... The Chimes White Bear Considering that there was hardty enough room to ring a bell on the stage of the White Bear during the Maldon Actors Company's version of The Chimes, this proved an interesting evening. It was all the more impressive for being the company's very first production and a pleasant way to see in the New Year in true Dickensian style. The artistic policy of the company is to ...

... Peter Pan Glasgow Graham Lustig's Peter Pan, now in its sixth year, has not improved with age. If anything, the present revival was a listless effort which highlighted only the piece's inadequacies. Originally, the work had three outstanding virtues: the music, a wonderfully imaginative score by Eddie McGuire, the flying by Foy and the fights, staged with great inventiveness by Denis Agnew. ...

... Copacabana Blackpool Barry Manilow performs good pop, not classic, and for his debut musical he has come up with a good one, though not a classic one. i i iuo an imc Hlglt^JIcMl*) die there, but the added spice is missing. That said, the musical is probably better suited to its year long nationwide tour than a West End residency and is certainly a glossy enough production to neat ly fill ...

... Sheer drive and energy Copenhagen II Barbiere di Siviglia The Royal Danish Opera's 1979 production (Holger Boland) of Rossini's II Barbiere di Siviglia is clearly a tried and tested favourite, if the warm applause which greets the current revival is a fair indicator. Helge Repin's spare yet evocative settings neatly encompass a staging which keeps on the boil. Certainly, the performers are ...

... Dance where language plays a major role Bristol Tres It is rare indeed to find the name of a language coach among the credits for a modem dance company, but then Belgium based NeedCompany is no ordinary ensemble. Its choreographer and director Grace Ellen Barkey is already well known in Europe for her skill in fusing narrative, songs, dialogue and dance, and she moves considerably further ...

... Sods in Space--The Science of Irish Dance Jackson's Lane Angela and Maire Clerkin, better known to many as two members of the infamous Hairy Marys, have now founded Clerkinworks, and they describe their latest show, Sods in Space--The Science of Irish Dance, as a radical alternative to Riverdance. i^ai alien lauve iu niveiuctinc Well, Riverdance, with its teams of immaculately drilled Irish ...

... Acts worthy of attention Yeovil Great Western Entertainments Showcase Graham Wilkin's Great Western Entertainments Showcase in the sumptuously refurbished 500 seat cabaret room of Westland Social Club began precisely on time at 2pm, signalling the professionalism which we have come to expect from this organisation. Afternoon compere Bobby Paul immediately kick-started response by opening with ...

... STAND BY YOUR MAN Picture: Conrad Blakemore Martin Shaw and Victoria Hasted in An ideal Husband at the Theatre Royal, Hay market. ^^^Symuj^^u^uj^^S^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H Theatre Royal, Haymarket An Ideal Husband Well, I suppose everything has a place and where better for this Kenwright/Hall revival than the theatre where Oscar Wilde's play first appeared Wilde's themes remain important ...

... Come Together Man in the Moon Attendance at Come Together was no doubt boosted by the con troversy rustled up before the show began. Putting on a play about Beatle John Lennon's killer is bound to elicit a response from the rest of the band, particularly when the band has released a new single. Full marks for exploiting the potential audience given to BBC3 Ltds production about the life of ...

... Dinner with the Borgias Croydon In the opening scene of Roy Smiles' Dinner with the Borgias at the Warehouse, the character of Niccolo Machiavelli explained he had two reasons for taking a brief holiday from Hell, where he usually lived. The first was to tell us. the audience, of the time he spent in me company or me noto rious Borgias family in 15th Century Italy, and the second was to ...

... The Place Resolution!-the dance season which is open to any company willing to take on the challenge of self-producing at the Place Theatre-is with us again. Frankly, one might as well throw a dart at the programme since each evening offers three pieces by different companies or individuals, many of whom are complete unknowns. Inevitably a large number of the aspirants are destined to remain ...

... Round and Round the Garden Newcastle-under-Lyme Starting more quietly, Round and Round the Garden provides just as much prolonged laughter as the other plays in Alan Ayckboum's Norman Conquest trilogy in the New Victoria's current production. The play encompasses the disastrous family weekend shown in Table Manners and Living Together. With seamless skill, under directors Peter Cheeseman and ...