... An Evening with Samuel Beckett Nick Cave's Meltdown 99: Queen Elizabeth Hall An evening is scarcely enough to encompass Billie Whitelaw's 25 years as Beckett's favourite actress and muse. But this premiere performance has coaxed her back to the London. stage, a year after her husband Robert Muller's death and a dozen more since an unhappy encounter with Albee's Martha at the Young Vic. In ...

... Hazel O'Connor: Beyond Breaking Glass Hammersmith Irish Centre Hazel O'Connor has obviously not always had an easy time of it. The eighties punk icon got--to put it mildly--a raw deal from the record industry, meaning her success as a musician was not often matched by the financial and lifestyle rewards that should have been inevitable. Considering all that, her one-woman show a highly ...

... Traboule Islington International Festival: Highbury Fields French circus company Maboul Distorsion makes its debut here with Traboule. What could have been yet another tedious display of arty physical theatre turned out to be inventive and fun, with touches of the great Cirque Imaginaire. Ut course, there is a bizarre theme. It involves a green man, a Samurai warrior, a nicotine addict and a ...

... The A-Z of Sex Canal Cafe Half the battle of creating a revue of songs with a theme is getting the programme right, and in this respect Velkro Theatre Company's production is relatively successful. It is obvious that a certain amount of care has been taken in choosing this collection of songs about 'doing it' and, thankfully, some of the material is anything but predictable. The Heather ...

... Ian Shaw Pizza on the Park Ian Shaw has one of the strongest backgrounds of anybody on the jazz scene. A music scholar at university, he gained early experience in West End shows before deciding to concentrate on jazz, so it is hardly surprising that he brings a depth to a cabaret performance matched by few others. In his latest appearance at Pizza on the Park he appeared solo, accompanying ...

... Creative force dares and wins Tricycle Keter-Dirk Uys: Dekaffirnated This remarkably fertile performer seemed a lot more relaxed and a lot more daring in his demolition of all the peculiarities and hypocrisies in the ever-growing new South Africa than when he tipped up last year to much acclaim. We get a fantastic PW Botha, and an impression of those liberals who feel they are now being ...

... Fascinating and irritating Almeida Rashomon Alejandro Vinao's Rashomon derives from Akira Kurosawa's extraordinary movie of the same title, which surprised and shattered Western audiences upon its appearance in the early fifties. It presents different versions of the rape of a wife. Masago, by herself, her husband, bandit and woodcutter. Kurosawa's subtly- changing images explore the rela ...

... The Magic Flute Newcastle-under-Lyme Chris Monks does not believe in doing things by halves. He had a ball updating Bizet's Carmen last summer and has also taken liberties with The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. But his revamping of this Mozart classic is his most audacious venture yet - and his greatest triumph. nib urdve new nurcuu is aiun- ning and had all but the most diehard of ...

... Ballet Central Cochrane It was a huge pleasure to have our talent-spotting desires so amply rewarded in Ballet Central's performance at the Cochrane. While each and every one of these final year students at the Central School of Ballet has something worthy to offer, Simon Kidd is quite outstanding. Slightly built, he nevertheless has tremendous energy and the kind of commitment to whatever ...

... Towards Poetry/My Brother, My Sisters/Fearful Symmetries Sadler's Wells Mark Baldwin's Towards Poetry does not stand up to a second viewing. Julian Anderson's difficult score is tedious, Michael Howells' costumes are reminiscent of some distant Soviet production, and Baldwin's choreography weaves steps together unremarkably. In stark contrast, the choreo graphic talents of MacMillan were ...

... That'll be the Jay that I like Old Vic Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants Ricky Jay is a sad-faced but likeable Broadway magician, a bearded, stocky New Yorker, who between recitations of doggerel about card-sharps and cheats, proves a dangerous man to play poker with. Slickly dealing from the top, bottom and middle of the deck, he can deliver you an excit ing hand to encourage the betting and ...

... Lizzie and Grania Renihan Ronnie Scott's After their visit as part of the Divas at the Donmar season last year, Anne Hampton Callaway and her sibling Liz were possibly the highest profile sister act around, but they had better watch their backs, because Lizzie and Grania Renihan's talent ality and warmth are hard to resist. Both actress/singers have made their mark on the musical stage ...