... Cuckoo BAC Grunts and grimaces in this four hander were evidence of a show devised as a workshop production, bom out of the 1994 dramatists' course at Hampstead Performing Arts. The only puzzle was working out what words the playwright Alex Mermikides known for her radio work and the Poems on Buses scheme, had written down as a guide for direc tor Anna Cutler and her cast. Protagonists, ...

... See How They Run Sonning First to run in this delightful forties romp by Philip King is the dog, which races in at the door to Peter D Szak's traditional vicarage set, with the maid bearing afternoon tea. A quick circle around the audience and an equally quick exit is followed by the first round of applause! The second round, and even more deserved, goes to the maid, (the talented Liz ...

... Tales from Home Tricycle Essex based Besht Tellers, founded by Rebecca Wolman and Robbie Gringras, began their storytelling in Siberia in 1991 when, with impressive chutzpah, they staged a collection of Jewish folk tales in phonetic Russian. With their expanded English version, international acclaim fol lowed, winding up last winter in Kilbum. But with the help of a Tricycle workshop and a new ...

... South Pacific Drill Hall This latest addition to the much-criticised proliferation of musicals in the London theatre poses a slight problem. Simply because of the way they were originally staged, the majority of Rodgers and Hammerstein's shows require lavish sets and tion values in oroer to provioe an enchanted evening. In this respect, the Drill Hall and Steam Industry's production of ...

... The Dresser Plymouth Dramas unfolding backstage are often as absorbing as the proscenium performances that are just such a fractious company's raison d'etre. Thus Ronald Harwood's acclaimed play entertains and intrigues with the behind the scenes stresses and strains of an actor/manager and his motley troupe. While he makes it clear that Sir in The Dresser is not intended as a portrayal of ...

... Ballad of Wolves The Gate In this sequel to Silverface, also staged at the Gate, Don Juan is an old man returning home to his dead wife before she is buried. Ramon del Valle Inclan s play, translated and adapted by David Johnston, gets an impres sively dark production. Don Juan Manuel de Montenegro teams of her death by seeing ghosts on the highway. His homecoming is made hellish by the wolves ...

... A forgotten era is remembered Greenwich Privates on Parade Peter Nichols' vaudeville piece, with its authentic eye for a forgotten era, is set in the world of an army song and dance unit in Malaya in 1948, beset by murderous communist insurgents, a droll vehicle for drag revue, choral routines and sly digs at the llglll. Ul DNllbll UUiUllldll^m. When first performed by the RSC in 1977, the ...

... The Firebird Clacton Presto Puppet Theatre kicked off its ninth touring production at the West Cliff Theatre. The Firebird is followed after an interval by Presto's famous Puppet Cabaret, in which gorgeous marionettes do impossible things like juggling, trampolining (a clown marvellous ly animated by John Baldock) and a trapeze act (another clown, brilliantly manipulated by Nigel Lawton). This ...

... Silent comic wins the day Batley International Artistes International Artistes, whose directors include Norman Thewlis and Stuart Littlewood, held its annual showcase at the Frontier Club in Batley. On the morning of the first day the hard working compere Mick McGinley got things under way by introducing a band from Sheffield called Hal. They never lacked energy as they sang and danced their ...

... The King of Prussia Gloucester Cornish based Kneehigh Theatre Company has launched a three and a half month tour of its current production, The King of Prussia which in the south west of England visited the Guildhall. This is a new piece by Nick Darke and the title of the play was a self-assumed pseudonym by the 18th Century free-tiader John Carter, who operated in Prussia Cove, Cornwall and ...

... The Streets of Dublin Brixton Shaw Unfortuntely what happened recently on the streets of Brixton meant people shied away from this production, which is a double shame. For not only is the Shaw an example of the positive developments in the area, but this alternative to a Christmas tomime is also a real fillip for anyone tempted to over-indulge on just traditional offerings. Counterpoint ...

... Twelfth Night St Paul's Church Hush-Hush Ensemble's energy usually knows no bounds. But here, ironically in the cavernous, baroque setting of St Paul's Church, once described by Sir John Betjeman as a pearl in the heart of Deptford, the company appears hampered by being restricted to running just around its perimeters and down the main aisle while the audience cranes its collective neck ...