... The Befrienders BBC-1, February 19 by Graham Clarke THE BBC has shown a great deal of courage in placing a serious and, of necessity, demanding subject at such a popular time as 9.5 on a Saturday night. The first story in this new series was sombre, but there was no false sentiment in the case of the widower stricken with apparently inconsolable grief when his idol, his only son, is killed in ...

... BOSWELL JOHNSON SHOW THE BOSWELL JOHNSON Show, at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh for four nights, is one of those entertainments intended for enlightenment. Several characters, including Johnson (lain Cuthbertson), and Boswell (Paul Young), help us to know more about Johnson's life, his caustic witticisms and his relation ship with his young biographer, Boswell. The show emanates ...

... THEATRE OF MARVELS THEATRE of Marvels, which opened at the Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, last week, is a production which is aimed primarily at our visual sense. There is no dialogue, its language is movement and gesture sometimes linked to mood music. Director John Blundall and mime artist Geoffrey Buckley have devised a series of short sketches in which masks and puppets supplement ...

... Too unaware of dangers of self-parody by Simon Trussler PLAYS about the Second World War are more often parodied than produced in this disillusioned decade. Indeed, ever since Beyond the Fringe first dared to send up the cherished cliches of countless films and novels, it's been difficult for a mere war baby such as myself to tell how many of the truisms about human nature under stress were ...

... Biting hand that feeds by James Scott A GREAT deal has been claimed for the effectiveness of the camera in revealing the phoney, but little note has been taken of its power to pillory the inarticulate, the inept and the foolish. Such power is seen at its peak in quiz shows and games in which members of the general public take part. Without training in television techniques the average ...

... Granada, June 20, 11.0 HALF-HOUR plays on television like one act stage plays and short stories are often the means by which writers, especially new ones, experiment and gain experience. This is particularly true of television, and it doesn't take a genius to see the reason why. Television does have a duly, in deed a dire need, to encourage new talent to foster new ideas. But it's verily a ...

... Forty Love GUILDFORD Premiere LESLIE RANDALL'S first play for the theatre, Forty Love, premiered at the Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford, is frothily funny with a certain wisecracking wit and revolves around a Jewish American couple of British origins returning to London on holiday. --j Here they are faced with a long- lost cousin who is leaving his wife. The two couples compose the marital quartet ...

... Piaf THE OTHER PLACE Premiere PAM GEMS' play, about the life of the French singer, works well at two levels and just misses out on a third. Firstly in Howard Davies' snappy production, sound. lighting and music all add up to complement Miss Gems' own evocation of that tough, bizarre, vulgar and vibrant world of the cafes, brothels and clubs which were Piafs home territory. In a series of ...

... The Ballad of Wilfred II ALMOST FREE Lunchtime Opened October 26 WRITER Frank Marcus is the latest contributor to the Almost Free's lunchtime 'Mate Eating' season with his new one-acter The Ballad of Wilfred II. The current mate who gets dev oured is librarian Aubrey (an expert performance by Hugh Lloyd), lonely since his mother's death, and whose Lonely Hearts ad gets answered by Edie ...

... Basingstoke 'The Heiress' There was an understandably warm reception for Peter Cushing when he made his entrance in The Heiress at Basingstoke's Haymarket. Mr Cushing. who had specially asked to play opposite Helen Ryan after seeing her performance as Queen Alexandra in ATV's Edward the Seventh, was making his first appearance in a stage play for ten years. He played Dr Austin Sloper in ...

... Lyric 'The Seagull' Opened October 28 THE BRAVE and welcome Lyric Theatre Company, presented by H. M. Tennent Ltd in association with Eddie Kulukundis. opened on Shaftesbury Avenue with an adaptation of Chekhov's The Seagull bv Galina von Meek and Lindsay Anderson. It is to be followed by a new Ben Travers's farce. The Bed Before Yesterday. and eventually the productions will be played ...

... Coventry 'Dirty Giant' PRESENTLY the Coventry Belgrade policy is slanted towards young people and so it is not surprising to find the Theatre a look at the world of pop music with a new play by John Burrows and John Harding called Dirty Giant, with music and lyrics by Peter Skellern. But whether the play effectively realises the Belgrade's policy has yet to be seen. For the fact that young ...