★★★★☆ What astonishes most about this RSC production of the well-known Roald Dahl story are the razor-sharp performances given by the children in the cast. Tonight, it was Olivia Juno Cleverley’s turn in the spotlight, in her debut professional role as Matilda.

★★★★★ Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Beauty And The Beast, choreographed by David Bintley, is a sumptuous treat.  Offering spectacle, excitement and more than a little magic, it has a broad appeal that knocks on the head all those old prejudices about ballet being ‘elitist’.

Joyce El-Khoury’s visceral performance as a scorned Elizabeth I provided the flame throughout this WNO production of Donizetti’s dark tale of unrequited love, jealously and pride. El-Khoury raged across the stage, portrayed as a lethal spider at the centre of her own web. 

★★★★☆ The standalone numbers are all of the highest quality and accompanied where required by top class dancing. Last night there were audible gasps as the male dancers appeared looking not unlike the Chippendales. But they are no mere eye candy for the ladies and  were both artistically expressive and athletic, as were the female troupe.

★★★★☆ The show opens in a grim girls’ orphanage.  The walls tower up into darkness, and huge doors and tall lamps accentuate the tininess of the occupants, lying on their starkly function beds. The laundry boy tells them that they get ‘clean sheets once a month, whether they need them or not’. Everything is bathed in a blue-green, sepulchral light.