... THOMAS HUXLEY THOMAS HUXLEY College in Ac ton has a flourishing department of English and Drama, though it is designed to turn out teachers who speailise in the theatre, rather than actors as such. One of the lecturers, Peter Chilver, has dramatised Stendhal's Le Rouge et le Noir, and this was performed by a cast of both students and staff in the new lecture theatre between December 13 and 15 ...

... HOWFF THE PHANTOM CAPTAIN is back at the Howff as a late-night show with a Wild West programme called Howdy, Stranger! This is another in-joke, and not a very good one at that. The overall situ-ation is a cowboy convention held in Lon don's suburbia and attended by delegates who have never come within miles of a horse, let alone a steer. So far, very good, but it is spoiled by going on for ...

... BUSH UP AT the Bush Theatre, something else stirs. This is a new revue called Phase 3 and a Bit, put together by four young men, who, on December 16, took an irreverent look at the economies of this country, and our attitudes thereto, and found the whole lot wanting. Fortunately, the audience was better served. This is an intelligent cabaret, even if there is too much of the same length among ...

... Between the wars THE AMATEUR Swan Theatre Company presented the premiere of Happy Days Are Here Again, described as a look at the years between the wars, in fact and throueh the eyes of entertainment. It was devised, written and directed by Brian J. Burton, Chair man of the Company's Committee, with additional material by four others. A tremendous amount of research obviously went into the ...

... Impressive 'Time and the Conways' IN THEIR temporary theatre within Manchester Royal Exchange, the Sixty-Nine Theatre Company presented a revival of J. B. Priestley's Time and the Conways, which, though in one sense very much an actor's play, still gives pause for thought by the beholder. And as the author himself remarks in a programme note, It is indeed topical up-to- the-minute while ...

... Story of Columba COLUMBA, one of the first evangelists to set about the conversion of Scotland in the sixth century, is the subject of C. P. Taylor's new musical play presented jointly by Scottish Theatre Ballet Movable Workshop and Scottish Television at the Traverse, Edinburgh. The saint who emerges from Columba, a most imaginative production, is far removed, though not necessarily opposed ...

... 'THE PARTY', OR POLITICS IN KENSINGTON by R. B. Marriott IN TREVOR GRIFFITHS' The Party, the latest production by the National Theatre at the Old Vic, a group of people discuss politics at a gathering in the very smart Kensington home of a man who works in television. There are orations and tirades; various shades of political thought are examined. The behaviour and action of parties over ...

... Festival Ballet ANY ATTEMPT to display the finished work of budding choreographers does a valuable service to the art of dance, for good ones are even rarer than good playwrights. London Festival Ballet are aware of this and staged another of their periodic Choreographic Even ings of new work at the Collegiate on December 20, with seven varied works danced mainly by members of the company. ...

... 'The Feast of Fools' THE FEAST OF FOOLS at the Round House is rather different from the usual Christmas holiday fare. But despite large helpings of cruelty and bawdy, it's as homely as mince pies or pantomime. Master Paddy Fletcher de la Zouche whisks us away with a joke on his lips and a leer in his eye to the cosy womb of medieval England. In the Baronial Hall of Poindexter Armbuster you ...

... 'Flamenco Puro' PACO PENA's Flamenco Puro, back at the Queen Elizabeth Hall for two weeks from December 26, is a far remove from the flashy showbiz side of Flamenco as staged for tourists on Spain's popular costas. Devoid of excess frilly glamour and exaggerated movements, Paco Pefia's show gives an impression of authen ticity in its interpretation of this unique form of music which is ...

... Scottish Theatre Ballet THE FULL-LENGTH production of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker has proved to be an admirable Christmas programme at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh. Scottish Theatre Ballet are to be commended for this glittering formance, which has all the story-book ingredients for the festive season. It begins with an elegant Christmas party in the grand manner that leads in the dreams ...

... London Festival AFTER Nureyev's version of The Nutcracker, London Festival Ballet's appears quite traditional, though it is now in need of a firm guiding hand to give the production some consistency. Even the once neatly-designed costumes for the divertissements have in some instances been changed for some tasteless creations, the worst on account of overwhelming numbers be ing the ...