sydney Dance Company was also drawing on more recent British connections. The Nutcracker, Royal Opera House, London The Royal Ballet’s Marianela Nuñez makes a delightful and delighted Sugar Plum Fairy. She looks carried away by happiness, hugging herself at the chance to dance for us. She’s the finishing touch o... Panto? It's so behind you! Try these instead ... What is it to be this year? A panto, or candlelit Handel? If the prospect of either fills you with Scrooge-like ennui – is it just me, or has the bin-man only just taken away last year's turkey s... Nativity record claimed by a cast of 788 A Somerset church may have broken the world record for the most people in a nativity scene. The Comedy of Errors, NT Olivier, London The Heart of Robin Hood, RST, Stratf... Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors is a case of multiple mistaken identities, of doubles doubled, two times two. Four long-lost twins zigzag the streets of Ephesus, farcically confusing everyone – an... Heads Up: Murmurs What are we talking about?A new family friendly show, Murmurs mixes illusions, theatre, music, dance and circus skills, taking the audience on "a journey of the imagination, where buildings disso... Random Dance, Sadler's Wells, London Artists and film folk have long been haunted by the work of Eadweard Muybridge, the enterprising Victorian photographer who set out to prove a point about a horse's gallop, and ended up inventing t... Shakespeare and F*%!ing: Mark Ravenhill at the RSC Burly, shaven-headed and pugnacious, Mark Ravenhill has always delighted in bringing shock tactics to the British theatre stage. 'Rooster' Rylance repeats Olivia role Nobody can deny that Mark Rylance is adaptable. Last year his role in the hit play Jerusalem won him an Olivier award; next year he'll be donning a dress and calling himself Olivia. Review: Dirty Dancing @ Palace Theatre, Manchester IT’S the summer of 1963 — well you all know the rest. Undance, Sadler’s Wells, London (2/5) Undance is a big-name collaboration. Choreographer Wayne McGregor, Turner Prize-winning artist Mark Wallinger and composer Mark-Anthony Turnage have got together in a work inspired by other artists... The Heart of Robin Hood, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Straford-upon-Avon (4/5) The greensward is a massive 40-foot high slope in The Heart of Robin Hood, the RSC's captivating new Christmas show. The Diary: Alecky Blythe; Martin Creed; James Corden; Darren Criss; Jo Nesbo Theatre to stoke the fires of hope Pantomime dame dies during show A pantomime dame has collapsed and died during an amateur performance of Dick Wittington in Curdridge, near Winchester. Artist Su Blackwell makes the cut on The Snow Queen The papercut artist Su Blackwell is turning her hand to stage design for the first time by creating the sets for The Snow Queen at the Rose Theatre in Kingston. "It starts off with an industrial,... The Nutcracker: It's all going nuts at the ballet You expect The Nutcracker at Christmas, but this year the family ballet favourite isn't just ubiquitous; it's carpet-bombing the country with sugar plums. Whenever I spot a poster for The Nutcrac... First Night: The Comedy of Errors, Olivier, National Theatre, London After One Man, Two Guvnors, the National Theatre now gives us "One Play, Two Sets of Identical Twins", aka, The Comedy of Errors, another play that is – in part, at any rate – a rumbustious romp. T... The Kitchen Sink, Bush Theatre Martin knew that being a milkman was his vocation when a little old lady started leaving full jars of jam and Branston Pickle out with her empties alongside a note asking him to “Please open”. Burlesque, Jermyn Street Theatre, London (4/5) What would you get if you crossed Arthur Miller with Max Miller and added a wittily knowing score and a few nipple-tassels? Stick Man, Leicester Square Theatre, London (4/5) Pitiable Stick Man, like Griffin Dunne’s lost, stick-thin yuppie in Martin Scorsese’s After Hours or Jonathan Pryce’s persecuted bureaucrat in Terry Gillian’s Brazil, finds himself caught up in eve... Top hat! Return to the golden age of the musical Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers cheered cinematic audiences expecting "trouble ahead" by urging them to "face the music and dance". Fast-forward 75 years and theatres across the country are stagin... The Panto season is back... Given its status as Britain's one truly original art form, and its noble antecedents – commedia dell'arte, Georgian theatre, Victorian music hall and variety – you might think that pantomime woul... The Riots, Tricycle, London New World Order, Shoreditch Town Hall, London The... In 2012, the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee will complete its inquiry into this August's anarchy, which spread like fire across London and to other English cities. Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House, London Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Jerome B... Regardless where you stand on classical dance – sold on it, or sceptical – there may never be a better time to see the Royal Ballet. David Lister: Internet reviewers shoot from the hip – but there's one moral c... Like many of you reading this, I shall be watching the second series of The Killing this weekend, and every weekend right up until Christmas. Fantastic Mr Minchin wows the West End It is the latest West End smash hit, a musical adaptation of Roald Dahl's Matilda every bit as surreal and twisted as the literary original about a bookish girl with extraordinary powers. But, ab... The Diary: The Soho Theatre; Marilyn Monroe; Julie Walters; Salman Rushdie Tired of shouting "he's behind you!"? Fed up with booing Abanazar? The Soho Theatre has a twisted take on the traditional pantomime which may appeal. Tom Sutcliffe: Does Kate Bush deserve the five-star critics? The phrase "critic-proof" isn't an approbatory one for most critics, for rather obvious reasons. Very few critics I know have any grand delusions about their influence, and no real expectations t... Review: Opera North's Madama Butterfly @ Lowry, Salford I FELL in love with Puccini at his birthplace in Tuscany. Measure for Measure, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon The red-light district of Vienna is one big bondage club in Roxana Silbert's blackly droll and provocative new production of Measure for Measure. 3Abschied, Sadler's Wells, London In 3Abschied, choreographers Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Jérôme Bel look on Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde and try not to despair. The evening is part dance, part deconstruction, part confessi... The Riots, Tricycle Theatre, London Not for the first time, the Tricycle Theatre has stepped in where the authorities feared to tread. Yes, Royal Opera House, London The starting and finishing point for Errollyn Wallen and Bonnie Greer's chamber opera Yes is Greer's 2009 appearance on BBC's Question Time alongside the British National Party's Nick Griffin. Katherine Jenkins busks at London Tube station Famous mezzo soprano Katherine Jenkins normally fills concert halls. But today her audience was bemused London commuters passing through Leicester Square tube station, as the singer, in a partial d... Royal Ballet Triple Bill, Royal Opera House, London The Royal Ballet's latest programme opens with a confident recent ballet, then tangles with the past, from Frederick Ashton's evocation of Elgar to Kenneth MacMillan's lament for the First World ... Sacred season of contemporary performance Chelsea Theatre's season of contemporary performance kicks off this week. Sacred is a jam-packed programme of live art which starts in November but is scattered throughout the year. Review: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz @ Octagon Theatre, Bolton LAY your cynicism aside and get into the festive spirit, for the Bolton Octagon’s retelling of the Wizard of Oz is wonderful indeed. Reasons to Be Pretty, Almeida Theatre, London Gallantry is as rare as flower-arranging in the world of American dramatist Neil LaBute, so, in a sense, Steph should count herself lucky. Boos turn to cheers for playwright Bean as he scoops top drama awards Two years ago, Richard Bean sparked the National Theatre's first ever onstage protest amid accusations that he had written a racist play. Last night he triumphed at the Evening Standard Theatre A... The Lion in Winter, Theatre Royal Haymarket, London Juno and the Paycock, NT ... Is he still the king of beasts when nipped by frost? Yawn Again? Is this year's Boring conference too interesting? The organiser of this year's Boring conference – a London gathering dedicated to the delights of the mundane, obvious and overlooked – has a problem. He is worried it is in danger of being too in... Report: Accrington Christmas Lights switch-on 2011 WITH GALLERY: Accrington town centre dazzled with lights last night after a performance by clubland star Kelly Llorena. Review: Beautiful Thing @ Royal Exchange, Manchester HOW refreshing it is to watch a play that portrays gay people as real people and not just camped up figures of fun. Review: La Cage Aux Folles @ Mechanics, Burnley