... The Letter WESTMINSTER CHILD abuse, for so long a taboo subject, is now out in the open exposed by the media, tackled by the social services and recently among contemporary playwrights has become the source of potentially explosive drama as they attempt to voice the physical and mental anguish of the victims. The horror, guilt and repulsion associated with the sexual abuse of children is ...

... The Man Who Ate His Brain CANAL CAFE BRINGING physical theatre to religious dogma and ecclesiastical careerism, Phoenix Beam's new show is not as astute as these off-the-wall comedy merchants would have us believe. With the old deck chair trick smuggled in for good measure it hasn't a hope. But handled with a really considered lack of taste by writer and soul perfor mer, Stephen Powell, The ...

... The Police SOHO POLY THIS 1958 play, first seen in Poland, is given its London premiere here by the company Skalbagge. Slawomir Mrozek's satire on totalitarian or Stalinist bureaucratic power, with all its attendant evils of secret police and lunatic conformity, is given a rather creaking production by Paul Dodwell. Mrozek sets up a state in which the entire population is so loyal that, as in ...

... Buried treasure PETER HEPPLE on the riches of Gray's moving play VAUDEVILLE Hidden Laughter TAKING HIS cue from a line in T.S. Eliot's poem Burnt Norton, Simon Gray has written what is probably his saddest, deepest and certainly most moving play, an elegy of regret set in a typical English garden, with a lawn, flowers, a children's swing and a view of hazy hills. The kind of garden, in lact ...

... Sara LILIAN BAYLIS ONCE again Cheek By Jowl proves distinctively adept at freshening up the classics, though in this instance it could have chosen a better classic. Declan Donnellan's marvellously innovative company enjoys shining the torch of discovery into obscure nooks and crannies of our theatrical culture but Gotthold Ephraim Lessing s Miss Sara Sampson thoroughly deserves its long ...

... Animal magnetism ROYAL OPERA The Cunning Little Vixen JANACEK'S dream of a nature opera has been well served in England: Sadler's Wells introduced it to London in 1961, directed by Colin Graham, Glyndebourne followed in 1975, with Jonathan Miller directing, and now the Royal Opera presents The Cunning Little Vixen in an imaginative staging by Bill Bryden designed by William Dudley and with ...

... The Turning World THE PLACE THERE has not been a huge fuss over John Ashford's month-long season at The Place, The Turning World, even though it has brought to our attention some exciting and innovative dance from around the world. Curious to think what the enthusiasts were doing though by staying away from the forgeous performance ol Sintoma Toica by Michele Anne de Mey and her Belgian ...

... Births KING'S HEAD DAVID Conville's new and likeable comedy is set in the expectant fathers' room attached to a maternity ward, with the hospital nervously awaiting a visit from the Princess Royal. The convincing set (Richard Bull- winkle) is farcical, showing us doors and a bed, where the harassed staff nurse (Delena Kidd) appears to warn of imminent birth. Director Richard Digby-Day hand les ...

... The Mistress Of The Inn ETCETERA DELVING into the world of the sexually specific comic invention The Mistress Of The Inn at the Etcetera Theatre is a little gem. Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni, renowned for transforming the nonsensical baroque excess of the old improvised Commedia dell' Arte of the early 18th century has designed a palatable dish of social intercourse. And thanks to the ...

... STRATFORD EAST Wild Justice BARRIE Keeffe's new thriller was written for leading man Karl How man's birthday to commemorate a professional association that began 18 years ago. Clearly conceived as a stage version of a film noir, it goes out of its way to accommodate the actor's television persona of ladies' man Jacko from the BBC comedy series Brushstrokes. The result is a slapdash ...

... Deep Structure of Chinese Culture BLOOMSBURY IT HAS to be said that for most western audiences Deep Structure of Chinese Culture will have proved something of an ordeal. It was slow and uneventful, and as minutes stretched towards eternity it became apparent that time was being treated as a limitless commodity. There were long moments of stillness, when the players just stood and looked as ...

... Signature BRIGHTON AS SOON as the curtain goes up on Signature it is evident that Siobhan Davies's latest work for the Rambert Dance Company marks another turning point in her work; not a radical departure but a new line of movement investigation, though it is hard to pinpoint what it is that is different. It seems to be a purely abstract work, concentrating on structures and developmental ...