West End Theatre Reviews

Don't miss Master Class, an extraordinary insight into the life and loves of Maria Callas, the iconic opera singer whose turbulent private life and fiery temperament were as astonishing as her formidable talents. Inspired by her master classes of the early 70s, this is a riveting, hilarious and intensely moving portrayal of the sacrifice and heartache behind the artist, the diva and the legend.

With an electrifying performance from Tony Award and six-time Emmy Award winner Tyne Daly (Cagney and Lacey) as the troubled and infamous Maria Callas, Terrence McNally's Tony Award-winning play Master Class was a smash-hit on Broadway and now arrives in the West End for a strictly limited season.


Vaudeville Theatre
Strand, London, WC2R 0NH

Welcome to a tea party you'll never forget, as Alan Ayckbourn's classic comedy of manners and social embarrassment serves up a slice of deliciously black humour in the West End this January.

When Colin loses his fiancee, his married friends invite him round for comfort over tea and sandwiches. As the tea starts to pour, it's clear that trouble is brewing with a wickedly funny blend of jealousy, infidelity and barely concealed loathing. Tension starts to boil and maybe Colin isn't the one who needs help... with friends like these, who needs enemies?

Directed by the critically-acclaimed Jeremy Herrin, Absent Friends stars an astonishing cast of comedy talent from the worlds of stage, TV and film: David Armand (The Armstrong and Miller Show), Elizabeth Berrington (In Bruges, Waterloo Road), Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, Season's Greetings), Steffan Rhodri (Gavin and Stacey), Reece Shearsmith (The League of Gentlemen, Betty Blue Eyes) and Kara Tointon (Pygmalion, EastEnders, Strictly Come Dancing Winner 2010).


Harold Pinter Theatre
Panton Street, London, SW1Y 4DN

The final production of The Royal Opera's Mozart-Da Ponte cycle is the glorious comedy of The Marriage of Figaro. Mozart's great score has a wealth of famous numbers and gives the chance for especially fine singing.

The revival is fortunate to have an exceptional cast of internationally acclaimed singers in these roles - Ildebrando D'arcangelo plays the quick-witted manservant and Simon Keenlyside his master - under the baton of Antonio Pappano, Music director of The Royal Opera for all but the final performance. While the attempts of Figaro to protect his betrothed Susanna from the designs of Count Almaviva provide the starting point, the action soon draws in the entire chateau household to reveal poignant undercurrents.

The setting of David McVicar's production in 1830 - with sumptuous and realistic designs - provides the perfect backdrop for the unresolved tensions between the classes of Revolutionary Europe. Whether enjoyed for its wit and sparkle, its emotional depth or sheer musical pleasure, Le nozze di Figaro is one of the masterpieces of classical opera and makes a fitting conclusion for this Olympic Programme celebration of one of the greatest operatic partnerships.


Royal Opera House
Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD

The US Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award-winning comic legend, Jackie Mason, is back in London with an all new show - Fearless. This is Jackie's farewell to the UK and the last chance for audiences to see one of the greatest stand-up comics of all time.

Jackie's brand-new show Fearless will include daily updates on the US presidential race, as well as a merciless look at British politics and, of course, his uniquely hilarious take on every day life. Audiences can expect to hear plenty about David Cameron, Twitter, the Olympic Games, the economic crisis, Obama, Sarah Palin and a whole lot more. As Jackie says, 'If it's in the news, it's in the show!'

Jackie's acerbic, irreverent and decidedly politically incorrect humour has won him sell-out runs in the West End and a record-breaking 23 year stint on Broadway. Also known for his award-winning guest appearances on The Simpsons, Jackie consistently appears in the top 10 lists of the greatest stand-up comics of all time.



Wyndham's Theatre
Charing Cross Road,London,United Kingdom,WC2H 0DA

Have you ever wondered why the Romans never won MasterChef? Would you lose your heart or head to horrible Henry? Will Parliament escape gunpowder Guy? Enrol yourself at Georgian Crime School, dare to dance the Tyburn jig and find out what a baby farmer did!

Set in loathsome London, the BSC proudly present the world premiere of BARMY BRITAIN.

Don't miss this history of Britain with the nasty bits left in!

Based on the children's book series and the popular BAFTA-winning TV show of the same name, Horrible Histories brings history to life on the stage for the younger generation. Perfect for families or as a school trip, the kids will learn plenty about British history - but they certainly won't be bored!