A TRIP to the south of France is a welcome break to our autumnal skies, and a perfect chance to forget your woes. Juno and the Paycock, National Theatre: Lyttelton, London The most obtrusive – and the most questionable – feature of Howard Davies's revival of Juno and the Paycock is the monumental design by Bob Crowley. Set in 1922 during the bitter civil war betwee... First Night: Reason To Be Pretty, Almeida Theatre, London Gallantry is as rare as flower-arranging in the world of Neil LaBute so, in a sense, hairdresser Steph should count herself lucky. Rambert Dance Company, Sadler's Wells, London In its 85th anniversary year, Rambert Dance Company has plenty to celebrate. Work has just begun on a new home for the company, on London's South Bank. The dancers are in fine form, strong and in... The Diary: Jack du Rose; Nicholas Lloyd Webber; David Hockney; Russell Kane Rose to the occasion Tom Sutcliffe: A guide to the Bard's best gags I found myself wondering whether you could draw up a top ten of Shakespeare's best jokes the other night. What I had in mind wasn't the sort of thing that an Elizabethan audience would have ident... Review: Jerry Sadowitz @ Albert Halls, Bolton The Jewish Scottish comedian and magician could well be the most offensive man on the comedy circuit — a circuit from which he has been sorely missed in recent years. The Lion in Winter, Theatre Royal Haymarket, London "Well, what shall we hang – the holly or each other?" Dad (aka Henry II) asks his assembled brood. 'Tis the season to be bitchy in The Lion in Winter, James Goldman's 1966 play, revived now as al... Beautiful Thing, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester It is quite wrong to say that there is a happy ending to this production of Beautiful Thing. Rather than conclude, it simply dissolves into a star-spangled finale of kitschy live-in-the- moment j... Salt, Root and Roe, Trafalgar Studios, London The Donmar's second season at the Trafalgar Studios – designed to showcase the work of its young resident directors – gets off to a cracking start with this lovely new play by Tim Price. The Changeling, Southwark Playhouse, London The repulsive has its perverse, magnetic attractions. We can lust for what we defensively loathe. This is the message that throbs through The Changeling, the erotically charged and psychologically ... Review: Sarah Millican @ King George’s Hall, Blackburn I don’t like female stand-up comics. They’re usually man-hating feminists telling jokes that belittle men, and are often one-trick ponies. Heads Up: Howl's Moving castle What are we talking about?A new play of Diana Wynne Jones's novel – which was also made into a successful animated film by Studio Ghibli – is being staged in the Southwark Playhouse's atmospheric... The Diary: Carsten Höller; Harold Pinter; Fyfe Dangerfield; Noel Fielding; Cl... Slide away Sergei Polunin: One giant leap for British ballet Stage lights, says Sergei Polunin, can conceal as much as they illuminate. Perhaps it's just as well, because among this youthful Ukrainian's ventures into body art beyond ballet is a simulation ... Review: Haha Club @ The Sparrowhawk, Fence It may have been chilly outside but the wintry weather did little to cool the lively Tuesday night crowd. Performing Medicine: A thrilling body of evidence Forget medical dramas on television, this is far more fascinating stuff. Performing Medicine, a six-week arts season on anatomy, curated by Clod Ensemble in London, aims to be more thrilling than H... Review: Spiers and Boden, Darwen Library Theatre ALTHOUGH one half of folk’s foremost duo was clearly struggling with a throat infection, it didn’t detract from a fine evening’s entertainment. Rylance defends Shakespeare film's right to question identity of Bard Mark Rylance, one of Britain's most respected actors and the founding artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London, has defended his role in a film that pours doubt on the identity ... Michael Sheen: 'You can never be certain you have got it right’ As Michael Sheen takes the role of Hamlet, he and other leading actors talk about their biggest – and most challenging – roles. Diary: The talking dead It's every teenage girl's dream: a séance with James Franco (above left). The Hollywood actor/ artist/everything will present a new three-part work inspired by Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menag... Observations: A condemned man won't look back in anger by Nichola McAuliffe I just wanted to write a play that told the story of the people involved in an extraordinary