“Frank Capra’s classic Christmas screenplay, cleverly adapted for stage by Tony Palmero, doesn’t seem too out of place as we experience an unusually cold summer . . . Guy Retallack beautifully directs this heart-warming story of a kind, ambitious man who reaches the point where he believes everyone would have been better off if he’d never existed . . . This is an utterly charming and delightful production and refreshingly shorter than many plays, running at just under two hours including interval. Indulge and spoil yourself and go and see this evening of inspired entertainment. “

“London’s Soho, on the verge of the 20th century’s sexual revolution, may seem an unlikely era for the English Touring Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company to set the Jacobean play. Yet, Thomas Middleton’s saucy comedy, A Mad World My Masters, finds new vibrancy in the late 1950’s, a dichotomous time of sexual frustration and liberation. Phil Porter and Sean Foley, who also directs a large ensemble cast, have edited this new version to include the usual ETT live band and, on this occasion, the divine vocals of Linda John-Pierre . . . “

“Following the hugely successful film, John Boyne’s extraordinary novel of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has finally been adapted for stage. From the producers who have previously presented Goodnight Mister Tom and Swallows and Amazons, the format is identical and does not disappoint. It is an emotive tale of an unlikely friendship between two innocent boys . . .the story is seen through the eyes of Bruno, the nine-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and devastating consequences. . . “