Garrick Theatre
Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0HH

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour is a spoof of the early days of radio drama, taking audiences back to an era of casual imperialism and cut-glass accents as they watch a troupe of performers stage three radio plays, complete with sound effects.

Each show includes three radio plays from a selection of five, all of which are reminiscent of the golden age of radio. Witness vegetables simulating fistfights, thrill to a whisky bottle which is a dead ringer for a Nazi midget submarine and gasp at a watering can playing the roaring Atlantic.

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour was a hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010 and 2011, and enjoyed a West End season last January. It now returns for this limited season on Tuesday nights only.


The ambassadors Theatre
West Street, London, WC2H 9ND

From the golden age of musicals to the West End, Singin' In The Rain brings the glamour of the MGM film to the Palace theatre. Set at a time of change in the film world, Singin' In The Rain follows silent movie star Dan Lockwood who has everything he could ever want; fame, adulation and even a well-publicised romance with his co-star Lina Lamont. But there are rumours doing the rounds of a new kind of film that could alter everything, a kind of film where actors talk... and sing... and dance.

Singin' in the Rain is the...story of that first Hollywood musical, the moment when the silver screen found its voice and never looked back. With all the sparkle and spectacle of a golden age, it features a glorious score including Make 'em Laugh, Good Morning, Moses Supposes and, of course, Singin' in the Rain. Shining with vitality, wit and romance, this is a musical to lift your heart and set you singin' and dancin'-in any weather.

cast: Adam Cooper, Daniel Crossley, Scarlett Strallen, Katherine Kingsley, Michael Brandon, Sandra Dickinson, Brendan Cull, Flora Dawson, Jaye Juliette Elster, Peter Forbes, Gemma Fuller, Francis Haugen, David Lucas, Scott Mobley, Ebony Molina, Gillian Parkhouse, Sherrie Pennington, Lisa Ritchie, Nancy Wei George

Palace Theatre
Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 5AY

Stars Joely Richardson.

Joely plays a troubled married woman who still has feelings for a previous lover who was forced to leave the small town where she lives.

Joely is the third member of her family to play the role following in the footsteps of her mother Vanessa Redgrave and her sister, the late Natasha Richardson.

Rose Theatre
24-26 High Street, Kingston, KT1 1JH

The dead of winter, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, Charlie (Zach Braff) has hit rock bottom. Away from the rest of the world, this perfect escape is interrupted by a motley parade of misfits who show up and change his plans. A hired beauty, a fireman, and an eccentric British real estate agent desperately trying to stay in the country all suddenly find themselves tangled together in a beach house where the mood is anything but sunny.

This angst-fuelled comedy saw New York's Second Stage Theatre packed out nightly and received rave reviews from US critics, with its present day dilemmas and take on four very different characters' way of life.


Duke of York's Theatre
St Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4BG

For the first time since its renaming and refurbishment, one of Noel Coward's most well known plays will be performed at the Noel Coward Theatre. Howard Davies is to direct Lindsay Duncan in Coward's Hay Fever, reuniting the director and actor who together received seven major international theatre awards for their 2001 collaboration on Coward's Private Lives.

Duncan is joined by Jeremy Northam, Kevin McNally and Olivia Coleman in Coward's sublime comedy of bad manners.


Noel Coward Theatre
St Martin’s Lane, London, WC2N 4AA

Rusalka has its first ever staging by The Royal Opera in a production new to the Company. The tragic story of the water nymph who longs to walk on the ground as a human draws on the richness of Czech mythology: a prince, a princess, a water goblin and a witch are the other main characters, mixing the supernatural and the mortal. Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito's contemporary interpretation sets the opera in a seedy backstreet world of today to throw into sharp relief the dark wit and darker emotions of the opera's story of love, desire and despair. Rusalka's 'Song to the Moon' may be a favourite popular classic, but it is just one of many lovely vocal melodies in a richly Romantic score with the Czech folk inflections characteristic of Dvorak's music.

The cast is an especially fine one: Petra Lang returns to The Royal Opera, and Camilla Nylund and Alan Held appear in the roles they took when the production was first seen, at the Salzburg Festival in 2008. And it is also an orchestral showcase that the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House under Yannick Nézet-Séguin will relish, whether the grandeur of the Act II Festive music or the atmospheric depictions of the world of nature that suffuse the whole opera.


