... The New Apartment (La Casa Nova) Watermans Arts Centre THIS sparkling new translation by Robert David MacDonald of Gold- oni's witty comedy uses modern phraseology' to polish the delivery of this 1 8th Century masterpiece, competently produced by Judith Hibberd and meticulously directed by Guy Retallack, with an excellent set designed by Madeleine Morris, at the Watermans Arts Centre. Zoe ...

... I he Man in The English Lunatic Asylum/The Man In The Welsh Lunatic Asylum bTCETERA I HEATRE LLUB THESE monologues explore the lives of two loopy fellows raging against injustice and being defeated by systems much larger than themselves. The writer, Bedwydd Jones, has an exquisite line in humorous pathos little men who make us laugh so that we do not crv. The Englishman who goes under the name ...

... Living In Hope Hampstead HAVt you heard the one about the American, the Irishman and the Italian? The basic premises of Bernardo Stella's new comedy at the Jack Straw Theatre appears to be that although we all react differently to given situations according to our nationalistic traits, underneath the skin we are all similar human beings. His play concerns three men who have followed their own ...

... Don Giovanni Drill Hall MualC 1 heatre Ijondon s policy is to employ singing actors rather than traditional opera singers (often drawn from former exponents of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gilbert and Sullivan). Their opera in English productions employ new translations in what they regard as a sweeping away of 200 years of operatic convention, in the search for new audiences who might be alienated ...

... Puccini's Oriental revival is a winner I You'd be daft to miss this iust ask DAVID BLEWITT I ROH J Turandot I ANDREI Serban's production of Puccini's Turandot was part of the ROH's visit to the Los Angeles Olympic Arts Festival in July 1984. It's now enjoying its sixth revival and is as enthralling as ever, a tonic to strengthen the will to survive amid the more real hor rors of contemporary ...

... The Orphan GREENWICH THE ORPHAN was written circa 1678, when Orway was 26 years old, some four years before his best-known play, Venice Preserved. This superb production almost disguised the poverty of Otway's linguistic achievement but points up to the strength latent in The Orphan's dramatic structure, which blazes out in two scenes of extraordin ary power. An old nobleman, Acasto ...

... Doors close on closed shop EQUITY AGM CLOSED Shop agreements are a thing of the past and unlikely to return in the near nature, admitted Equity general secretary Ian McGarry this week. Government legislation which came into force as part of the Employment Act 1 990 meant it is of course illegal and there is no chance in the future of it being repealed said McGarry. I believe the rigidity of ...

... KING'S HEAD When She Danced IN WHEN SHE Danced Martin Sherman does not try to present the biography of Isadora Duncan, let alone show us what her dancing was actually like. Rather he attempts, not unsuccessfully, to convey the personality and spirit of the woman as we meet her, four years before her death, 45, overweight, out of practice, saddled with a passionate, poetic and jealous young ...

... HALF MOON Poppy IN 1982 the RSC disgorged an extravaganza, as it is inclined to do from time to time, with varying success from the éclat of Les Miserables to the trudging dullness of The Wizard of Oz. The company also unveiled Poppy, an exploration of the early 19th century Opium Wars when Britain was pushing drugs with the excuse of 'free trade on to an increasingly dope-ridden China. Set ...

... It ain't heavy CARDIFF Falstaff COULD THEY do it again? That was the question. The answer must be a resounding yes. The Welsh National's staging of Verdi's penultimate opera Otello caused an international sensation in 1986 when it was televised throughout Europe. The production teams of Peter Stein (director). Richard strong (MD), Lucio Fanti (sets) and Moidele Bickel (costumes) returned to ...

... The Scottish Ballet GLASGOW ADDING to their Russian repertoire which includes Oleg Vinogradov's Petrushka and Divertissements culled from the Kirov, the Scottish Ballet presented Vinogradov's staging of Pa quita, in a triple bill at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow. In an attempt to emulate the gran deur of the 19th century classic, the company has been subjected to several months of coaching by ...

... The Threepenny Opera ST. MATTHIAS OLD CHURCH SO LET'S put the show on right here in the barn! Or in this case, in the church. St Matthias Old Church is apparently the oldest complete building in the London Docklands. and it proved to be a most unusual, quite inappropriate, but also rather charming venue for this lowest of low budget produc tions of The Threepenny Opera. This was the first ...