... Magnificat Bastille Like Bach's canticle, John Neumeier's Magnificat alludes to the Latin text, Magnificat anima mea Dominum (My soul doth magnify the Lord) from the Book of Luke. Yet for all its biblical influence, the ballet avoids stark ecclesiasticism. Set to the aforementioned canticle sandwiched between three Bach suites and extracts from Mass in B Minor, the ballet opens with Adam and ...

... Fixing Bill Haley Dublin Theatre Festival This show, at the City Arts Centre, has all the ingredients that supposedly appeal to the young. It is full of the usual issues--parental and peer pressure and sexual awakening, peppered with forced humour and plenty of swearing. In keeping with the Roddy Doyle school of writing, swearing always seems to be good for a laugh or two. In an amazingly ...

... Hassan of Baghdad Barnet Back in 1923, James Elroy Recker's Hassan was the most spectacular play the West End had ever seen and is the one that comes first to mind when considering Basil Dean's directorial career. Stage One's production at the Old Bull Arts Centre has a compa ny of six and the clever design by Sophia Lovell Smith suggests, rather than represents, the splen dours of old Baghdad ...

... Jesus My Boy Birmingham John Dowie's one-man show, premiered at Birmingham Rep's Studio, is a strange and sometimes not very easy mix of styles: a dramatic monologue which owes a lot to the traditions of stand-up comedy. In the person of Joseph, Dowie recounts the main events of Jesus' life in a down-toarth, debunking way, as a carpenter might recount a story to his mates in the pub. On the ...

... I barbiere di Siviglia Berlin Ruth Berghaus' production of Rossini's II barbiere, to designs by Achim Freyer, was an evening of subtle wit and sly humour. Because it was not overdone, the comedy seemed more potent than when it is all capers and slapstick. Berghaus' approach was to treat the piece with all the S artificiality of opera, the very thing I most directors try to hide. She even ...

... Hancock's Last Half Hour Riverside Studios Jim McManus bears a remarkable resemblance to the late Tony Hancock. As he prowls around a squalid hotel room remonstrating with himself, cracking jokes and talking to the furniture, he conjures up the same mixture of offbeat humour and quiet despair as the man himself. This is just as well, as Heathcote Williams' one man play needs an exceptional ...

... Between the Gods and the Gutter Tabard We are all in the gutter, said Wilde. But Peter Liney's characters are too busy taking part in life's exhausting marathon to have time to look up at the stars or to give a moment's thought to the Gods. Literally so. In this Tabard theatre revival of his witty existentialist comedy, first seen at the Salisbury Festival, five remarkably fit actors spend ...

... The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol Shaftesbury Deservedly revived after its triumphs last year, this production is perhaps the crowning glory of Complicite's work so far. Based on the works of John Berger, this is the story of the Cabrol family, and in particular the daughter Lucie, whose whole episodic existence is a struggle against adversity. On a set consisting largely of wood and earth, ...

... The Winter Guest Leeds Sharman Macdonald's new play is a compelling, intensely moving experience and it is etched with striking performances. Given its world premiere at the West Yorkshire Playhouse's Courtyard Theatre, The Winter Guest was commissioned by Alan Rickman and Ruby Wax, Rickman directing. He has a masterly touch, bringing a gentle, delicate pace to the story and teasing some ...

... On Golden Pond Edinburgh Ernest Thompson's bitter sweet comedy about old age and the sustaining power that love can give to even the most cantankerous of relationships is an excellent choice for the Royal Lyceum. Thane Bettany and Eileen McCallum convince as Norman and Ethel Thayer, the couple in the golden glow of second child hood, pending their umpteenth summer together in the rural ...

... The Soldier's Tale/Goblin Market Queen Elizabeth Hall The collaboration between the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Trestle Theatre Company is on a scale large enough to ensure that it is not an entirely economic proposition. This is a pity, because it cries out for a medium sized theatre staging, rather than in concert halls, for it has two sets designed by Mark Wisher, and an onstage ...

... WHAT A SCRUMMY LOT! Picture: tristram Kenton. A Scene from Up 'n' Under at The Playhouse Theature. page Playhouse Theatre Up 'n' Under Perhaps John Godber's finest moment, Up 'n' Under enjoys a well deserved return to the West End and while the jokes may be getting older, there's still plenty of life in Godber's tough but tender tale of beer, rugby and self-belief. It concerns the worst rugby ...