... Sleeping Beauty Sunderland The problem with this production at the Empire is that it has got no per sonality. Star names it might have, but what it lacks is someone to give it that flash of inspiration and lift it out of its lethargy. With a slow start, the only thing to get excited about in the first half is the evil, wicked Carabosse (Kate Copstick). The rest of the action is eminently ...

... Cinderella Weston-super-Mare Paul Holman Associates' third annual Christmas offering at the Playhouse is the most spectacular yet. Robert Marlowe's production decorates the traditional pan tomime with gorgeous costumes and scenery, a generous line-up of dancers, a delightful transformation scene involving genuine Shetland ponies and Fantaisie en Noir puppets, plus Postman Pat for good measure. ...

... Alice in Wonderland Wellingborough Directed by Daniel Austin and the Castle's sixth Christmas show, this production is very much in the shadow of its predeccessors. In short, the package is a mass of unintelligible shouting, huge amounts of charging about the stage for no rhyme or reason, and scenery which looks like a Blue Peter reject and that, I have to admit, is being kind. This venue has ...

... Hansel and Gretel Paisley Where did those pesky Florida ballot papers go? Easy. Nasty old Aunt Agatha (Elaine Ellis) stole them, just as she stole the Queen's baby son. The child will grow up to be TP (the superb Jimmy Harrison), but he wouldn't have discovered his her itage without the help of Hansel and Gretel, PACE Theatre Company graduates Andrew Howie and Eilidh McCormick, giving warm and ...

... 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 ...