... lyrics of Jason Robert Brown (shows: Parade, Songs for a New World), Adam Guettel (Saturn Returns, Floyd Collins) and Michael John LaChiusa (The Wild Party, Marie Christine). Except for Floyd Collins, which had its UK premiere at the Bridewell last year ...

... timely revival at the New bringing forth well-earned laughter and applause throughout. Commedia dell arte staging, designed by Russell Craig, has been meticulously reproduced with a rollicking sense of fun by Aidan Lang. There is much imaginative by-play between ...

... Heroes and villains of comedy BY JOHN MARTLAND The mouth-watering prospect of hearing two of our leading humorists, Alan Bennett and John Bird, exploring the theory and practice of comedy, made That Mocking Bird (Tony Staveacre Productions for R2, Saturday ...

... impressive John Cooper Clarke-style rapping. I don't get hecklers, he said, because nobody knows what the hell I'm going on about. He lost most of his audience along the way, but the comic journey was worth taking. If Holmes was laid back, Russell Brand ...

... Making a lasting impression By JOHN MARTLAND So successful has the topical Impressions sketch show Dead Ringers (R4, from F/iday, November 17) become, that it is now possible to download certain extracts from the Internet. These mostly feature prank telephone ...

... the mysterious Masked Lady in D Marrini's Veronica Franco. Andrea Page was fine as Veronica, the cele brated courtesan, but Russell Thomas stole the scene and perhaps the show with his commanding presence and elegant movement. Also set in the 16th century ...

... Sign up for Service memories BY JOHN MARTLAND Exactly 55 years ago this month, and only a few weeks after Germany's surrender brought an end to the war in Europe, the Labour Party swept to a landslide victory in the General Election. One of the first ...