Not even the fabulous Christine Ebersole can save this Encores! presentation of Applause. When all is said and done, this seldom-seen musical proves to be second-rate

There's little hand clapping for the City Center Encores! Applause. For starters, leading lady Christine Ebersole, great as she is, lacks the requisite bitchiness, for the role of Margo Channing- think Lauren Bacall or Bette Davis.

As with most of Mike Leigh's work, Two Thousand Years is a truthful look at a British family. It's also that rare play that successfully mixes politics, religion and domestic infighting.

In Bruges can't quite escape the feeling of being a second-hand knock-off Pulp Fiction. Much of the script seems calculated to shock.

Hunting and Gathering doesn't have the most compelling of plots. It does ,however, have engaging characters, and they mostly make up for the lack of dramatic action

Deathbed is one of those plays that piles short vignettes on each other like so-many TV clips. In this case, all centered on one theme...death.

This stage adaptation of Disney's The Little Mermaid falls all over the place. The cast may be talented but they're overshadowed by bad design, generic choreography and confusing direction

William Inge's Come Back Little Sheba is given a low-key, but effective revival. There's a dignity to this tale of lives led in quiet desperation. Could this be the start of an Inge revival?

David Mamet's November is more like a two-hour sitcom than a political satire. And there's really nothing wrong with that.

Director Deborah Warner and actress Fiona Shaw have come up with a dazzling production of Beckett's Happy Days. Relevant for twenty-first century audiences, while still preserving the grandeur of this classic work.