... FOR as long as one cares to remember the work, of Gilbert and Sullivan has. apart from the D'Oyly Carte, been presented by amateur companies with hearty gusto and moderate finesse. There can be few who Have not joined in the fun on one side or the other of the foot lights, cherishing memories of harmonious music and worthy witticisms of an individual style which has no equal. One therefore ...

... MICHAEL CROFT's Youth Theatre production of Julius Caesar which began a short season it the Oueen's on August II. opens on a note of brilliant unconventionality with teenage Romans living in the streets to the strains of traditional jazz. And with thi^ Mr. Croft transforms v into a tale which b Tiding relevance to MoUcm-UiV ?.ire has often been i pon-- and more times tli. -vith gootl ...

... CRANKO'S COMIC BLOOD- AND-THUNDER BALLET by Eric Johns THE LONDON PREMIERE of John Cranko's music-hall burlesque of Sweeney Todd was given by the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden on Tuesday evening last. With tongue in cheek Mr. Cranko has re-told the tale of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, using a highly eloguent dance vocabulary. Most ingeniously he has chosen movements which are the ...

... THE Brighton and Hove Repertory Company were in top form for the opening Ust week of The Gaye Affair, a comedy by J. Barry Roach which concerns a novelist, Gaye by name and nature, particularly where the ladies arc concerned. His generous use of sex and medium has put him in the best-seller class and his publisher as clamouring for the completion of his next novel. He choses a luxury hotel ...

... 'The House of The Dead' LAST Friday evening saw the fifth and last production in the Prague Opera Season at the King's, Edinburgh, the British premifcre of Janacek's The House of the Dead. Written in 1928 to his own libretto adapted from Dostoevsky's Journal from the House of the Dead the work is a powerful evocation of the liv ing death of a prison camp in Siberia. Almost without plot, the ...

... Heartbreak House DUBLIN JOE VANEK'S pale, scanty set gives a sepulchral tone to this Gate production of Heartbreak House, and Patrick Mason's direction confirms the theme of mourning. The pace is as slow as a funeral march, and the Shavian humour is frequently overshadowed by a sense of doom. Individual performances are plausi ble. Ingrid Craigie is very fine as Ellie Dunn, and Alan ...

... Talk about it WATFORD The Picture Of Dorian Gray THERE is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about-says Oscar Wilde in The Picture of Dorian Gray. The Palace production of the play deserves and will be talked about. For an evening of satisfying theatre look no further than Watford's Clarendon Road. Wilde's way with words demands complete ...

... A Lonely Cowboy in Athens, 23 minutes, no English subtitles A NEW young composer featured in i this programme that consisted of a little film shooting around Athens, happy songs, some cartoons and some animation. The songs were acted out in some simple sketches of the boy and girl kind. The producer changed scene and changed pace in the numbers chosen. The cartoons and animation were used to ...

... Sweden ABBA in concert, 42 minutes ABBA in the United States preparing to work and then in London pre paring for their concert at Wembley provided the introduction to the concert, most of the filming of which took place at Wembley on conse cutive evenings. Six 16mm cameras operated simultaneously were con nected to a monitor in the producer's box. Time coding and catalogue film made it ...

... Denmark Three To One Against, 24 minutes, English subtitles A STUDIO show with some film inserts, this began with a comedy intro on a plane the pay off line being when a man pulls an air vent and the tyres deflate. The star of the show was assisted by three actresses and they attempted a parody on the Eurovision Song Contest and various sketches. Between the musical numbers we cut to an OB of ...

... Ireland Duets for Piano and Voice, 51 minutes, no subtitles TONY HATCH and Jackie Trent wrote the music for this show and after so much disco and rock the introduction was a pleasant change, the song of the title being particu larly catchy. The theme of the show was the contribution of the piano to music and this allowed a mix of many kinds of musical number. It added up to a well organised ...

... United States (ABC) The Third Barry Manilow Special, 49 minutes, no sub titles APART from a guest appearance from John Denver this was a solo performance from the star. The be ginning was rather awkward, with him trying to chat up the studio audience, but after that it settled down to be a very professional song show. The star, who also writes some of the material himself, was the show and his ...