... Arsenic And Old Lace EXETER TIMOTHY BOND from Ottawa, and a director of note in Canada, came to Britain at the invitation of the Nor- thcott Theatre especially for its production of Arsenic And Old Lace and the result is far removed from some of those Anglicised ver- cinnc wp havp hernme used to in recent years. Although performed in the round (which doesn't exactly suit it) the play ...

... How We Held The Square MOLD A THEATRE treat for kids of all ages must be one of the toughest challenges; How We Held Trie Square is Theatr Clwyd's answer to the problem and thousands of kids will confirm that the Mold theatre got it right. George Roman's production, of David Cregan's play is an irresistible combination of fun, surprise, magic and laughter. The play tells about the fight of a ...

... The Marriage of Figaro' UNTIL Beaumarchais really got going, in terms of emotion and action, towards the play's conclusion, RADA's production of The Marriage of Figaro made do with a Figaro (Derek Kneller) and a Susanna (Clare Dow) whose characterisations took the respective forms of a smug demeanour and saucy eyes, and of a smiling and perky pretti- ness. It was not enough, even if they ...

... Low key reality by Jill Weekes MANKIND, quoth a bard, cannot bear very much reality; though lesser mortals whose feet walk unpoetic ground put up with it every day. But even if the average city-bound adult does occasionally drown his sorrows, there is little escape for his children. Which is why ATV's drama serial The Siege of Golden Hill (Episode 4, ITV, Sunday, June 29, 5.5 or 5.35 p.m. ...

... Bravo-good blend of fact and fiction by Geoffrey Wren ON Friday. April 21, 1876. Charles Bravo, a young barrister died after three days of agony following a dinner of whiting, roast lamb and anchovy egg. An unsolved Victorian crime célébre which has attracted speculative interest for nearly a century and provided Ken Taylor with fascinating source material for BBC's three-part dramatisation ...

... CARDIFF CHAPTER ARTS CENTRE Smiles Below Zero WORKS ABOUT Russian dissidents are hardly a rarity, but there would be none more unusual than Smiles Below Zero, the latest new production by Theatr Saga Theatre at Chapter Arts Centre. Cardiff. This 80-minute piece is concerned with the fate of artists and their work in Satlinist Russia, being drawn from the work and life his tories of Boris ...

... Strange Encounters THEATRE CENTRE MICHAEL MAYNARD'S play Strange Encounters, aimed at the older pupils of primary schools, is an affair of time travel. We begin--in fiction as in fact--with a school assembly hall into which the (real) audience is admitted while a rehearsal is going on. The play has been written by drama teacher Mr James (Ian Blower) and has an awkward cast for his story ...

... American Days ICA THE life force of Sherman, kingpin in an enormous multi-national recording company, is anything that sells. Energy is selling? Well then, energy is what he is looking for in the youngsters whose demonstration tapes pour into his plushcarpeted office, background water noises and all (the bathroom being where many of them think they do their best work). This is not the sort ...

... Summer WATFORD PRESUMABLY on the assumption that only the middle-aged support the theatre regularly, there has been a spate of plays recently about this underprivileged section of the community, awash in menopausal problems, beset by growing children, full of angst about lost opportunities and faded dreams. Hugh Leonard's Summer at Watford Palace is such a play, though as it is set in ...

... The Secretary Bird PLYMOUTH WILLIAM DOUGLAS Home's The Secretary Bird began its successful flight into the West End and theatrical history from its premiere performance in the West Country in 1967. It came home to roost tor a while at Plymouth's Hoe Theatre where Derek Kirk presented a revival of this famous comedy with Terence Alexander, Patricia Temple and Rodney Diak, for two weeks prior ...

... Two Lads From London BUBBLE THEATRE PILLAGING Restoration comedy for the purpose of creating a musical entertainment is one of the most acceptable forms of theatrical highway robbery, and Bubble's Kevin Robinson proves himself to be a veritable Robin Hood with Two Lads From London--which began its career on the boards as Farqu- har's The Beaux' Stratagem. It is as frothy and delicious ...

... Huckleberry Finn LEICESTER IT IS NOT easy to convey the excitement and adventure of a children's adventure story like Huckleberry Finn on an open stage, but with the aid of Bob Eaton's adaptation, director Sue Pomeroy has worked wonders. The thousands of schoolchildren who have flocked to Leicester's Phoenix Theatre to see it may have had the fidgets in the longer dialogue exchanges, but ...