... Doctor Faust us Hammersmith THE COMMONWEALTH Theatre Company--in effect Artistic Directors Max Hafler and Tony Hegarty--have gone out on a limb with Marlowe's play by shearing it to the bare essentials so that the poetry comes across loud and clear without being obscured by any irrelevancies of production. Max Hafler plays the title role and looks younger than the often border- ing-on-middle ...

... As You Like It Greenwich AS WELL as this revival, As You Like It can be seen this year at Regent's Park as well as at Stratford-on-Avon so it looks very much as though it is one of 1992's set books. Greenwich's production was one of the first in the field and seemed on paper to have a lot going for it the director, James Robert Carson, is a former Scottish Arts Council trainee who has worked ...

... Simplicity reaps dividends Barbican Pit 'Tis Pity She's A Whore WE HAVE become so accustomed to the RSC's unearthing neglected plays by Shakespeare's contemporaries at the Stratford Swan (where this production by David Leveaux in fact first saw the light of day last year) that it comes as something of a surprise to leam that the rediscovery of Ford's play about incest is due to the last of the ...

... Polygraph Glasgow POLYGRAPH, as presented by Robert Lepage's Theatre Repere of Quebec City, turned out to be a riv eting theatrical experience, not so much for the dramatic performances of the three strong cast which were in all truth most impressive but for the brilliantly innovative special effects and settings which were so profoundly effective. In a series of film-like sequences, ...

... Making the connection Sadler's Wells La Fille Mal Gardee WITH the version of La Fille Mai Gardee shown by Ballet du Rhin, we find ourselves caught in a time-cycle in which both coincidence and com-monaliry feature. This production, by Swedish choreographer-historian Ivo Cramer, was made in 1989 for the Ballets de Nantes (where the Ballet du Rhin's director Jean-Paul Gravier was then in ...

... When seeing is believing Paul Chand sees a radio play successfully reincarnated on the London stage KINGS HEAD Artists Descending a Staircase IN STOPPARD'S fizzy, elegantly written radio play, now brought to the stage by director Tim Luscombe, misconceptions abound, easily aided by the fact that the central character, Sophie (Sarah Woodward) is blind. The three males, Martello (William Lucas). ...

... Polyeuct GATE THANKS to the new sadly vanished Jonathan Miller regime at the Old Vic, Pierre Corneille (1606-84) is for London theatregoers something more than a familiar name from histories of French dramatic literature in which he occupies the status of father to French classic drama. But the revival in the Waterloo Road of Ranjit Bolt's translations of Corneille 's come dies, The Liar ...

... Hedda Gabler HARROGATE HARROGATE Theatre complete their current season with a stunning production of Ibsen's famous play Hedda Gabler, in a translation by Christopher Hampton and brilliantly directed by Andrew Manley. This is one of Ibsen's later plays and is about a woman who is trapped between her needs as a woman and her duties as a wife. In this production the action takes place centre ...

... The Village Fete SCARBOROUGH PETER Tinniswood's latest play, which had its world premiere at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, is a delightful piece of theatre, written in his own inimitable style, full of eccentric characters. He has created some splendid characters into whom we get a deep insight as they unfold their fears and reflections. The story surrounds the Epson family, the father, two ...

... SiqNora Joyce New End Theatre IN 1904 AT the age of 20 a young chambermaid, Nora Barnacle, leaves Ireland to wander Europe with James Joyce. Years later when she returns to Ireland her mother says to her, You've travelled far Nora Barnacle, but you've lost yourself somewhere. The Irish Company's production, directed by Deb Jones, explores this journey in an attempt to evaluate exactly what ...

... Mother's pride is a joy to behold Chichester Coriolanus SURROUNDED as we are by countries facing constitutional crisis, including Italy, as well as significant nationalism and people power, the production of Coriolanus at Chichester Festival Theatre by the Renaissance Theatre Company has many modern connotations. However. stripped to its basics it identifies that pride and courage are ...

... Shadowlands Westcliff-On-Sea SHADOWLANDS, by William Nicholson, tells of the unusual love affair between C S Lewis (the author of the Narnia stories) and Joy Davidman, an American divorcee. The play was directed by Christopher Dunham, designed by Judy Reaves, and presented at the Palace Theatre in Westcliff. Probably because of the inclement weather, the fact that a decisive football match was ...