... A Dead Secret PLYMOUTH FROM tne opening scene an unnerving oppressive atmosphere hangs over the large house in London's WUlesden Park. The tension and sinister air combine to create a claustrophobic presence which slowly and skilfully envelops and suffocates Kit Surrey's imaginative and spacious set. Rodney Ackland's rarely staged Edwardian thriller relies heavily on mood and characterisation ...

... Frontiers LEIGHTON PARK LIKE its forebears, Frontiers deals with the effects of family life divided by a regime; the major difference with this latest show by Michael Omer is that the regime has no time or place limitations. It is an anonymous, unidentified dominance with universal connota tions, generalising all revolutions and regimes. The appeal of such a timeless piece is obvious, making ...

... They're in the clear LYRIC HAMMERSMITH The Winter's Tale NO Theatre De Complicite production is complete without Edna Everage spectacles and country-hick suits, not to mention the odd pair of goofy teeth. The company remains adventurous yet mannered, fey and fallen into self- parody. The acting is by turns hammy and inspired. Despite the familiar gim micks, however, its retelling of The ...

... A tunnel vision MANCHESTER The Man Outside WOLFGANG Borchert died of an acute liver disorder at the age of 26. The year was 1 947, the same that this, has only play ever to have been performed, became a hit in Germany. I mention this because I consider it relevant when attempting to compre hend the level of torture in a young mind that could create this, quite sim ply the most devastatingly ...

... Fancy that! Gate His Lordship's Fancy WITH this 1752 Goldoni farce about an upstart philandering Marchese brought low by the local peasantry (given in Joe Farrell's modern-sounding translation) the Gate concludes its international season of four plays touching on the turmoil beneath the Age of Reason that was to erupt with the French Revolution, the dramatic harbinger of which we have hitherto ...

... Curlew River MUSIC THEATRE ULSTER MUSIC Theatre Ulster's presentation (for the BOC Covent Garden Festival) of Britten's Curlew River is an impressive achievement. There is a wonderful commitment and concentration to the performance, with the virtuoso instrumental writing expressively handled by the small band ot musicians. The staging was in St Paul's church, a venue, the Christian ambience ...

... Rose English Royal Court ROSE English, much championed as an indefinable avant gardist has, true to form, come up with a new indefinable revue. i antamount tsperance employs five immortals in a theatrical limbo- land invaded by two magicians, three musicians, an aerialist and a tango dancer. It would be hard indeed to assemble a more dischordant bunch. Gravely bearded and suited as the title ...

... Scenes from a Men's Changing Room Royal Court ADVANCE publicity told us that Edward Lam's Scenes from a Men's Changing Room was inspired by pictures by David Hockney and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. i ne programme on me nigni informed that, in lieu of a literal changing room, the action was to take place in a cinema, a cafe, a classroom, and an interrogation room. Personally I was ...

... Songlines THE PLACE THE magnificent 28-piece Grand Union jazz orchestra, experimental yet accessible, celebrates its tenth anniversary with an outstanding work of New Age metaphysical music. Tony Haynes epic compositions, with lyrics by David Bradford, are inspired by the Aborigines' story of the Creation when the world was sung into existence in the Dreamtime as the Rainbow Serpent emerges ...

... Heartless ICA IF J M BARRIE is not already turning in his grave from Spielberg's Hook then he will be from this latest inter pretation of his Peter Pan, Heartless. Here the sinister land of Peter, Wendy and the Pirates becomes the nightmare world of multiple child murders. No more the revengeful old crocodile who has swallowed a clock but rather children who have had their hearts ripped out ...

... Under The Stars GREENWICH THE UNDERSTUDY has become almost as mythic a theatrical figure as the clown, a person whom one assumes is backstage but never gives a thought about. There is something contrived about Richard Crane's play, tailored to fit the myth, because in today's theatre a leading role is usually covered by somebody who is already in the company, and the permanent understudy who ...

... Misha's Party BARBICAN PIT The RSC's unofficial American house dramatist, Richard Nelson (Some Americans Abroad, Principia Scriptoriae, Two Shakespearean Actors, Columbus) is no stranger to working in collaboration with others, for he wrote the book of Chess. But, however tncky it was collaborating on that musical it surely could not have been quite so testing as working on this piece with the ...