... I he Man in The English Lunatic Asylum/The Man In The Welsh Lunatic Asylum bTCETERA I HEATRE LLUB THESE monologues explore the lives of two loopy fellows raging against injustice and being defeated by systems much larger than themselves. The writer, Bedwydd Jones, has an exquisite line in humorous pathos little men who make us laugh so that we do not crv. The Englishman who goes under the name ...

... Living In Hope Hampstead HAVt you heard the one about the American, the Irishman and the Italian? The basic premises of Bernardo Stella's new comedy at the Jack Straw Theatre appears to be that although we all react differently to given situations according to our nationalistic traits, underneath the skin we are all similar human beings. His play concerns three men who have followed their own ...

... Don Giovanni Drill Hall MualC 1 heatre Ijondon s policy is to employ singing actors rather than traditional opera singers (often drawn from former exponents of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gilbert and Sullivan). Their opera in English productions employ new translations in what they regard as a sweeping away of 200 years of operatic convention, in the search for new audiences who might be alienated ...

... Puccini's Oriental revival is a winner I You'd be daft to miss this iust ask DAVID BLEWITT I ROH J Turandot I ANDREI Serban's production of Puccini's Turandot was part of the ROH's visit to the Los Angeles Olympic Arts Festival in July 1984. It's now enjoying its sixth revival and is as enthralling as ever, a tonic to strengthen the will to survive amid the more real hor rors of contemporary ...

... Doors close on closed shop EQUITY AGM CLOSED Shop agreements are a thing of the past and unlikely to return in the near nature, admitted Equity general secretary Ian McGarry this week. Government legislation which came into force as part of the Employment Act 1 990 meant it is of course illegal and there is no chance in the future of it being repealed said McGarry. I believe the rigidity of ...

... The Scottish Ballet GLASGOW ADDING to their Russian repertoire which includes Oleg Vinogradov's Petrushka and Divertissements culled from the Kirov, the Scottish Ballet presented Vinogradov's staging of Pa quita, in a triple bill at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow. In an attempt to emulate the gran deur of the 19th century classic, the company has been subjected to several months of coaching by ...

... The Threepenny Opera ST. MATTHIAS OLD CHURCH SO LET'S put the show on right here in the barn! Or in this case, in the church. St Matthias Old Church is apparently the oldest complete building in the London Docklands. and it proved to be a most unusual, quite inappropriate, but also rather charming venue for this lowest of low budget produc tions of The Threepenny Opera. This was the first ...

... On Approval NOTTINGHAM DESPITE alarmists, the theatre, fed by subsidy and sponsorship, often has less need to make its way by providing entertainment. So plays are offered which simply make some personal social or political statement, on an issue dear to the author or producer's heart. There is need for such an approach but not in contemptuous isolation. That there is still room for the well- ...

... Leo In Love SOUTHAMPTON JEAN Sarment's gentle romantic comedy. Leopold le Bien-Aime, has been a staple of the French repertory since it was first performed in Paris in 1927. Now translated as Leo in Love by Anne Queensberry, the play receives its British premiere at the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton before touring to Bath, Swindon, Brighton, Oxford and Rich-mond. The eponymous Leo is a sour ...

... Medea BLACKPOOL THE APPOINTMENT of Clare Venables as artistic director of Monstrous Regiment might not be quite as drastic as, say, making near namesake Terry chief choreographer of the London City Ballet, but it still prompted a Boston Wave of raised eyebrows in certain quarters. Her lengthy stints with Manchester Library and Forum Theatres as well as Sheffield's Crucible were innovative, but ...

... Classical values LYRIC STUDIO A Killing Passion ALBY James' Temba Theatre Company has chosen to celebrate its 20th anniversary year with Alby James own adaptation (in collaboration with Sheena Wrigley) of Thomas Mann's 1940 novella. The Transposed Heads Its setting is India sn, interestingly, we have three black actors i of Kenyan, Nigerian and Jamaican backgrounds) playing Mann's Asian ch ...

... Hansel And Gretel SCARBOROUGH SCARBOROUGH YMCA had played almost every traditional pan tomime in the book in the past 21 years but never Hansel and Gretel. With a cast of 35, playing 1 2 colourful scenes this festive season it to end the old story into a super show, and a good time was had by one and all in the YM's own smashing min theatre. Sharon Parson's as Forest Fairy was in lively ...