... 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 ...

... Essential Scottish Opera Musselburgh/Touring This annual tour of highlights from Scottish Opera is an unashamedly populist treat. It provides people across Scotland with an evening of guaranteed hits. Beyond that, it allows regular patrons to savour strong and confident voices, like that of tenor Alfred Boe, up close in a relatively small space, as here at the Brunton. Cleverly directed by ...

... Peppered with frenetic action Sadler's Wells Salt Edouard Lock, choreographer of radical Canadian dance company La La La Human Steps, gave up studying literature for dance, and the switch seems more than academic. Actively resisting to embed meaning in his direction, he attempts to get as close as possible to a state of pure dance. For the nine performers this means 100 minutes of the most ...

... Versatility shines through Criterion London Studio Centre/Musical Theatre Showcase Seedtime, directed by Ian Dewar, is the performing company of third year students following the Musical Theatre Professional Option on London Studio Centre's theatre dance course. At this point in the year, the company is divided into three groups which undertake different projects a play, a TV and video ...

... Salient points among laughs Donmar Warehouse Helpless If Dusty Hughes is to be believed, Tony Blair's greatest achievement has been to antagonise both the followers of Thatcherism, presumably by appropriating many of its policies, and the quasi-revolutionaries of the sixties. Helpless is an amusing generational play which has quite a number of salient points to make in between the laughs, as ...

... Dealer's Choice Belfast Patrick Marber's award-winning play may be nearly five years old but its Northern Ireland premiere, by Prime Cut Productions, breezes into the Lyric like a breath of fresh air Not that the air is exactly fresh around its ensemble of six characters, whose existences revolve around nail-biting poker games played out in the gloomy basement of a London restaurant. Each ...