... 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 ...

... 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 ...

... 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 ...

... 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 ...