... Prince Rama and the Demons Glasgow/Touring Robert North does not exactly set the heather alight with this Scottish Ballet production at the Theatre Royal but he leaves it smouldering nicely. In this show, aimed at young people, North's choreography is bold and fluid, allowing the performers to throw elegant and iconic shapes inspired by Javanese dance and art forms. The eternally elegant Linda ...

... Royal Opera House Coppelia Delibe's vivacious score and Osbert Lancaster's gorgeous Tyrolean designs and costumes create a holiday atmosphere in this Royal Ballet production. This is the version first staged by Ninette de Valois in 1954, not seen here for three decades, now freshly revived by Anthony Dowell with the help of Merle Park. There is more freestyle spontaneity among the ensemble ...

... The Italian job Kevin Berry talks to Northern Ballet Theatre's artistic director Stefano Giannetti who hopes to bring some Latin passion and enthusiasm to his new role Stefano Giannetti is unperturbed by the task ahead of him. The new artistic director of Northern Ballet Theatre is determined to build on the late Christopher Gable's legacy and he is equally determined to colour the company ...

... Sweeney Todd Royal Festival Hall It is almost 20 years since London audiences first attended Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's grisly musical thriller about the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and this Paul Kerryson staging proved to be a splendid anniversary celebration. Although billed as a concert performance, it was fully costumed (supervisor: Jackie Holt) and played out on Adrian Rees' ...

... Gaveston The Drome This venue could hardly have been more apt for The Tick's darkly entertaining production, based around the life of Piers Gaveston, Edward it's gay lover. A huge vaulted space, it was admirably suited to a tale of political plotting, paganism and gore. Staged in the round, this enabled a standing audience to move around with the action, giv ing immediacy to scenes of both ...

... A Servant to Two Masters Young Vic Lee Hall's adaptation of Goldoni's play attempts to show that it is the last Italian work based firmly on the commedia dell'arte tradition and the first to herald a new type of social comedy. But while director Tim Supple has done his best to point up the satire of a wealthy man who has accidentally managed to get his daughter engaged to two suitors at the ...

... The Second Amendment Club Union Theatre Peter Morris' solo show, performed by Ben Duhl under the direction of Dylan Lowthian, hopes to offer insight into America's epidemic of schoolyard shootings by presenting a disaffected teenager drifting towards violence. Martin is 18 (too old for the syndrome, surely) and hates everything and everyone from his stepmother to Meryl Streep. He expresses his ...

... On McQuillan's Hill Belfast The land around McQuillan's Hill in Joseph Crilley's new play at the Lyric is remote, marshy, bordering on the vast expanse of Lough Neagh in County Armagh. It is a backwater beyond a backwater, whose inhabitants' lives have been shaped over the years by a powerful combination of religion and republican politics. Social mores, political loyal ties and family ties ...

... Travels with my Aunt Bagnor Giles Havergal first adapted Graham Greene's novel with a cast of four actors, including one who mostly serves the drinks. But for this in the round revival at the tiny Watermill, Euan Smith has wisely reduced the quartet to a trio, making space for the bizarre props that gradually fill the stage. Dressed in identical business suits, the actors each play vari ous ...

... Step back in time Guildford's National Resource Centre for Dance is home to a wealth of historical material. John Thaxter pays it a visit Without a script or libretto, dance is the most ephemeral of the performing arts. The broadsheet newspapers publish more dance commentary than ever, and there is no shortage of memoirs or coffee table books. But after the final curtain descends, what ...

... Seaside specials Award-winning choreographer Phil Winston has inspired some of Blackpool's most sparkling shows. Robin Duke meets him Phil Winston admits that it has been quite a long haul from being bullied at his Doncaster school for dancing rather than joining the football team to quietly claiming the prestigious Carl Alan Award as the professional who has given the most to dance over ...

... Getting a glowing report Peter Hepple skips through the pages of some of the latest books on dance It is a sad fact of life that most dancers, like actors, do not make it to the top. But that it is possible to have a satisfying career is proved by Ann Steedman, whose book The Glow, published by Etoile Publications in paper back at £14.50, is a testament to that fact. Although this is, ...