... NEPALL presses union on an entry loophole' Non-union group seeks legal advice A GROUP of non-Equity actors is taking legal advice in its efforts to get members into the union. NEPALL, the Non-Equity performers and Technicians Alliance, which repre sents professional performers who have been unable to qualify for Equity membership, believes it has found a legal loophole in the union's rules. ...

... Lorca DONMAR TRADER FAULKNER'S one-man evocation of Spain's great poetdramatist has been toured throughout the world since the former R S C actor devised and developed his show, and recently he was awarded the Order of Merit by the King of Spain. 1 he previous version told the story 01 Federico's life through dance Faulk ner is a nifty mover with the accom paniment of the Andalusian ...

... The Man of Mode PIT ETHEREGE'S comic masterpiece, first performed in 1676, receives a rather lacklustre performance here, in an elegant production (direction Garry Hynes, set design Di Seymour) that is well-staged and paced but makes the play crowded with longeurs. Indeed at an almost three hour running length there is perhaps a case for judicious pruning the opening scene in which we watch ...

... The Big One Cockpit IN A self-conscious, world, not very far away from where most of us reside, live Debbie and Phil. They take an eternity to fall for each other, and their romance is mirrored by the onscreen relationships of two supposedly more perfect couples, played admirably deadpan, by the same performers. Marrying live theatre with film footage isn't the easiest of tasks, but ...

... Return Journey LYRIC STUDIO BOB Kingdom was 12 years old when he first heard Dylan Thomas' voice on a radio programme in his home town of Cardiff. This broadcast began a lifelong fas cination with the poet and his work. Later he was to say of his voice: To me it is the oral equivalent of words printed on the finest vellum or sharply etched in marble. In collaboration with Anthony Hopkins, ...

... Madness In Valencia GATE WITH a set consisting of three Brechtian curtains swishing back and forth on washing-lines, the Gate works its usual magic on this, its seventh Spanish Golden Age production. Paul Russell has also designed the chiaroscuro lighting that lends such eloquence to Lope de Vega's vivid satire on the madness of romantic ardour. The densely plotted story is ren dered even more ...

... Ninagawa's native approach confuses the Western eye BARBICAN The Tempest YUKIO Ninagawa's fantasy-Noh version of Shakespeare's The Tempest caused a sensation when first staged in Britain at the 1988 Edinburgh Festival. The vastly inventive approach, the controlled emotionalism, the almost magical use of sound and lighting, the awesome scope of the set (a huge tem ple filling the stage), and ...

... The Snow Queen THE YOUNG VIC THE YOUNG Vic's decision to rerun its acclaimed production of The Snow Queen will delight children of all ages, especially those old enough to know better! Directors Karen Stephens and Chris White create a magical land peopled by trolls, giant flowers, talking swallows and a sad and stately rein deer. The latter is irresistibly portrayed with big eyed sobriety ...

... Babes OXFORD BEHIND the seemingly sweet and perennial success of Judy Garland (and many others like her) lay a horrifying story of manipulation and abuse by the high-ranking employees of MGM. Perhaps the ultimate responsibili ty lay with the director, Louis B Mayer. Whoever we care to blame, however, the devastating results of this prolonged mistreatment served to bring Garland's life to a ...

... The Silent Tramp THE POLISH THEATRE I CONSIDER myself fortunate to have seen Charlie Chaplin's classic silent film, City Lights, accompanied by a live orchestra. This makes it difficult to appreciate an equally silent stage version of the same, deprived of Chaplin's genius, humour sphere and captions. The story is simple; Chaplin falls in love with a blind flower girl, who is unaware he is ...

... Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf LEEDS THE latest presentation at the Quarry Theatre of the West Yorkshire Playhouse is an excellent production of Edward Albees caustic play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. This is a very cruel play to watch as it relates how a middle-aged couple, whose marriage is childless and long since empty of any real affection, deliberately set about destroying the ...

... Entertainment at the Double DUBLIN The Double Dealer THE Gate Theatre's new production of William Congreve's The Double Dealer gives us just what expect from its director, the redoubtable Jonathan Miller; it is urban, stylish, perfectly executed and distinctly cerebral. But it also reveals something we do not associate with the human Dr Miller a dark and cynical heart utterly immune to such ...