... Dance Drama EDUCATIONAL DANCE groups are among those who are hardest hit by the present financial situation, for whilst arguments continue as to whether the best of them should be subsidised on an arts (as at present) or an educational basis, they are sadly under-funded. It was prising. therefore, to find that Gerard Bagley's Dance Drama Theatre group gave one of its most successful ...

... Cinderella NORTHERN BALLET NORTHERN BALLET Theatre now has its own brand new version of Cinderella, and for this small, game company--which has struggled through many vicissitudes in its first decade--the production must be considered a triumph. It is a ballet which will entertain and light audiences tor years. The music is by Johann Strauss, it is lilting and lyrical and pierced with ...

... The Lost Princess 4R MOVEMENT YES, THE Princess was lost. In fact, the whole idea of the Princess being lost was lost, I am sure, to many who did not consult their programme for the detailed storyline that was not apparent on stage. Of course, there's probably nothing like a genuine kidnapping for being perfectly cipnerable to any onlooker not privy to the plot. So it would follow that the ...

... DURING FEBRUARY and March, the Royal Ballet will present the world premiere of a one-act ballet by Kenneth MacMillan; revivals of Mam'zelle Angot, The Four Sea sons and Voluntaries; and per formances of Elite Syncopations; Four Schumann Pieces, A Month in the Country, La Fille Mai Gar- dee and The Sleeping Beauty. McMillan's new work, entitled Gloria, will receive its first ...

... The Golden Ass INCUBUS IF THERE were awards for energy and enthusiasm Incubus would win hands down. The Golden Ass owes more to Olsen and Johnson than to Lucius Apuleius; an epic of bawdiness, bad taste and black humour. It uses the framework of the old Roman tales to work out a stream of gags, often very funny, but coming so fast that the duds are gone with just a passing groan. The first ...

... Bastard Angel WAREHOUSE BARRIE KEEFFE's Bastard Angel, at the Warehouse, is about a woman singer Shelley and a pop group, behind the scenes, on the stage, and at home. It is a dark, harsh study of what seems to be entirely a vicious way of life. Keeffe draws his violent, anti social characters vividly and strongly; his dialogue is packed with most of the four letter words (no one is able to ...

... Before The Party OXFORD BY ITS revival of Rodney Ackland's Before The Party--based on a short story by Somerset Maugham the Oxford Playhouse Company has performed a singular service of deserved reclamation for an unjustly neglected British dramatist. Despite the fact that Before The Party, being set in the immediate post-1945 period has much talk of rationing and the preoccupation of an ...

... Move Over Mrs Markham HARIOW FOR the eighties the Harlow Playhouse has not only acquired a new general manager, Douglas Addey, it has acquired a host of new ideas. The year begins with a subscrip tion booking system eight shows (including a concert) for the price of six a studio season by the East 15 Acting School, regular children's matinees and a two-week (rather than six-day) run for ...

... William Soutar PERTH WITH HELP from George Bruce, Tom Fleming devised William Soutar, 1898-1943 from the words of the Perth poet, and presented it as moving tribute at the Edinburgh Festival of 1978. Revived at Perth Theatre in Burns' week, the piece has even more impact, with Fleming sure in speech and inflection, and the references to Perth people and places more, strikingly significant to ...

... Beecham APOLLO THE Caryl Brahms and Ned Sherrin Beecham, at the Apollo, might fairly be described as a documentary on the great conductor which has play-scenes and some revue attributes. It is constantly interesting, amusing, instructive and enjoyable. Sir Thomas Beecham, grandson of the mighty pill man, rose to become a man of formidable power and authority in the musical world, in concert ...

... Mutiny On The M1 ALBANY EMPIRE DEPTFORD WITH THIS immensely entertaining production the Albany's resident company, the Combination, has bravely set itself a number of problems-- and come up with some ingenious solutions. Director Sue Parnsh and music director Paul Sanders have worked closely together to weld a composite of 22 scenes including flashbacks and monologues and 12 songs into a ...

... Decade CARDIFF IT WAS entirely apposite--and a neat twist of dramatic irony--that such a punchy and explicit show as Decade, should have its run in the dockland night club, the Casablanca. For the club is a converted chapel where Cardiff-born composer Ivor Novello was christened. The groups involved in this pro duction were Moving Being, Chapter Arts Centre, Jumpers, Cardiff Com munity Dance ...