... 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 ...

... Independence Day Oval House Christopher Rodriguez's play is an electric, passionate study of two people caught in a love that is destroying them. Rosemary (Josephine Welcome) is a fiftyish Trinidadian woman married to the thirty-something Marcello (David Durham), much to the consternation of the world around them. Neighbours spy on the couple in macabre fascination, his colleagues snigger ...

... Solitary Animals Hackney Empire Studio Almost panto-like, plays appear each year that link the world's violence to our own sheltered lives. Many of these are ho-hum, but a few manage to bypass our woolly consciences and get our brains ticking instead. Elaine Acworth's production falls into the latter category. Laurel, played by Laura Wilkinson, is a foreign correspondent who is HIV-positive ...

... Richard III St Luke's Church Directed by Bryan Torfeh, this all- female production is described in the programme as a rough draft, based on limited rehearsal time. While most of the cast members know most of their lines, the workshop element can be seen in the overreliance on signifying and other acting shortcuts such as mechanical posing, excessive reactions, eye-rolling and the like. As ...

... Provocatively sensual show Lyttelton Baby Doll Late in life Tennessee Williams wrote Tiger Tail, a melodramatic stage version of his screenplay Baby Doll, which unsuccessfully surfaced three years ago in Plymouth. But Lucy Bailey, whose Birmingham Rep production transfers to the National, was lucky enough to get permission to adapt the earlier film script under its original title. Back in ...

... Rosmersholm Nottingham It is a rare treat for a British audience to see Henrik Ibsen's work performed by a Norwegian company. The National Theatre of Norway, directed by Terje Maerli, does full justice to this rarely performed play, which tells the darkly brooding tale of Johannes Rosmer, a pastor who has lost his faith, and his self-seeking foster-daughter Rebekka. She is an emancipated ...

... Brief Encounter Windsor/Touring Andrew Taylor's creaky transliteration of David Lean's movie masterpiece from screen to stage, revived for a short season at the Theatre Royal, has been partly recast since it was last seen on tour. Jenny Seagrove takes over as a poignant if rather lachrymose Laura, missing the stoic gaiety of Celia Johnson's film portrayal but still cutting an attractive figure ...

... Gerald Berkowitz ...

... Shelf Life Staged at the Phoenix Centre, this is a diverse entertainment encompassing farm grumbles and rural concerns, a view of consumer society and human life. Its start, on a farm, suggests a gritty drama, but diverting animal props and humour soon make the point that gritty is not the house style of Theatre Alibi. The plot soon begins to whim sically consider the plight of a shy man ...