Cherry ripe for picking
	12:21pm Wed 27 Feb 08
	For such a seemingly simple play, discourse on The Cherry Orchard could go on ad infinitum. Anton Chekhov's classic tale of a family struggling - and failing - to stop their estate, orchard and all, being auctioned off to a property developer has more layers than your average theatrical onion.

Jo adds a whacky touch to Gilbert and Sullivan

2:41pm Friday 22nd February 2008

If you like good music and silly knock-about fun you should love the latest production of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance at the Gielgud Theatre.

	Love thy neighbour
	3:04pm Thu 21 Feb 08
	The Orange Tree has a fine reputation for staging small-scale chamber musicals, from which some of the biggest names in the West End have launched their careers.

Aladdin dazzles

3:03pm Thursday 21st February 2008

It's Chinese New Year and the end of panto season: it's got to be Aladdin!

	Be careful what you think - it's Derren Brown
	3:58pm Mon 18 Feb 08
	You may be aware that Derren Brown quack sits on the top branch of the illusionist tree. Having single-handedly brought illusion back into the mainstream, many a copycat act has sprung up. They play Smash to his mash, Shakin' Stevens to his Elvis, Lidl to his Harrod's. And you can see the great man's new show, An Evening Of Wonders, at Epsom Playhouse.

	Nic and Niamh break through the clouds
	3:51pm Mon 18 Feb 08
	Wordsworth wandered lonely as one, Jagger wanted an unknown someone to get off of his, and as I look out my window, there isn't one in the sky. No, not the humble mistle thrush, but a cloud. Those massive bundles of cotton wool/candy floss/Tom Baker's hair (delete according to your childhood interpretation) are the subjects of Battersea Arts Centre's enchanting new show, Cloud Piece.

	Christie still cream of the crop
	1:46pm Thu 14 Feb 08
	Peter Byrne definitely knows his Agatha Christie. How could he not, after stints directing and starring in The Mousetrap, the longest running play in the world at 23,000 performances and counting?

Mr Green requests the pleasure of your company

10:53am Thursday 14th February 2008

Acclaimed actor Warren Mitchell continues the standard of classy drama set by Sir Peter Hall's Uncle Vanya - the opening play at the Rose Theatre which runs until February 9 - with Visiting Mr Green, a poignant and gripping kitchen sink drama.

	Afrikan acrobatics at its best
	5:44pm Mon 11 Feb 08
	I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a show as much as AFRIKA! AFRIKA! - a production which overloads your senses and leaves you gasping with amazement at the talents of more than 100 dancers and circus performers.

	Vicar of Dibley star Fleet plays the fopp (again)
	2:26pm Thu 7 Feb 08
	It's Friday afternoon at the Jerwood Space in central London and James Fleet is looking tired and dishevelled.

	Orange Tree Theatre has luck of the Irish
	1:17pm Thu 7 Feb 08
	The outpouring of goodwill towards the Orange Tree during its recent funding crisis has proved just how central the theatre is to local people's lives.

	Kerry Biggin comes home with Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker
	12:33pm Thu 7 Feb 08
	If anything was going to leave Kerry Biggin dizzy, you would think it was all that twirling she has to do in Matthew Bourne's shows.

	Touch the Zeitgeist
	11:05am Thu 7 Feb 08
	The inaugural Zeitgeist Theatre Grand Slam in October was meant to be a toe-dipping exercise, to see if the people of south west London fancied a bit of fringe theatre above a pub, performed by enthusiasts, and maybe the odd professional.

	Three men and a Little Bardy
	5:07pm Wed 6 Feb 08
	About three years ago, me and the old man went to the Criterion Theatre on Piccadilly Circus to see the Complete History of America.

	Good and bad news for arts venues in funding lottery
	9:30am Mon 4 Feb 08
	There was mixed news for south London's arts venues after the Arts Council (ACE) announced its finalised funding cuts today, which left the Croydon-based London Mozart Players (LMP) fighting for survival.

	Last chance to catch Pinnochio
	10:41am Thu 31 Jan 08
	For a family night out, there is still time to catch Pinnochio and the Blue Fairy, at Stanley Halls, South Norwood.

	The voice of youth
	3:08pm Thu 31 Jan 08
	It seems Sir Peter Hall is barely out of this, or any other, newspaper these days. When he is not promoting the Rose in Kingston, the veteran director is complaining that young thespians do not speak up enough.

	Mystery solved? Warehouse Theatre tackles Dickens
	5:40pm Wed 30 Jan 08
	If I died in the middle of writing this article, then I dare say my colleagues would wipe away the tears, hitch up the black armbands and finish it off. Even Mr Mozart wasn't above posthumous creative extrapolation - his Requiem was completed by a colleague after he kicked the bucket mid-movement.

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