... Tara Arts TRICYCLE THIS ZINGY double bill must be the funniest, spunkiest Christmas treat in Town Drawn from the writings of the 14th century Gujerat singer, dancer and poet Asaitha Thakar, whose own story rivals any of his invention, these two pieces allow for dressing up, masking and scenes. Built into them is the impro visation of situation, dialogue and song. In his own century Thakar ...

... Harvey PORTLANDS TO MOUNT with limited resources in England a play that is famous through its 1950 film version, and requires both American accents and a screwball American style- requirements which always tax British actors- seems to me to be inviting trouble. This presentation by the Argonaut Theatre Company, directed by Ray Float and produced by John Greco, succeeds in bringing to life the ...

... The Magic Flute OXFORD THE PRODUCER of the Oxford Operatic Club's production of the Magic Flute by Mozart was Duncan Watt, an enthusiast of the work of the metaphysical artist, Giorgic de Chirico. De Chirico himself, though a notable designer of opera and ballet sets, never tackled Magic Flute, but Duncan Watt's vision of how he might have gone about it clearly with the approbation of the ...

... La Boheme KINGSTON GAINS and losses occur when grand opera goes miniature and Puccini's La Boheme, with all its charm and changes of mood, is almost certain to lose out from a reduction in scale. English Touring Opera has an excel lent production by Graham Vick for the winter tour, although the first two acts are somewhat lacking in the Bohemian warmth of the Latin quarter. Neverthe less, it ...

... Sevillano pushes the boat out LONDON FESTIVAL BALLET The Nutcracker ONE OF the problems facing a producer of The Nutcracker is what to do with the ballerina who, by tradition, has no reason to dance until the very end. With his new production for Festival Ballet, Peter Schaufuss has found a compromise and cast her first as Tchaikovsky's sister- Tchaikovsky is now the pivotal tigure so that ...

... The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe WESTMINSTER A CHILDREN'S show full of adven ture and fantasy is always a daunting prospect for grown-ups. Will we be asked to boo the wicked White Witch? Will we have to stand up and join in? Thankfully, we arc not subjected to any of this at the Westminster, where The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is playing its third Christmas season and taking ...

... Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ROYALTY THE JANUARY sales have started and Joseph needs a new coat. After seven years on the road it would be a miracle if this 'juggernaut of joy' was not nearing burn-out. At the Royalty the cast just about pull it off using a corny, singalong approach and enthusiasm to divert our attentions from some very naff cos tumes and a tacky set. Under ...

... Dancers working flat out THE PLACE The Kosh A DANCER'S world is fraught with private joys and griefs, but unless you are a dancer yourself, you can never know the half of it. What strange obsession drives someone to all that pain and monotony? Sian Williams attempted to express a small part of the answer in a solo, for which she was both choreographer and dancer. It was part of a double bill ...

... Cheers for a dazzling successor to Sutherland Frank Granville Barker at a good old fashioned occasion IT WAS an old-fashioned kind of occasion at the opera, and one of the most thoroughly enjoyable for a long time. The Franco Zeffirelli staging of Lucia di Lammermoor which saw Joan Sutherland launched on her international career in 1959 has lost its sense of purpose over the years- even the ...

... Die Fledermaus ENO THIS is a well-sung and charming production of this often beautiful and complex score- one of the legendary feats of opera composition, it was completed by Strauss in 42 nights. But this version, produced originally by Tom Hawkes and revived by Karen Stone, also brings out the power and ambition of the piece, which raises Mozartian echoes with its themes of disguise and ...

... What About Luv? ORANGE TREE THE BEST thing about the Orange Tree's Christmas show is that it has nothing whatever to do with Christmas. Rather it is an everyday story of highly strung Manhattan folk, a typical Woody It is based on a play called Luv by Murray Schisgal about a loser called Harry Berlin, who is prevented from jumping off Brooklyn Bridge by an old college pal, Milt, who just ...

... Pied Piper OLIVER THE CHIEF virtue of the National Theatre's new production of The Pied Piper is that by reworking the elements of Robert Browning's 1845 poem the story comes alive for children of today. Adrian Mitchell's script and Alan Cohen's direction home in on the vernacular of the eighties, and add to it some of the year's trends and fads. The result is a musical play with a contem ...