... Romeo and Juliet Cambridge Sex, violence, dirty jokes, generation conflict Shakespeare's tragedy of star-crossed lovers has all the ingredients of a sure-fire box office success. Open air Shakespeare in the Fellows' Garden of King's College is an enchanting prospect if the rain holds off. On this occasion the production, directed by Hilary Lyons, had to compete with disturbing outside noise, ...

... A Midsummer Night's Dream Exeter Soon after the longest day, with all the inevitability of that event, there occurs an outbreak of outdoor versions of this comedy. There is no doubt that the play, with its fairies, spells and rough humour is the ideal vehicle, but the spell does not extend to the English weather, which frequently sabotages the production. A dull sky, threats of rain and a ...

... Mr Cinders Southwold Summer theatre has started in Southwold. Jill Freud and company are back for a 17th year with their formula for banishing the blues, beginning with this bright and breezy production. Director Anthony Falkingham packs six different scenes and a cast or 14 into the contines of st Edmund's Hall and everyone comes up smelling of Vivian Ellis. In the pivotal role of Jim, the ...

... The Royal Ballet School Holland Park Theatre A regular summer attraction, these performances are an exciting challenge for Royal Ballet School students. With 20 Upper School dancers on a Japanese showcase tour, the Royal Ballet lent two professionals to work alongside students in a dazzling perfor mance of Raymonda's Act III. Marianella Nunez and Ivan Putrov gave inspirational displays, ...

... Ring Round the Moon King's Head Jean Anouilh's comedy comes with a reputation for elegant frivolity. But Phil Willmott's witty co-production for Steam Industry and TP Rims also reveals an undertow of social snobbery and Jewish angst. It was first seen 50 years ago when Paul Scofield, director Peter Brook and playwright Christopher Fry (all happily still with us) were stars in the ascendant. ...

... Kwaidan BITEOO: The Pit Subtitled Three Japanese Ghost Stories, this is puppet theatre that is refreshingly by adults for adults. It is breathtaking in its vision and humour, underpinned by a dazzling mix of techniques-from giant puppets to human actors-that evolve across the triptych of plays. Often multi-screen in concept, the action of each play takes place across a grid with panels that ...

... Mademoiselle Colombe Bridewell Precious little actually happens in Jean Anouilh's vivacious 1951 comedy, but somehow, somewhere around the middle of the second half, you realise that this deliciously camped-up, silly confection of a play has telescoped into a heartfelt polemic on the inevitable inconstancy and per petual disappointment of love, life and everything else besides. It is the ...

... Romeo and Juliet Olivier Done badly, Romeo and Juliet is a tiresome tragedy about the failures of the Veronese postal service. And while not as bad as all that, Tim Supple's blighted ensemble performance is bitty and heavy-going-seeming to last as long as the five days in which tne action takes place. Its main problem is the com plete absence of a sense of place: Supple aims to penetrate ...

... Comedy worth shouting about Lyttelton Noises Off If there is a strong commercial bent in the National's production of Michael Frayn's play, which will tour to major theatres next year, it is nothing to be ashamed of. Noises Off is one of the funniest plays of the last 25 years, almost classically neat in its construction, and giving the lie to the contention that plays about the theatre are ...

... Women on the Verge of HRT Hornchurch Marie (Stones in His Pockets) Jones' earlier play is a curious hybrid using theatre, storytelling, legend, dreams, music, songs, swearing, sex and comedy to comment on mature women's feelings. This is constantly reflected in Glen Walford's production at the Queen's, with delighted gurgles of recognition from the female members of the audience. Men are from ...

... Dear Brutus Nottingham It makes such good sense to run this in repertory with A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Playhouse. Both illuminate and enrich the other, and Richard Baron and his team have excelled themselves, subtly modifying the sumptuous Tudor mansion used in the Shakespeare to render it Edwardian for JM Barrie. Half the fun of course is seeing the same actors in different guises ...

... Cut classic off course Sadler's Wells Romeo and Juliet For all their supposed modernity, contemporary choreographers cannot resist the classics. Mark Morris was among the first to plunder ballet's canon with The Hard Nut (1991), his version of The Nutcracker, while Matthew Bourne transformed the dance scene with his inspired take on Swan Lake (1995). Now the French-Albanian choreographer ...