... Mass investment for musical tour MASS CARIB, the West Indian musical which first premiered at the Albany Empire, starts a ten week tour this week backed by a bumper £200,000 investment from the Arts Council. The money marks a rare foray by the funding body into drama production and will account for a sizeable one tenth of this year's touring budget. Arts Council spokesman Jack Phipps said the ...

... Cuban National Folk Ballet BATTERSEA PARK IN ITS dying days the GLC took the initiative of presenting the Cuban National Folk Ballet in a circus tent in Battersea Park, catching the company between dates in Switzerland and Holland. A tent in the park in March sounded like a crazy idea from the start, and on the evening that I went it turned into an occasion where bitter cold often got the ...

... Here's a funny one FRANK BRUCKSHAW on the quiet side of Max Miller MANCHESTER The Cheeky Chappie DAVE SIMPSONS new play, The Cheeky Chappie, based on the life of comedian Max Miller, which was given its premiere by Manchester Library Theatre Company, arouses some extremely interesting speculations. 1 According to the author, who ack nowledges his debt to John East's biography of Miller, the ...

... Accidental Death of an Anarchist FROME TWO MEMBERS of the Tickled Pink Company were late for the show. During the 20 minute delay we were given ample opportunity to contemplate their set for Accidental Death of an Anarchist. In performance, one's expectations were fully confirmed. Doors opened against will, and when forcibly closed sent violent shudders through the fra gile construction, ...

... Jesus Christ Superstar HORNCHURCH THE STAGING of the resurrection is a rare occurrence in Lloyd Webber and Rice's rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, showing that directors Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright have worked thoughtfully on the dramatic interpretation of this new major touring production. Following the harrowing crucifixion, the curtain call is preceded by the mourning apostles slowly ...

... A good stab BARBICAN Julius Caesar THIS handsome production of every schoolboy's favourite Shakespeare--which runs without interval two hours ten minutes--opens with the stage dominated by a great statue of Caesar. The play is similarly overshadowed by Joseph O'Conor's interpretation of the title role, which is full of compelling detail. In his exchanges with Calpurnia (Susan Colverd) and ...

... Digs RICHMOND WINNER of a playwriting competition organised by the Surrey Actors Workshop, set up four years ago, actor Dallas Adams has turned his hand to writing and produced an amusing, well-crafted piece. Adams has a good ear for the crisp put-down and the defiant mm sequuur, echoing at times the likes of Alan Bennett and Victoria Wood. Structural ly, Digs could be stronger, but I gather ...

... Royal Swedish Ballet KUNGLIGA THEATRE I SUPPOSE to most ballet lovers in Britain the Royal Swedish Ballet is a name without a presence, which is curious. I went to Stockholm to watch both company and school and was astonished by the quality of the work. Of course you cannot properly assess a company of 83 on a single performance but the quadruple bill suggested that the Swedes are natural ...

... Henry VI Part Two OLD VIC NOT EVEN Michael Bogdanov's char acteristically inventive and often bril liantly audacious direction can rescue much of this pedestrian text which bears little imprint of Shakespeare himself but much of his uninspired collaborators. This play flares into life whenever the director's touch is vivid. The Jack Cade scenes show Michael Pennington in superb form and this ...

... Their price is right PETER HEPPLE on a play that realises its market value HAMPSTEAD Valued Friends STEPHEN JEFFREYS has the distinction of writing, in Valued Friends, the first play about property values in unpolitical terms, an examination of how people get on the property roundabout and turn into the archetypal yuppie. Though largely a comedy, it makes some serious points, about the ...

... II barbiere di Siviglia ROH THIS ELEGANT production by Michael Hampe draws several fine performances from the principals and the orchestra under Gabriele Ferro is in appropriately precise and sparkling form. Some of the sounds here are heavenly: the thunderstorm in which Rosina breaks down in rage has a sublime, almost Mozartian prettiness. The set (scenery realised by Peter Davision) in ...

... Swan Lake SWRB IN THE CANADIAN guest artist Evelyn Hart, the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet has found the dancer it has long needed for Odette/Odile. If she has not yet discerned her way as an actress enough to make the passions of the dual role felt, her reading is nonetheless remarkable for its sense of mobility and self-sacrifice. She has an exquisite high flown line, and beautifully long ...