Royal Opera House
Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD

A deliciously offensive four-hander comedy by the award-winning Montreal playwright Francois Archambault (translated by Bobby Theodore). A well-heeled, self-obsessed couple, Peter and Mary, invite their fast-living friend over to dump him. But when Mark turns up with his stunning young girlfriend Paula, the dinner party spectacularly nosedives into a drunken swamp of personal revelation and debauchery.

The Leisure Society is a one-act morality play with absolutely no moral compass.


Trafalgar Studios Theatre
14 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2DY

For the first time ever, Hans Klok, the Master of Mystery, arrives at the Peacock Theatre for five weeks only. Described as a 'chilling, thrilling and breathtakingly amazing show', Hans Klok, his Divas of Magic and a company of world-class variety and circus acts perform illusions, daredevil stunts and wizardry unlike anything ever seen before.

Having starred in Las Vegas with Pamela Anderson as his magical assistant, Hans brings a new kind of theatre to London, one for all the family to enjoy this Spring.

Escape from reality and get ready to relive The Houdini Experience.


The Peacock Theatre
Portugal Street, London, WC2A 2HT

Following sell-out seasons at the National Theatre and Adelphi Theatre, smash-hit comedy One Man, Two Guvnors opens at Theatre Royal Haymarket on 2 March with a brand new lead Owain Arthur as Francis Henshall.

In Richard Bean's English version of Carlo Goldoni's classic Italian comedy The Servant of Two Masters, sex, food and money are high on the agenda.

Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6,000 from his fiancee's dad. But Roscoe is really his sister Rachel posing as her own dead brother, who's been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers.

Holed up at The Cricketers' Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police and waiting to be re-united with Rachel. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple.



Theatre Royal Haymarket
Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4HT

The Menier Chocolate Factory is delighted to announce the revival of Mike Leigh's acclaimed play, Abigail's Party. From the award-winning writer and director comes some of his best loved characters in this "brilliant and hilarious play" - Daily Telegraph.

In 1970s suburbia, Beverly and her husband Laurence are hosting a drinks party for their neighbours. There is plenty of alcohol, an array of cheese-pineapple savoury bites and olives, and Demis Roussos on the record player. But as prejudices are unmasked and tempers flare, the evening seems headed for disaster...

Mike Leigh's classic comedy is directed by Lindsay Posner, who recently directed Noises Off at the Old Vic. Other credits include: Butley (Duchess), A View from the Bridge (Duke of York's - Olivier nomination) and Fiddler on the Roof (Savoy - Olivier nomination). The role of the infamous Beverly will be played by Jill Halfpenny, who won an Olivier Award in 2011 for her role as Paulette in Legally Blonde (Savoy). Jill is also well known for her TV roles on EastEnders, Waterloo Road and Blue Murder.


Menier Theatre
Menier Chocolate Factory, London, SE1 1TE

A Bowl of Cherries is a musical revue that looks at life through a cycle of plays and songs. This is observed by two theatre ghosts from the last war: Penny Riddle and Albert Farthing, who are trapped between this world and the next.

The humorous, sexy and thought-provoking book is written by Carolyn Pertwee with music from Ivor-Novello-award-winning David Martin, songwriter of Can't Smile Without You. The plays and songs illustrate different aspects of life's bitter sweet experiences and take us on a journey from the cradle to infinity. Albert is tired of being in limbo and wants to move on but is held back by Penny who is in denial, believing she is still alive and waiting for her big theatrical moment. Their story unfolds through the evening, weaving in and out of the events contained in A Bowl of Cherries, concluding with their own dramatic denouement.

This thoroughly entertaining revue is performed by eight versatile actors and musicians, and is devised and directed by Olivier-Award-nominated Andrew C Wadsworth. The songs and plays are instantly accessible as they chart life's familiar dilemmas. A Bowl of Cherries has something for everyone!

Featuring Gary Wilmot and Clare Buckfield.


Charing Cross Theatre
The Arches, Villiers Street, London, WC2N 6NG

What chance does Lorna have of a quiet weekend when both daughters and her granddaughter descend on her with their own problems?

She's spent three decades working for everyone else through the miners' strikes, local milk schemes and library closures and tomorrow she's to have a community centre named after her - but her granddaughter thinks her boob job is more important...

