... Big top falls flat SHEPHERDS BUSH Barnum IT MUST have seemed like a great idea to stage Barnum, a musical about the circus, in a circus tent. But in the upshot it did not come off particularly well on press night, which was admittedly reached with some difficulty owing to the previous week's high winds, which severely reduced sal time. Some of the circus skills, notably in juggling and ...

... 1916 ICA THIS waxwork display by the Pascal Theatre Company appears to have been staged by Madame Tussaud with dialogue by Dave Spart. It is difficult to gauge precisely what point it is trying to make, beyond the universally accepted notion that war is a bad thing. Seamus Finnegan's highly deriva tive play rambles from the Battle of the Sommc to the Easter Uprising and back again, via comic ...

... Thark HAMMERSMITH IT SOMETIMES seems to me as if the Ben Travers farces are never quite as funny as I expect them to be. Possibly this is because, at a remove of 60 years, they are now more interesting as social comedies, in which the men are philandering fools and the women, though officially in subordinate roles, actually rule the roost, and it could be argued that those who really rule ...

... Wally Dent ISLE OF WIGHT John Hannam WALLY Dent broke new ground recently when he took a showcase to the Isle of Wight for the very first time. At Warner's, Puckpool, he presented a dozen acts to potential bookers who included representatives from all the leading local cabaret venues and several from mainland establishments and holiday groups. In past years local showcases staged by Sylvia ...

... Ghanashyam (A Broken Branch) LEEDS GHANASHYAM (A Broken Branch) is a new opera commissioned from the famous Indian musician, Ravi Shankar. by the City of Birmingham Touring Opera Company. It reached the Leeds Dome Theatre as pan of a national tour giving the world premiere performances of the work. It is set in an Indian village at the turn of the century and tells the tragic story of a famous ...

... Triple MacMillan Bill SADLER'S WELLS If 1989 set a trend for poorly matched triple bills, the first December programme of the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet at Sadler's Wells helped remedy matters, with three short ballets which made an excellent match. They ranged in style from abstract to narrative to atmospheric, complementing by trast, as wen as oy maKing tne com pany seem rich in its ...

... The Dumb Waiter HAYMARKET DIRECTED by Bob Carlton, this vintage Pinter with its two combatants locked in word-battle that becomes increasingly comic and violent by turns, draws a fine performance from Tim Healey as Gus, the second in command. Not that anybody is ever in com mand in Pinter's plays, which resem ble Orton's language games in which speech triumphs: only the weak hu mans are ...

... Missed the coach ANN NUGENT on a ballet lacking passion ROH Cinderella WINDING away in the distance with their last high lift, Cinderella and her Prince leave us with the promise of happiness ever afterwards. Their union is blessed--even the sisters have been brought to humility at sight of their newly exalted step-sister--and we are meant to leave the Royal Opera House feeling warm and ...

... The Room/A Kind of Alaska HAYMARKET THIS fascinating double bill, of early and late Pinter, is presented by the Terrence Higgins Trust, and brings together the directing talents of Paul Jepson--The Room-- and Frith Banbury. Part of the interest in seeing these starry casts here lies in the contrasting natures of the plays, with their very different uses of dramatic language. The Room ...

... Mistress of his heart COMEDY Noel and Gertie I LAST saw this celebration of two of our most remarkable stage talents, devised by Sheridan Morley from the songs, plays and autobiographies of the Master, a few years ago at the King's Head, with--if memory serves--Morley himself supplying the linking commentary. Here Simon Cadell, like Noel, did everything. Not, I think, fully recovered from ...

... JME BREAN K A Dowling The two day showcase for the military presented by JME was first class. Having done many of these showcases John and Diane Mills and his able staff have really got it down to a fine an. Everything went like clockwork, and the acts were excellent. On the first day the show was compered by Jerry Thomas, a first class comedian with a wealth of experi ence and the same amount ...

... The Barber of Seville OPERA NORTH ROSSINI's The Barber of Seville is notoriously difficult to stage with success. Opera North have been unlucky with both their productions, which have emanated from Welsh National Opera. The present revival is of Giles Havergal's version, which reduces the work to the level of touring amateur opera fodder. Can there be any greater disservice to a masterpiece ...