... would be performed on that day. Performed it duly was, to inaugurate the Festival of London. But it was the play that dare not speak its name in dressing rooms; Macbeth. No sooner were the first words uttered half an hour late than the gentle persistent drizzle ...

... stentorian Abanazar, and an equally impres sive Slave of the Lamp, Nigel Garton. Shani Phillips as Genie of the Ring deliberately speaks more Peckham than Peking, and Spencer K Gibbins makes an imposing Emperor. Moonee and Magee are the knockabout Chinese policemen ...

... about telling jokes with a strong Estuary accent. However, his children (and dear wife, played quite gentry by Sadie Nine) speak with clipped, clear stage school voices. But, come on, it's Christmas. Forget style, the many anachro nisms, and whether we ...