LIVING WITH THE LIGHTS ON at the North Wall, Oxford

I thought it sounded a bit like a modern interpretation of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus – man having a pretty tough time of it has a chance encounter with the Devil – so far, so similar. It actually surprised me a lot more than Faustus. Mark Lockyer disarms the audience by greeting us individually in the foyer and directing us to the stage where we sit on assorted mismatched chairs in a semi-circle sipping tea and munching on Hobnobs

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DOCTOR FAUSTUS at the Swan, Stratford upon Avon

Twenty-four years fly by hellishly fast when they’re leading to a date with eternal damnation. That’s director Maria Aberg’s 105 minute, interval-less, zoom-through of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. And hellish it is. Blood-stirringly and entertainingly hellish that is, full of quirky vitality and bizarre imagination. It is also on occasion confusing and distanced from Marlowe’s Renaissance questioning about science’s challenge to God.

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ALL THAT FALL at the Bristol Old Vic Paintshop

All That Fall originated as a radio play, but why adapt it for the theatre if not to let us see it? It might be thought that we are being short-changed, but in fact much is gained in the darkness. One reason is that this approach creates a kind of aural spaciousness, a vivid three-dimensionality of sound as the actors move around an audience that has to rely entirely upon what they are hearing. One’s imagination is set to work hard.

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HAIRSPRAY at the Bristol Hippodrome

Those who like to be poked in the ribs by a musical are running out of excuses for not seeing Hairspray. Two films, a west End run and now a national tour of this hugely successful show find it packing them in at the Hippodrome. A cheerful satire on American TV and culture, a nod towards religious hypocrisy, a love story and a polemic against segregation in America – Hairspray takes on a lot in its packed, two plus hours . . .

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THE TROJAN WOMEN at Bristol Old Vic Studio

This, thankfully, is a version which remains largely true to the spirit of the original while clearly having a direct relevance to our own troubled times. Writer Brendan Kennelly’s language is vigorously contemporary, employing rhythm and rhyme but often shockingly direct and free from poetic euphemism when describing the fate that awaits these women when the winners take the spoils of victory.

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DIAL M FOR MURDER at the Cheltenham Everyman

If one was being charitable, one would call Frederick Knott’s Dial M for Murder whodunit a classic. If one was being less than charitable one would call it a potboiler. The play has been around since 1952 and was standard fodder – sorry, fare – for rep theatres over the following three decades, as well as being made into a famous film by master of the genre, Alfred Hitchcock. It compares well to the majority of Agatha Christie plays, having a strong and complex plot line and only five characters on whom to concentrate.

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