Aliya Al-Hassan - Page 85

There's no doubt it feels quite strange to be seeing a ballet set at Christmas time in the middle of January. It's a similar feeling to passing a house with a tree still up in the living room window and tutting quietly. The Moscow City Ballet show no sign of festive fatigue as they bring their version of The Nutcracker to Richmond Theatre this week, as part of a nationwide tour. Despite misgivings about the time of year, the timeless tale of Clara and her Christmas eve adventures with her beloved Nutcracker is usually a delight, for no other reason than the wonderful music.

The boys are back. Based on an imaginary night at the Sands Hotel, the three musical legends of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. come together to perform a show featuring banter, witty repartee and fantastic songs. Devised and directed by Mitch Sebastian, the well-known show The Rat Pack-Live From Las Vegas now returns to the Theatre Royal Haymarket, where it ran back in 2003.

It would be disingenuous to call Cirque Du Soleil simply a circus. The Canadian performance group are world famous and synonymous with incredible feats of physical strength and endurance. Since 2005, over two million people have witnessed these displays at the Royal Albert Hall and now the company returns to London for the UK premiere of their show OVO.

What would you do if someone or something was watching you? Adapted from the H.G. Well's short story, The Crystal Egg Live tells the story of Charley Wace, taken in by his eccentric Uncle Cave after his father disappears. When his father's body is discovered, Charley inherits the only item found with the body-a crystal egg. Uncle Cave owns a curiosity shop in London's Seven Dials and intends to sell the egg to improve life for his family, but sinister events connected to the egg threaten to plunge the whole world into great danger.

This Christmas there seem to be more productions of Dickens' festive tale than ever. This is the fourth revival of Antic Disposition's musical production of A Christmas Carol. Its return to the spectacular setting of the impressive Middle Temple Hall, with its breathtaking hammer-beam roof, could not be more celebratory or Dickensian. Dickens himself studied there and walking to the hall through the cobbled streets lit by gaslight is a distinctly atmospheric experience.

With the success of last year's fantastical take on The Wind in the Willows, Kingston's Rose Theatre looks to another classic this year with Alice in Winterland, a new take on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass.

To be frank, Christmas has not begun until you have seen Christopher Biggins sashaying across a stage to the Strictly Come Dancing theme tune in a fuschia pink fringed dress with giant red foam cherries for breasts.

The beautiful story of Clara and her enchanted Nutcracker doll is as much a part of Christmas as carols and novelty jumpers. The pair discover a magical world where they battle with the Mouse King and take an enchanted hot air balloon rides over a snow-covered London to the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy; it is enough to make the hardest of hearts feel a little softer.

Of all of Bernard Shaw's wonderful plays, it seems a brave and slightly odd choice for the Orange Tree theatre to choose to revive Misalliance. When the play premiered in 1910, it was hated by critics and audiences alike for its verbose text and uneven plot. It has rarely been seen performed since and unfortunately this production shows that it is easy to see why.

There are many reasons why Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol has been adapted endlessly. A cautionary tale of debt, ghosts, meanness of spirit and salvation set in a snowy Victorian Christmas is irresistible to directors and theatregoers alike. This year the Old Vic has taken up the baton with Matthew Warchus' traditional and utterly charming take on the festive classic.

After a season that saw some triumphant returns of classic operas, such as the magnificent revival Jonathan Miller's The Barber of Seville, the ENO has taken another gamble on bringing a brand new production to the stage of the London Coliseum. Following Two Boys in 2011, Marnie is the young composer Nico Muhly's second world premiere for ENO.

The British appetite for thrillers is seemingly unquenchable. Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap has now been running for 65 years in London and detective and murder mystery stories are standard Sunday night television fare. Adam Penfold's revival of Ira Levin's 1978 Broadway hit Deathtrap is obviously intended to take advantage to that public craving for a thriller. Unfortunately, after a promising start, this production fails to either shock or thrill.

Daphne du Maurier is the master of Cornish gothic storytelling and ghostly intrigue. Jamaica Inn is her 1936 novel; a haunting tale set in Cornwall in the 1800s. Following the death of her mother, Mary Yellan goes to live with her downtrodden aunt Patience and bullying uncle Joss in mysterious Jamaica Inn. She soon discovers mysterious goings on in the dead of night and deadly events taking place on the Cornish coast, which draw her in to a dark and ghostly world of murder and theft.

With the release of the Christmas advert from Marks And Spencer, we can all rest assured that the festive season is drawing ever near. Sam Holcroft's well received play, Rules For Living, gets its first revival at Kingston's Rose after a 2015 run at The National Theatre and serves as a timely reminder of just how stressful a traditional family Christmas can become.

A bereaved couple meet after a long separation. Stilted pleasantries give way to raw accusations and brutal truths. It would be very easy for Poison to be a melodramatic hour and twenty minutes of trite pain, closure and gaining the strength to move on. Thankfully this UK premiere of Lot Vekemans' critically acclaimed two-hander avoids all such obvious clich s to produce a production of immense subtlety and sensitivity.

There is always a risk in seemingly simple dramatic two-handers. Where there are no visual tricks, no impressive set changes or sparkling costumes, the whole play relies on the chemistry and repartee between the two actors. Robin Lefevre's excellent revival of Tom Kempinski's Duet For One needs no trickery to make its simple structure incredibly compelling.

Immersive theatre is a popular and fashionable way of presenting work where the audience are not passive observers, but are involved and become part of the production. After last year's inspiring performances of The Tempest, Flute Theatre's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream is their latest show, designed specifically as an immersive theatrical experience for autistic children and their families.

Adam Spreadbury-Maher has a long history with the King's Head Theatre. As its Artistic Director and co-founder of OperaUpClose, he has overseen many successful opera productions, including The Coronation of Poppea and the multi award-winning La Boh me. Set in the tiny space behind the pub bar, every production has retained an intimacy that can only be achieved when the producer has neither the space nor the cash for bigger things. This remains a unique experience for the audience and showcases opera like nowhere else.

After receiving rave reviews during its run at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, new musical Everyone's Talking About Jamie is making the final preparations for its transfer to the Apollo Theatre in November. Broadway World UK was incredibly excited to get an early preview into how rehearsals are going for what is expected to be a new hit West End show.

It is said that Rossini wrote his most famous opera, The Barber of Seville, in three weeks, but few opere buffe remain as fresh and funny as this one. The well known plot of cunning barber Figaro's attempts to unite Count Almaviva with beautiful Rosina, as they try to outwit her elderly guardian Dr Bartolo is as engaging today as it ever was.