... 'Absurd Person Singular' fun and chill by R. B. Marriott ALAN AYCKBOURN'S latest comedy. Absurd Person Singular, at the Criterion, is very well designed for popular laughter, technically and verbally, yet has a chilling element which produces a feeling of sadness. His characters, or caricatures are three married couples who spend three successive Christ mas Eves together, party fashion. ...

... Last takes over from Jenner DESMOND KELLY has a presence which exudes nobility and his dancing of prince roles is, in this respect, unmatched by anyone in the Royal Ballet. At Covent harden on July 12 he danced nis first Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beaty. giving the role his customary unhurried elegance, positive reactions, clear mime and in valuable assistance in lifts. It was hard ...

... ABBEY OPERA DISASTERS, they say, come in threes. So apparently do revivals of Iolanta, the Tchaikovsky one- act opera about the blind daughter of that mythical-historical King Rene of Provence who provided one unfortunate queen for England and numerous libretti and plots. The Camden Festival revived Io lanta in the early sixties and the English Opera Company are about to add it to their ...

... Poor Gulbenkian A SECOND LOOK at Ballet Gulbenkian did nothing to alter one's first impression that this is a company without any genuine creativity, despite the presence of talented dancers and good presentation. The two new pieces introduced on ?iuiy it at saaiers wells Theatre both showed up the absence of a true company style, and in both instances the experimental side of the work was ...

... Institute of Choreology THE INSTITUTE of Choreology is a fast-growing organisation and at the annual demonstration and award of diplomas on July 6 the chairman of the Council, Nicholas Dromgoole, remarked on the increasing demand for choreologists and the consequent need for larger premises. These may soon be available in a South Coast town, though this will mean splitting the work of the ...

... Georgia at the Garden WHAT A SURPRISE to hear Georgia Brown in the august surroundings of the Royal Opera House, and what a success she is in the The Seven Deadly Sins, the Brecht-Weill moral tale staged by the Royal Ballet (July 19). She sings Anna, the daughter of an ambi tious Louisiana family who send her out in the world to earn money so they can build their own house, and she ...

... Bush Davies 'Our Way' ONE really commendable aspect of the performance by Bush Davies Schools' students at the Adeline Genee at East Grinstead on July 21 was their projection. Nothing about their work was half-hearted and the decision to stage their own show. Our Way. instead of reconstructing a full-length ballet, was completely justified bv the results. The range of dance items on show ...

... Royal Ballet School AFTER THE SPLENDOURS of the annual matinee at the Royal Opera House, students of the Royal Ballet School get down to the more slogging routine of a week at Richmond followed by open-air performances in Holland Park, both times in tront of less ex clusively balletic audiences. The Richmond week opened on July 16 with a triple bill, which included Alfred Rodri- gues' ...

... Foretaste of 'Ring' THE FORTHCOMING two complete cycles of Wagner's Ring in Andrew Porter's translation constitute this year's major operatic achievement at the Coliseum, giving English-speaking audiences their first chance to fully understand the text of this great and complex work while it is being sung A foretaste, as it were, is now available on a couple of discs which Sadler's Wells ...

... Nigerian National Troupe AS PART of their two-month tour of Eastern and Western Europe, the Nigerian National Troupe are this week presenting a Fantasia of Dance and Music at the Round House. The programme is made up of song. instrumental playing and dance, ritual, courtly and pea sant of the Northern and South-Eastern States and of the Edo people. It ends with the Nigerian equivalent of ...

... Stoke pioneers' SCREAMING and shouting, 200 children invaded the audi torium of the Victoria, Stoke- on-Trent, bounced on the seats and heckled the actors. But it was all part of a plan devised by former Vic actor. Christ opher Martin. He had returned to Stoke to write and direct the children's summer play. The Pioneers. The play, or entertainment (for there is no set script) is based on the ...

... Jim Dale is a hit in The Card' DENRY MACHIN, the extraordinary man invented by Arnold Bennett for his novel The Card, has a colossal self-centredness, an irrepressible nature and an energy which make him an eminently suitable character for the cal which opened at the Queen's on July 24. The book by Keith Waterhouse and Will is Hall shows Machin's success ful rise to fame and fortune as ...