... IT'S GOOD TO TALK Picture; Tristram Kenton. Jennifer Ehle and Stephen Dillane in The Real Thing at the Donmar Warehouse. See Donmar Warehouse The Real Thing Love and being loved is unliterary. So says Henry, the dashing writer in Tom Stoppard's 1982 play. Never mind that he says these words to his actress lover Annie shortly after leaving his wife, there is plenty in the charac ter to ...

... Making an art out of money Olivier Money Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Money is so striking that it makes one speculate as to whether there might be more riches to be unearthed in his work. I suspect, however, that its success is due more to the exemplary staging by John Caird, and the ability of what has already been proved an out standing group of actors in NT Ensemble 99. Money was presumably ...

... Brown Girl in the Ring Drill Hall This perplexing monologue, written and performed by Valerie Mason-John, purports to explore issues of racial and sexual identity through satire and physical performance. It does indeed provoke a variety of reactions, ranging from embarrassment, intense impa tience and occasional shock at the bluntness of its methods. Whether these responses are fertile and ...

... Martha 1999 Scottish International Children's Festival: Edinburgh In a new collaboration from the co-creators of The Red Balloon, this intriguing piece of theatre hits exactly the right spot to appeal to its target audience of five to eight year-olds. Under the direction of Annie Wood, Catherine Wheels (Scotland) with the MacRobert, Stirling and the Scottish International Children's ...

... The Herbal Bed Manchester Peter Whelan's award-winning play comes with quite a pedigree, as it was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and, to critical acclaim, travelled from the Other Place to the Barbican. From there, it transferred to the West End and Broadwav. It is clear from Chris Honer's production at the Library that this is a fascinating tale based on public record that ...

... Streb BITE: '99 Barbican Theatre Given the number of times that Streb 's performers smash them selves into a wall or splat themselves on to the floor, the point of impact accompanied by a tremendous thud, it is a wonder they have any teeth left between them. Not merely content with defying gravity and toying with centrifugal forces, Elizabeth Streb's choreographed gymnas tics are ...

... Subject to Angels Grace If his plot got stuck, thriller writer Raymond Chandler would have a guy come through the door with a gun. Robert Hamilton springs a neat variation. When his metaphysical mystery reaches an impasse, the angel we thought was dead springs back to life clutching a loaded shooter and loosing-off a round. Is he really an angel or a wounded hoodlum on the run? More likely ...

... Bajarse al Moro Teatro Technis Bajarse al Moro is significant because Jose Luis Alonso de Santos wrote it in 1985, a heady time when the youth of post-Franco Spain started opening up in a big way to what the rest of Europe already took for granted. It did not prove to be as unify ing as hoped, poignantly failing to bridge many of the divisions still evident in Spanish society. It is, however, ...

... Glass Ceiling BAC Simplicity, together with a fine, funny script, is the saving grace of Richard Davidson's new play. Literary aspirant, amateur astronomer and writer of slushy novels Aldous Brink welcomes his son Gabriel and his new girl friend Sally to the glass house he lives in with his partner Rebecca. Together, they prepare to welcome the return of a comet that had marked the birth of ...

... How the Other Half Loves Bolton Although the future looks grim at present for the financially beleaguered Octagon and its talented artistic director Lawrence Till, he has pulled out all the stops, directing with his customary skill a sparkling production of Alan Ayckboum's How the Other Half Loves. Although Ayckbourn is a natural crowdpuller, this should not detract from the fact that, so ...

... Laura Sonning If you have never heard of the book, play or film of Laura, it is for sure that you will know the melody that became the film's trademark. Although much is made of incidental music in this production, surprisingly that haunting theme is not heard until the end of the play at the Mill. As expected, the portrait of the murdered Laura dominates the set, designed by Jacqueline ...

... A Passionate Woman Leicester Kay Mellors study of middle age and fading hopes is like a thing unleashed. It begins gently in the loft of a suburban house, with a piece of offbeat soliloquy from Betty, a woman in an aquamarine wedding outfit who longs for Clodagh Rodgers, rock'n'roll and bath cubes. It ends uproariously with a half-clad Betty taking off in triumph from the rooftop in a ...