On top of that, a BAFTA, impending divorce, redundancy and a very upmarket caravanette force Lorna to reconsider both the past and the future - for everyone.

What's a woman to do? Accept everything that's thrown at her, or become a fully paid-up member of the 'awkward squad'?

BAFTA-winning Emmerdale writer Karin Young's play is a state-of-the-nation comedy, taking a sideways look at the challenges faced by modern women of all ages.

Starring Charlie Hardwick (Val Pollard in Emmerdale), Barbara Marten (Casualty, Coronation Street, Brookside), Libby Davison (The Bill, Hollyoaks) and Lisa McGrillis.


Arts Theatre London
6/7 Great Newport Street, London, WC2H 7JB

Don't miss Oscar Wilde's classic play, running for a limited time only.

Two girls earnest to marry, two gentlemen eager to respond, and one Lady earnestly hoping for cucumber sandwiches. Join Jack, Algernon, Gwendolen, Cecily and Lady Bracknell at the Theatre Royal Haymarket to discover the vital importance of being Earnest.

This hilarious and critically acclaimed production transfers to the West End following a sell-out at one of London's most beloved fringe theatres, the Old Red Lion Theatre in Islington.

The course of true love doesn't run smooth when Mozart and Da Ponte call the shots.

Cosi fan tutte - 'That's how all women behave' - is the last of the three operas written by this great musical and dramatic pairing and is revived by The Royal Opera for the Olympic Programme in the classic production by Jonathan Miller, under the baton of the great Mozartian Colin Davis, and for the final performance The Royal Opera's David Syrus.

While the staging is contemporary, the fascinations and frailties of human nature dissected in the opera are timeless and reveal exquisitely uncomfortable truths as two men follow the promptings of an arch-manipulator to test the constancy of their lovers.

The cast is a welcome one of familiar names to the production alongside new ones to perform a score of great beauty and subtlety. The serenely poignant trio 'Soave sia il vento', the contrasting bravura 'Come scoglio' and the mesmerizing Act I finale are just three of the many famous highlights of Mozart's music and its wide-ranging evocations of the pleasure and the pain of emotional entanglements

Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6,000 from his fiancee's dad. But Roscoe is really his sister Rachel posing as her own dead brother, who's been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers.

Holed up at The Cricketers' Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police and waiting to be re-united with Rachel. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple.

In Richard Bean's English version of Goldoni's classic Italian comedy, sex, food and money are high on the agenda. James Corden returns to the National for the first time since The History Boys to play Francis.

cast: James Corden, Oliver Chris, Martyn Ellis, Trevor Laird, Claire Lams, Fred Ridgeway, Daniel Rigby, Jemima Rooper, Suzie Toase

Michael Frayn’s Olivier Award-winning comedy about the goings-on behind the scenes or a touring sex comedy, Noises Off returns to the London stage.

From a disastrous dress rehearsal where the cast fumble their entrances and exits, to bothersome props and a final performance of missed cues and forgotten lines, Noises Off explores the explosive personal relationships that lead to off-stage shenanigans and on-stage bedlam.

Noises Off received its premiere in 1982 at the Lyric Hammersmith, where it featured a cast including Patricia Routledge, Paul Eddington and Nicky Henson. After receiving strong reviews, it transferred to the Savoy theatre, where it ran until 1987, winning both an Evening Standard Theatre Award and an Olivier Award.

While the original production of Noises Off was directed by Michael Blakemore, this revival at the Old Vic is directed by Lindsay Posner, whose recent work includes Butley, An Ideal Husband and House Of Games.

Playwright Michael Frayn has an impressive list of plays to his name, including Donkeys’ Years, Benefactors, Copenhagen, Democracy and Noises Off.

cast: Janie Dee, Robert Glenister, Celia Imrie, Jonathan Coy, Karl Johnson, Aisling Loftus, Amy Nuttall, Paul Ready

In this coming-of-age story, Pippin, heir to the throne of Charlemagne, ventures on a quest of self-discovery, but in doing so our hero must face the uncertain worlds of warfare, love, politics and religion.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (composer of Wicked and Godspell ) and book by Roger O. Hirson, The Menier Chocolate Factory's new version has been completely re-conceived, directed and choreographed, incorporating Bob Fosse's original Tony Award-winning routines, by Mitch Sebastian.

cast: Frances Ruffelle, Matt Rawle, Harry Hepple, Ian Kelsey, Carly Bawden, Stuart Neal, David Page, Ben Bunce, Bob Harms, Holly James, Anabel Kutay, David McMullan, Kate Tydman

Sex With A Stranger is the third play from Stefan Golaszewski; writer of BBC 3's hit sitcom Him & Her and erstwhile writer and star of BBC4's critically acclaimed Cowards. Golaszewski's first two one man plays (Stefan Golaszewski Speaks About A Girl He Once Loved, and Stefan Golaszewski Is A Widower) dealt with teenage love and adult demise respectively, here he plugs the gap with a play about the middle part; the confused bit in our twenties when we're a little unsure of whether we're grown ups yet.

