... Royal victory as surplus cash rises By HELEN GOULD PLYMOUTH Theatre Royal has scored a remarkable financial victory, reporting the biggest surplus in its ten year history. Audiences rocketed by more than 50 per cent to a record 400,000 dur ing 1 99 1 boosting box office takings by almost a quarter, to £3 million. The turnaround has left the theatre with a trading surplus of more than £232,500, ...

... JESTER COCKS A SNOOK AT THE TAXMAN By BRIAN ATTWOOD JESTER Dave Fowkes has accused government bureaucrats of causing potential ruin to self employed entertainers by making inaccurate and exorbitant tax demands on them. The Lancashire puppeteer, who set up in business under the enterprise allowance scheme in 1983, has refused to pay a penny more to the Inland Revenue and has warned colleagues ...

... Festival Vic VIC DAMONE, who began his latest British tour at Canterbury on April 9, plays two concerts at the Royal Festiv al Hall on April 25. On the following night he will be a star guest on Live from the London Palladium. ...

... Overkill dampens Disco Aid fever DESPITE THE disappointment of their first fund-raising effort, disco industry charity chiefs were due to set up a permanent aid organisation this week. The founders of Disco Aid were hoping that their special charity night, which took place last November, would raise millions for the five good causes they have chosen. But now that all the proceeds from the 300 ...

... Brum's club Godfather attacks 'greedy' stars The Mayor doesn't know what he's talking about' By NATASHA FIELDING OVER RECENT weeks there has been mounting controversy regarding the Lord Mayor of Birmingham's attack on the city's 'drab' nightlife. Accusing fingers have been pointed at nightclub owners for not providing live entertainment in their establishments and blame them for the city's ...

... School needs £4,000 to stay in tune BRITAIN'S only independent harmonica school, which teaches children to play totally free of charge, is seriously under threat, with just one month to find £4,000 if it is to stay alive. The Harp Start school in Yarmouth is the brain child of harmonica teacher David Michelson, who two months ago sent out a plea for donations to keep the school up and ...

... My Night With Reg CRITERION KEVIN Elyot's play is the first show to go from the Royal Court's Theatre Upstairs to the West End. It won't be the last, but it'll take a good one to better it. It has been glibly dismissed by some as 'a gay Ayckbourn'. But My Night With Reg is more than the comedy of social manners you might expect. It's a play for today, about coming to terms with life in the ...

... Uwawi NOTTINGHAM AN AUDIENCE of gratifying numbers was treated to a brief curtain raiser, demonstrating how much the Salidummay company had been able to achieve in just one week working with local youngsters. The traditional song form Salidummay is today often associ ated with protest, and Uwawi (Lullaby) is a continuous narrative in a prologue and four parts which tells in song, dance and ...

... Dance Umbrella THE PLACE The work of choreographer Michel Kelemenis has a natural affinity with romanticism yet his style is modernist. Though the opening duet image was the least interesting of three works, overall there was a depth which, if it did not always engage the watchers in the way that Kelemenis might wish suggested a choreographer in transition, and one to watch. A ...

... Robert Hartford The Demon WEXFORD FESTIVAL OPERA Anton Rubenstein, pianist, academic and composer was Tchaikovsky's teacher. The Russians regarded him as more of a European on account of the influences he absorbed and his opera, The Demon, was a great success throughout 19th Century Germany and France. Now, it is only known in Russia and even there it is something of a rarity. Rubenstein's ...

... Stan and Ollie MANCHESTER IT'S A LONG journey to London's West End from Tameside Theatre, Greater Manchester, but Stan and Ollie have just taken the brave first step. Billed as a world premiere of a brand new musical by Ron Day and Nicky Paule (who produced the Tameside opener) and directed by John E. Perry, this story of the stage career of Laurel and Hardy has something that can be ...

... The Merry Wives of Windsor STRATFORD-UPON-AVON LIKE SEVERAL comedy productions in recent seasons at the Royal Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon, the opening production of the new season, The Merry Wives of Windsor, is like a great, glowing party, and much fun there is in it. Bill Alexander s direction whisks the Ford-Page-Quickly-Falstaff deceptions along with sharpness and wit, and William ...