... Mistress of the Inn Perth/Touring This production of Carlo Goldoni's period piece will tour the Perthshire community after its run at Perth Theatre. Director Michael Winter has obviously had this in mind, as it will work better in smaller venues. As a big house production, it is very much a non-event. Peter Watson's new version is plain almost to the point of banality and there is a certain ...

... Ironmlstress Cardiff An imposing naked female figure, cast in iron, dominates the setting and action of this April de Angelis play. In its shadow, Martha, the widow of 19th century ironmaster Abraham Darby, fights to control her foundry in a man's world, gaining a reputation as an uncompromising ironmistress. But as she prepares her wilful daughter, nicknamed Little Cog, for marriage, ...

... Carmen Cambridge/Touring Sex and violence, passion in an exotic setting and irresistible tunes make Bizet's opera a favourite with audiences. From the opening bars of the overture, taken at a cracking pace by conductor Paul McGrath, this is an exhilarating production. Staged at the Cambndge Arts Theatre, it is costumed by Chrissie Madison in the latest clubbing fashions, sung in English and, ...

... Independence Day Oval House Christopher Rodriguez's play is an electric, passionate study of two people caught in a love that is destroying them. Rosemary (Josephine Welcome) is a fiftyish Trinidadian woman married to the thirty-something Marcello (David Durham), much to the consternation of the world around them. Neighbours spy on the couple in macabre fascination, his colleagues snigger ...

... Solitary Animals Hackney Empire Studio Almost panto-like, plays appear each year that link the world's violence to our own sheltered lives. Many of these are ho-hum, but a few manage to bypass our woolly consciences and get our brains ticking instead. Elaine Acworth's production falls into the latter category. Laurel, played by Laura Wilkinson, is a foreign correspondent who is HIV-positive ...

... Richard III St Luke's Church Directed by Bryan Torfeh, this all- female production is described in the programme as a rough draft, based on limited rehearsal time. While most of the cast members know most of their lines, the workshop element can be seen in the overreliance on signifying and other acting shortcuts such as mechanical posing, excessive reactions, eye-rolling and the like. As ...

... Provocatively sensual show Lyttelton Baby Doll Late in life Tennessee Williams wrote Tiger Tail, a melodramatic stage version of his screenplay Baby Doll, which unsuccessfully surfaced three years ago in Plymouth. But Lucy Bailey, whose Birmingham Rep production transfers to the National, was lucky enough to get permission to adapt the earlier film script under its original title. Back in ...

... Rosmersholm Nottingham It is a rare treat for a British audience to see Henrik Ibsen's work performed by a Norwegian company. The National Theatre of Norway, directed by Terje Maerli, does full justice to this rarely performed play, which tells the darkly brooding tale of Johannes Rosmer, a pastor who has lost his faith, and his self-seeking foster-daughter Rebekka. She is an emancipated ...

... Brief Encounter Windsor/Touring Andrew Taylor's creaky transliteration of David Lean's movie masterpiece from screen to stage, revived for a short season at the Theatre Royal, has been partly recast since it was last seen on tour. Jenny Seagrove takes over as a poignant if rather lachrymose Laura, missing the stoic gaiety of Celia Johnson's film portrayal but still cutting an attractive figure ...

... Gerald Berkowitz ...

... Shelf Life Staged at the Phoenix Centre, this is a diverse entertainment encompassing farm grumbles and rural concerns, a view of consumer society and human life. Its start, on a farm, suggests a gritty drama, but diverting animal props and humour soon make the point that gritty is not the house style of Theatre Alibi. The plot soon begins to whim sically consider the plight of a shy man ...

... Essential Scottish Opera Musselburgh/Touring This annual tour of highlights from Scottish Opera is an unashamedly populist treat. It provides people across Scotland with an evening of guaranteed hits. Beyond that, it allows regular patrons to savour strong and confident voices, like that of tenor Alfred Boe, up close in a relatively small space, as here at the Brunton. Cleverly directed by ...