... Blood Brothers ALBERY WILLY RUSSELL'S musical--book, music and lyrics, all by Russell, has a smashing storyline, indifferent lyrics and an intriguing, irritating mix of music, so much so that I would think that with such a strongly invented vehicle on his hands, it might have been better for him to co-opt some other composer into the combine, we can't all be Sondheims or Porters, and I look ...

... I'll Be Back Before Midnight KESWICK A RARE opportunity exists at the Century, Keswick, to see Peter Colley's comedy thriller I'll Be Back Before Midnight. It is only the second time the play has been in repertory and the Century is the first to have toured with it. The play is set m the living room ot a country cottage somewhere in England. As the play begins all seems sensible and normal but ...

... The Rules Of The Game Almeida Theatre PIRANDELLO'S story of an eternal triangle between a man, his spouse and her lover leads to a studied game of nonchalance by a husband reduced to the role of a gentleman caller in the life of his wife. This domestic tragedy initially disarms us with the light, iron ic touch of a drawing-room comedy of manners that masks real human anguish. Playwright David ...

... The Great Big Radio Show BUXTON QUESTFEST 92 PERFORMED in a workshop production as part of the Buxton Opera House Quest for New Musicals, The Great Big Radio Show, by Philip Glassborow provided final proof that extravagant sets and a cast of thousands are not the only makings of a musical worth applauding. Good songs and a great cast point ed to the fact that here we have a writ er/composer ...

... Fern Hill Cardiff THE minor industry that feeds on the reputation and works of Wales's most widely known poet, Dylan Thomas, continues to expand. The latest offering comes from the Cardiff-based Sherman Theatre Company. Mike Kenny's Fem Hill is the result of a six-month project undertaken by the writer, director Phil Clark, com poser Paula Gardiner, and design team headed by Jane Linz Roberts. ...

... The Baby Watford JUST as well Jon Canter's first-born full-length stage play is a complete over-the-top comedy, otherwise audiences would be in grave danger of leaving the theatre in deep mourning for modem man. The caricature characters in The Baby are all stressed pieces of driftwood and debris on the snores ot modem society, in need ot both therapy and treatment. At the centre is Helen ...

... Iphigenie en Tauride CARDIFF GLUCK may not be a major draw at the box office, and his masterpiece has little chance of making the CD charts--but what a memorably power-packed night in the theatre Welsh National Opera made of it. The French producers, Patrice Cauner and Moshe Leiser, working in Britain for the first time, eschewed the visual delights of eye-catching sets, attractive costumes, ...