Name the two most influential British women of the past 50 years. I can confidently predict (mainly because we are not face to face, so I can happily make up statistics with no fear of repercussions) that 95% of you said The Queen and Margaret Thatcher . . . Seamlessly mixing the serious with the absurd, Handbagged is great fun. It’s a real treat to get to imagine what made The Queen and Margaret Thatcher tick, and to get to know them, just a little bit. Yes they were influential figureheads, but they were also real people.

“. . . The Disney LITTLE MERMAID can be seen as a romantic love story, where Ariel gives up her home for love, but finds freedom when she swaps her fins for feet. Instead, here the emphasis is on the fact that the mermaid must rely solely on her looks to get the Prince to fall in love with her. She sacrifices her voice, and destroys herself, when he is seemingly incapable of love anyway . . . Stunningly told, and visually arresting (the shipwreck scene where furniture is lost to the depths is brilliant), these parts of MERMAID are not to be missed . . . ”

“What happens when one man holds absolute power over a state? And if this man abuses his power, where do his innocent victims go for help? . . . Delivered at a rapid pace, it’s impossible to keep up with every word, but the main thrust of each scene is never lost, and it’s a treat to watch the Pushkin Theatre at work. An excellent contemporary examination of the corrupting force of power.”