... Best Before Etcetera This cleverly titled new play about Alzheimer's Disease, written and directed by Lizi Hann, is not as grim as you might expect. Although it does not shirk the stark realities of dementia and it does not offer any easy comfort, you do not come away feeling depressed. For one thing, this does have some surprisingly funny moments. But there is a strong sense of the value ...

... Running riot with cliches Edinburgh The Shaughraun Dion Boucicault's 19th century comic melodrama runs riot with every cliche about the Irish in the book. From the big-hearted wandering poacher of the title to feisty Irish county ladies, red-headed informers and dim British soldiers, Boucicault sets them all up. And in this fast-paced production at the Royal Lyceum, director Mark Lambert ...

... Things We Do for Love Chester Alan Ayckbourn's mordant look at the destructive effects of love receives its north west premiere at the Gateway. Guy Retallack's beautifully- judged production portrays every shift of mood and emotion as the play moves from the style of Abigail's Party to that of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Barbara, a poised career woman, lives in the elegant flat which ...

... The Pearl Fishers London Coliseum Philip Prowse's exotic version of Bizet's Gallic Mills et Boon romance set on an island in the Indian Ocean is back. Savour again the petal-strewn stage, the central pillared platform, sacred elephants carved on its columns, the beached boat and huge slatted overhang, all awash with Gerry Jenkinson's colourfully expressive lighting. It is possible to find ...

... Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood Newark Robin Hood can be a gutsy, swash buckling tale and always goes down well in Nottinghamshire. But in a long and over-padded show at the Palace, the storyline gets very frag mented and there is never any real sense that the Babes are in danger. Fine talent like that of Lisa Jane Williams, a tall and truly impressive Robin Hood is squandered with too ...

... Aladdin Bournemouth Lavishly-staged, this presentation from E&B Productions at the Pavilion offers a wealth of fun, spectacle, music and dance. Jeremy Beadle's Wishee Washee may be short on characteri sation but he proceeds to wow the crowd with all manner of buffoonery and audience participation antics. Gareth Hunt earns ear-splitting boos as Abanazar, and temporarily relaxes into a classic ...

... Jack and the Beanstalk Potters Bar Chris Cavanagh has returned to the Wyllyotts Centre to write, direct and choreograph another inventive pantomime for which this venue has acquired a reputation. Though there is not much new that one can bring to the story, it is the incidentals that count here bright design, lively and original dance routines, the inclusion of such apt but less-used songs as ...

... Peter Pan Lincoln Peter Pan is flying higher than ever at Lincoln this festive season, not just because of the high standard of Chris Moreno's production but because the sternest critics of all the kids raise the roof in their delight. Stars in Their Eyes winner Katrina Davey's talent as Peter shows that she is destined for greater things, while experienced professionals David Griffin as ...

... Cinderella Mansfield I take my hat off to the Palace Theatre for doing its research, know ing its audience and giving it a thor oughly good time. Schoolchildren munching their way through goody bags in the shape of Cinderella's coach loved seeing their head teacher singled out for attention by the Ugly Sisters, even to the flaunt ing of his Christian name alongside their smalls on the washing ...

... Dick Whittington Redditch Devised and directed by David Vickers and Richard Chandler, this year's production at the Palace is stocked with all the usual panto paraphernalia. Jeremy Turner-Welch (Emmerdale heart-throb Tom Banbridge) stars as Dick with easy charm and an aura of calmness about him. Brian Croucher (Ted Hills from EastEnders) plays Alder man Rtzwarren with real panache his vast ...

... Aladdin South port Produced by Duggie Chapman and directed by Bill Maynard, the South-port Theatre's Aladdin is a winner all the way. With a cast full of TV personalities from Heartbeat to Coronation Street via Granada Tonight, this is a modem-day pantomime which still manages to retain all the traditional touches. David Lonsdale (Heartbeat's David) is excellent as the hapless Wishee Washee ...

... Dick Whittington Radlett The Brighton-based Upstage Prod uction Company has made the Radlett Centre's cosy creative space its home for the last few Christmases, having upped the regional pantomime stakes for others to match with last year's excellent Sleeping Beauty. Even if this year's Dick Whittington never quite reproduces that production's 'joie de festive vivre', this is still thoroughly ...