... Obscure Shoemakers' TWO CLOSELY-TYPED PAGES of notes accompany the programme for the Half Moon's latest venture in the drama of socialism; Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz's The Shoemakers. They are not easy to follow and the play is just as bad. Half the first-night audience on September 11 arrived late, and they seemed to spend the remainder of the one-and-a-half hours for which the first ...

... lonescoon the screen THE THEATRE of the absurd is largely the theatre of Eugene lonesco. At the French Institute his influence was shown through another sphere, that of the film. La Vase was made originally for west German television; it was shot in colour in remote France and the principal actor as well as the' scriptwriter is M. lonesco. On his own admission in conversation af terwards. ...

... Good spoofs I LIKE MY SHERRY DRY, but found Bristol Cream, the Bristol University revue which uncorked itself in the Little after several libations on the Edinburgh Festival fringe, very much to mv taste. It is sophisticated, in the best possible sense, slick and polished to a fine professional gloss. Best of all, the lesson keep it short has been well and truly taken to heart, then put into ...

... Brilliant Chinese acrobats WHEN THE CHINESE Acrobatic Theatre from Shanghai opened their all too short season of eleven nights at the Coliseum on July 3 it seemed that every Chinese man and woman, not to mention a lot of their children, were in the dience and one wondered at the fate of anybody fancying a Chinese meal in town that night. But there were plenty of British natives present as ...

... o'Casey masterpiece Sean o'Casey's Juno and the Paycock, one of the greatest plays of the century, has a somewhat subdued yet deeply moving production at the Mermaid, the wonderful woman of the title being portrayed with rare understanding and depth quite without the aid of spec tacular show, by Siobhan McKenna. The production was to have been directed by Sean Kenny; when he died shortly ...

... Stunning 'Stages' THE AUDIENCE on October 31 for the London Contemporary Dance Theatre production at Sadler's Wells Theatre of Robert Cohan's Stages seemed to be mainly teenage school kids, but, after about the first 90 seconds, the only sounas tney uttered were reac tions of laughter when warranted, horror during the interrogation sequence and a cacophony of applause and cheers at the ...

... Annie Ross ANNIE ROSS' was much improved as the singing Anna in The Seven Deadly Sins at Covent Garden on October 27, more at ease with Weill's music, moving as smoothly as a dancer and working in close rapport with her dancing alter ego Lesley Collier, who is new to the role. Miss Collier's Anna enjoys each sin with relish, and she achieves projection of character almost entirely through ...

... 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 ...

... Mysterious play and fine acting at Hampstead by R.B. Marriott IT IS HAPPENING here and now; the players are playing themselves; illusion has been stripped away; the audience is not watching the play, it belongs to it. So it is with Peter Handke's The Ride Across Lake Constance, translated by Michael Roloft, at Hampstead Theatre Club. Or, rather, this is how it seems, because, of course, ...

... Many qualities but no heart CALM SEAS and a prosperous voyage it may have been above decks, but below on a convict ship bound for Australia in the year 1807, if we are to believe Steve Gooch's Female Transport. calmness appeared solely in the guise of satiated slppn or f self-inflicted death, and prosperity was never even a dream. The play, directed very well by Ron Daniels, opened at the ...

... 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' ...