... Cirque du Soleil Orlando, Florida Since its creation in Quebec in 1984, Cirque du Soleil writer and director Franco Dragone has seen his mission to combine circus with other areas of performing arts take flight. The seven different shows to have found their way out of Dragones head and on to the stage are presented across the globe, including this version, La Nouba, playing in the Cirque du ...

... Varied line-up has real gems Billing Jade Entertainments Billing Aquadrome's Marina Room may not at first glance appear the most obvious of showcase venues--especially on a cold, rainy evening--but once inside this lively place of honest, no frills entertainment, you soon warm to it. And, on the night. Jade Entertainments had gone to the trouble of supplying more variety than some, with solo ...

... Pushing back the boundaries Leeds/Touring Circus Oz Gone are the days of red-nosed clowns, glamorous trapeze artists and tamed big cats-and this show, at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, could not stress the point more strongly. It is a circus of tattooed, multi-skilled gymnasts, jugglers and musicians, all driven by a politicised mission to change the world. Unlike their politics, the ...

... Peter Grimes Glyndeboume Glyndeboume has revived Trevor Nunn's harrowing staging of Britten's opera for a second time. Its impact is devastating. John Gunter's designs of heightened realism are wonderfully evocative, notably the Borough church tucked up an alley. They catch the ii fe^ 1 1 Rn kjue ui vax i ii i iui i ...

... Nowt queer about Harding's folk show It has been more than two years since Mike Harding (Smooth Operations for R2. Wednesday, July 12) took over from Ralph McTell in the weekly Radio 2 slot, which features the best of roots, folk and acoustic music. During that time his long and varied experience as a musician, coupled with a natural, friendly presenting style, has won him a lot of friends ...

... Scene Unseen Leeds Classic south Asian Kathak retains its purity when Nahid Siddiqui dances. Her company uses the swirling movements, emphatic hand gestures and foot stamping of classic Kathak in a choreographic style with a contemporary vocabulary. Siddiqui's impressive touring show Scene Unseen, at the Riley Theatre, looks at the natural world. It shows the balance and beauty of fire, water, ...

... Of Oil And Water Sadler's Wells The title of Siobhan Davies' new piece provides a clue to its meaning. The phrase implies elements that do not mix, and the 70*ninute work is a hugely rewarding study of opposites. It begins with Davies' eight excellent dancers lying in a row across the stage, gently flexing in soft rhythmic arches. They gradu ally rise and begin a series of solos, duos and ...

... Pickups and Hiccups Soho Theatre Working in the Chicago tradition of improvisational comedy, Seth Meyers and Jill Benjamin of Boom Chicago offer a fast-moving if inevitably uneven hour. The opening sketch builds on the usual improv format, as they ask questions of various members of the audience and then create composite characters out of the answers for a scene of bar room chat-up. Some later ...

... Let Go of My Trunk Canal Cafe Racily, publicity for this show features a scantily clad woman asking potential punters if they would like to pay a fiver to see her perform in a foursome. Though it would be unfair to say that this collection of sketches fails to live up to its flyer, this kind of one-note cheekiness seems to be a motif for the evening. That said, there is plenty of good ...

... Falstaff Leeds This revival of Matthew Warchus' autumnal staging of Verdi's final masterpiece is very special. Rightly, the first night audience at the Grand Theatre and Opera House rapturously applauded a quite exceptional performance which enriched and fortified the spirit. Recently appointed music director Steven Sloane lights into the opening chords with an ample gusto which, at a ...

... Agents' Association North West Branch Variety Showcase Salford Producer Barrie Lucas is instrumental in putting together this prestigious annual event, which raises funds for Manchester charities, at the Willows Club. Backing duo Celebrations are two of the best young musicians on the cabaret scene today, and did sterling work on what was a long and enjoyable evening. The KJkka Dancers opened ...

... All That Mullarkey Gilded Balloon It is not every day a comedian finds vicious critic (me) and vicious magi cian (Jerry Sadowitz) at either end of a pew, faces grim, arms folded in defiant 'so make me laugh' mode. Well, Neil Mullarkey got me pissing myself (and I swear out of the corner of my eye I caught a flicker of a smile from Jerry). It is a simple enough formula: Mullarkey lures you into ...