Adam (Russell Tovey) snubs his girlfriend Ruth (Naomi Sheldon), and leaves her at home while he goes out for a mate's birthday. Later that evening he picks up Grace (Jaime Winstone) at a club and gets the nightbus back to hers. Bleak, funny and excruciatingly accurate Golaszewski's play locates the place where three lives - with all that has gone before, and all is yet to happen - entwine in a cheerless morass of uncertainly, boredom, loneliness and empty lust.

Both pieces contain a cruel twist, or rather a malign stroke of fate, that it would be a crime to give away but which add some exceedingly dark shadows, and both are superb on the subject of sex – frank, even graphic, but full of truth, tenderness and delight.

Jack Boyle is out of work and determined to stay that way. He postures and drinks with his sidekick Joxer while the long-suffering Juno balances threats with cajolement to preserve the semblance of family in a squalid tenement flat. Their son Johnny, crippled fighting for the IRA, cowers indoors, terrified of reprisal; his sister Mary has joined the labour movement and is on strike.

Sudden news of an inheritance provokes dreams of escape but, even before their rowdy celebrations are done, reality asserts itself as a neighbour's corpse is carried down the stairs - another victim of the bitter civil war. Mary falls for an educated man as the loans stack up. Tragedy ensues.

One of the great plays of the twentieth century, Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock offers a devastating portrait of wasted potential in a Dublin torn apart by the chaos of the Irish Civil War, 1922.

As part of the Royal Opera House's Olympic Programme, The Royal Opera stages a cycle of all three operas written by Mozart and librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, beginning with the most fiery and flamboyant of them all: Don Giovanni.

Pursued by his victims and their outraged relatives, the serial seducer of the title is intent on yet further sexual conquests. But his luck eventually runs out when the statue of a man he murdered invites itself for dinner. The double casting brings some familiar star names back to Covent Garden - Gerald Finley and Erwin Schrott share the title role - and some new ones, all under the musical direction of conductor Constantinos Carydis.

Beautiful arias, disarming duets and dramatic ensembles characterize the range of Mozart's score, and irony and wit bring a sharp brilliance to a drama with serious undertones. Francesca Zambello's production teems with energy as Don Giovanni loves, charms, lies and fights his way through life on his way to final retribution. The flames of Hell take truly tangible form in a production with the heat turned right up in the music, the drama and on stage!

The final production of The Royal Opera's Mozart-Da Ponte cycle is the glorious comedy of The Marriage of Figaro. Mozart's great score has a wealth of famous numbers and gives the chance for especially fine singing.

The revival is fortunate to have an exceptional cast of internationally acclaimed singers in these roles - Ildebrando D'arcangelo plays the quick-witted manservant and Simon Keenlyside his master - under the baton of Antonio Pappano, Music director of The Royal Opera for all but the final performance. While the attempts of Figaro to protect his betrothed Susanna from the designs of Count Almaviva provide the starting point, the action soon draws in the entire chateau household to reveal poignant undercurrents.

The setting of David McVicar's production in 1830 - with sumptuous and realistic designs - provides the perfect backdrop for the unresolved tensions between the classes of Revolutionary Europe. Whether enjoyed for its wit and sparkle, its emotional depth or sheer musical pleasure, Le nozze di Figaro is one of the masterpieces of classical opera and makes a fitting conclusion for this Olympic Programme celebration of one of the greatest operatic partnerships.

Bill Kenwright presents Warren Clarke as Winston Churchill in the World Premiere of Ben Brown's thrilling political drama, directed by Alan Strachan and also starring Jeremy Clyde as Lord Halifax and Robert Demeger as Neville Chamberlain.