series of events. I am not a Stoppard or a Hare, I am neither intellectual nor political but I think dra... Tom Sutcliffe: Comic timing's no laughing matter We often hear, from dramatists and actors, about the magical togetherness that theatre can create in an audience – those special moments which are the product of a live performance meeting collecti... Review: South Pacific, Palace Theatre, Manchester THE soaring melodies of Richard Rodgers’ rich score sweep you away to the South Pacific when the overture to this production starts up. Bourne again: ballet's enfant terrible bites back He has reinvigorated ballet with eccentric takes on classic tales. And with a new production featuring ancient vampiric creatures cast into the modern world, Matthew Bourne could well enjoy yet m... Bolshoi's back after scandal-hit refurbishment Whether the tsarist double-headed eagle or the hammer and sickle has adorned its portico, Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre is uniquely symbolic of Russian national identity and pride. On Friday, after ei... 'If they'd had Twitter, then the Paris Commune may have won' First, can you tell us a bit about your background/ previous work?I trained at Middlesex University, on their Theatre Arts degree. It’s a fantastic course and most certainly my training ground for ... The Diary: Steve Jobs; Tom Hunter; Michelle Dockery; BBC's Parade's End; Davi... From Battersea pub theatre to a smash hit on Broadway It was first performed in a tiny 65-seat theatre above a pub in Battersea. Boyd ready to exit RSC stage Michael Boyd is to stand down next year as artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. The Diary: Primate Cinema; J M Synge; New Sensations exhibition; Walter Hugo;... Wearside story: how Mackems took the Paris stage by storm Forget Alice in Wonderland, try Paris in Sunderland. A new play that is winning rave reviews in Paris has groups of working-class Wearsiders slagging each other off in French. Jez Butterworth: The man who wrote a stage sensation Walking past a copse with an abandoned caravan on a particularly derelict stretch of the Norfolk coast this summer, a friend commented, "how very Jerusalem". By which he meant, obviously, not the... We’ve Moved! OxfordTheatreReview.com is currently under construction. In the meantime, please visit our new site at: www.OxfordTheatreReview.co.uk Communicating Doors (8th Week TT 2011) Oxford Playhouse Tuesday 21st – Saturday 25th June “This is farce at its very best” Sam Bell “Across six decades Ayckbourn brings a tangle of touching lives to the Playhouse.” Tim Goundry Click h... MUSIC: Queen’s College Choir – ‘Music for a Summer’s Evening’ Saturday 18th June, 7:30pm Queen’s College Chapel and Hall ‘It was as if whoever thought up the programme had decided to create some kind of über-concert, to show off a necromantic choir for whom t... MUSIC: New Chamber Opera Recital- Nick Pritchard (7th Week TT 2011) Friday 17th June, 1:15pm New College Ante-chapel “quite possibly the most delightful auditory experience of my week.” Eleanor Franzen ‘Pritchard sings Britten like an old friend, gently but confid... MUSIC: Oxford University Philharmonia Trinity Term Concert (7th Week TT 2011) Sheldonian Theatre Thursday 16th June, 7:30pm “a very pleasing way to spend an evening” Eleanor Franzen outstanding; very good; good; average; poor. Oxford University Philharmonia Trinity Ter... The Oxford Revue and Friends (7th week TT 2011) Oxford Playhouse 16 June 2011, 7:30pm “Amongst other subjects, we were in for a night of homicide, patricide and spaghetticide” Aimee Cliff “The guy sitting next to me could be heard asking, ‘What... Idiots of Ants (7th Week TT 2011) North Wall Arts Centre Wednesday 15 June, 8:00pm “Relying heavily on sex jokes and loutish banter, the Idiots still manage to make the audience laugh with every sketch with their lovable, lively st... Charley’s Aunt (7th Week TT 2011) Merton College Gardens Wednesday 15 June – Saturday 18 June “a comedy, involving cross-dressing, mistaken identity, and misfired love matches” Nora Schlatte “The audience sits and delights as the ... Tamburlaine (7th Week TT 2011) Keble O’Reilly Theatre Wednesday 15 June – Saturday 18 June “Laine presents a brash and cruel character. His Tamburlaine is not particularly manly or physically imposing but clearly delights in the... Brideshead Revisited (7th Week TT 2011) Corpus Christi Auditorium Tuesday 14 June – Saturday 18 June “It is in Christina Drollas’ delicately crafted soliloquies that Samaha’s performance stuns; standing in a single beam of light, a shaf...