... Dracula Barons Court Theatre Dark, oppressive, the air laden with emotions of love, lust and repressed Victorian sexual desire. Not the kind of atmosphere usually associ ated with a Christmas show. Fullface and Profile's production of Bram Stoker's Dracula is however overflowing with these emotions. Excitement, suspense and a good measure of blood and guts literally ooze and overflow from the ...

... The Selfish Giant Newcastle-upon-Tyne Live Theatre is master of the art of theatre for the under sixes. Always cleverly produced, always something new and innovative on the cards and invariably the seasonal highlight. The programme at the Gulbenk- ian Studio begins with Spring awak ening and with her helpers preparing to plant the seeds. This action takes place away from the main set, before ...

... Cinderella Edmonton Cheap and cheerful, Millfield Theatre's seasonal offering holds its own among a raft of versions of this tale by making up in chutzpah what it lacks in budget. It also boasts a top-drawer turn from one of the country's rising entertainers. So good, in fact, is ventriloquist Paul Zerdin as Buttons, that his spots, incorporated semi- smoothly into the plot, not only pro vide ...

... Wizard of Oz Tunbridge Wells The stunningly attractive church conversion from Victorian gothic arches to primary colours which forms Trinity Theatre and Arts Centre, makes an ideal setting for this fresh, fast and fluent yellow brick road of a show. Based squarely on the familiar MGM film, this Wizard, directed by Dede McGarrity, reminds us just how good those old lyrics are. I'm afraid ...

... Aladdin Bridlington They don't come any nastier than Coronation Street's Terry Duckworth, which makes Nigel Pivaro the ideal Abanazar in this family panto at the Spa Theatre, presented and produced by Paul Holman. From his first entrance he is clearly a hit and his performance does not disappoint. In the title role Terry Gleed is excellent, his slight build and light movements concealing a ...

... Dick Whittington Torquay Princess Theatre's panto is a ramshackle affair. It is short on story. The standard scene on Highgate Hill, where Dick hears the bells calling him back to London, is omitted. The sketches are skimpy, and singing and dancing sequences are hardly a feature. A lot of time is taken up by Aiden J Harvey inducing audience response. They were will ing enough, but ...

... Light Almeida Theatre de Complicite's staging of Torgny Lindgren's novel is, as is its wont, company-created under the direction of Simon McBurney, who also composed the text with Matthew Broughton. i lie resuu is a uufisiaiiuy inventive but sprawling and tonally uncertain work repeatedly in danger of losing its way and its audience. A plague-decimated medieval village is left with no ties to ...

... Road to Heaven Lyric, Hammersmith The therapeutic properties of showbusiness have never been better demonstrated than by this show at the Lyric, in which the youngest performer is in the late sixties and the eldest nudeine 90. It began life in a low-income meal site for the elderly in North ampton, Massachusetts, created by Bob Cilman as a diversion for the old folk, something in which they ...

... Worthy display of family strife York Behind the Scenes at the Museum This first stage version at the Theatre Royal of Kate Atkinson's highly acclaimed novel could hardly have a better home. The story, telling the turbulent and dysfunctional family history of character Ruby Lennox, is set in York, which also happens to be Atkinson's birthplace. Bryony Lavery's adaptation and Damian Cruden's ...

... Polyeuct GATE THANKS to the new sadly vanished Jonathan Miller regime at the Old Vic, Pierre Corneille (1606-84) is for London theatregoers something more than a familiar name from histories of French dramatic literature in which he occupies the status of father to French classic drama. But the revival in the Waterloo Road of Ranjit Bolt's translations of Corneille 's come dies, The Liar ...

... Hedda Gabler HARROGATE HARROGATE Theatre complete their current season with a stunning production of Ibsen's famous play Hedda Gabler, in a translation by Christopher Hampton and brilliantly directed by Andrew Manley. This is one of Ibsen's later plays and is about a woman who is trapped between her needs as a woman and her duties as a wife. In this production the action takes place centre ...

... The Village Fete SCARBOROUGH PETER Tinniswood's latest play, which had its world premiere at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, is a delightful piece of theatre, written in his own inimitable style, full of eccentric characters. He has created some splendid characters into whom we get a deep insight as they unfold their fears and reflections. The story surrounds the Epson family, the father, two ...