One of the UK's most recognised and versatile actors, Warren Clarke has been starring on stage, television and the big screen for over four decades. His wide ranging credits include most recently Jim Flynn in the BBC hit TV series In With The Flynns; three series of Down to Earth (starring opposite Pauline Quirke); Blackadder; Bleak House; The Invisibles; Coronation Street; and of course playing Dalziel in no less than 12 series of the multi-award-winning BBC TV hit Dalziel and Pascoe. His films include Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange and Clint Eastwood's Firefox. Three Days in May marks Warren Clarke's return to the stage for the first time in over a decade.

Ben Brown's gripping and fascinating portrayal takes us behind the doors of Number Ten during three of the most pivotal days in British history when, extraordinarily, giving in to Hitler was considered by some to be a viable option. Having urgently assembled the British war cabinet, the new Prime Minister is suddenly confronted with an intense game of political chess as he tries to persuade peace treaty supporters, including Neville Chamberlain, that Britain must fight to the death. Divided on whether to negotiate terms through Mussolini or escalate the battle against fascism alone, one man has to make a monumental decision which will shape the future of the free world...

Three Days in May also stars James Alper as 'Jock Colville', Dicken Ashworth as 'Arthur Greenwood', Timothy Knightley as 'Paul Reynaud', Paul Ridley as 'General Dill' and Michael Sheldon as 'Clement Attlee'.

Following the most successful comedy run ever at Soho Theatre, the Pajama Men make their West End debut with In the Middle of No One! In the Middle of No One is a fast-paced comedy thriller about love, alien abduction and the spirit of adventure, presented in the Pajama Men's trademark style of blink-of-an-eye character switches and plot twists. Underscored with unflinching joke telling, In The Middle of No One is a bizarre flight of fancy-pants.

***** 'Simply one of the most innovative, original and hilarious comedy acts around.' Telegraph

***** 'Comic Bliss' Guardian

***** 'Sublime' Metro

'Superb… Utterly marvellous.' Time Out

Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan in their respective elements: two defining styles of The Royal Ballet in a single programme. Ashton's one-act rendering of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream brings out the contrasts of mortal and fairy worlds as a disagreement between Oberon and Titania (the fairy king and queen) escalates to comic confusion.

Mendelssohn's music - the Overture, Scherzo and Wedding March are especially well known - is a perfect partner to the ballet's shifting moods, with witty invention and virtuoso dance that culminates in a powerful pas de deux for Oberon and Titania.

In Song of the Earth, the contemplative and poetic interpretation of Mahler's song-cycle - a setting of Chinese T'ang dynasty poetry - shows MacMillan in profound mood. In it, the transience of life is illuminated, especially through the moving interactions of the Man, the Woman and the enigmatic Messenger of Death. Barry Wordsworth, Music Director of The Royal Ballet, conducts the richly ranging music for a ballet programme that concludes with beauty and serenity.

cast: Dram: Roberta Marquez, Alina Cojocaru, Steven McRae, Sergei Polunin. Song: Tamara Rojo, Marianela Nuñez, Leanne Benjamin, Nehemiah Kish, Valeri Hristov, Rupert Pennefather, Carlos Acosta, Edward Watson.

Following Vincent in Brixton and The Reporter, Nicholas Wright's new play is a funny and fascinating tribute to the Eastern European immigrants who became major players in Hollywood's golden age.

In a remote village in Eastern Europe, around 1900, the young Motl Mendl is entranced by the flickering silent images on his father's cinematograph. Bankrolled by Jacob, the ebullient local timber merchant, and inspired by Anna, the girl sent to help him make moving pictures of their village, he stumbles on a revolutionary way of story-telling. Forty years on, Motl, now a famed American film director, looks back on his early life and confronts the cost of fulfilling his dreams.

How had a twenty-two-year old pretentious layabout made a discovery that would elude every other cinematic pioneer for years to come?

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour is a spoof of the early days of radio drama, taking audiences back to an era of casual imperialism and cut-glass accents as they watch a troupe of performers stage three radio plays, complete with sound effects.

Each show includes three radio plays from a selection of five, all of which are reminiscent of the golden age of radio. Witness vegetables simulating fistfights, thrill to a whisky bottle which is a dead ringer for a Nazi midget submarine and gasp at a watering can playing the roaring Atlantic.

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour was a hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010 and 2011, and enjoyed a West End season last January. It now returns for this limited season on Tuesday nights only.