(Please bear with us while we sort out formatting problems that for the moment are causing an excess of italics)

Benedict Cumberbatch gives a riveting performance as Berenger in Dominic Cooke's Royal Court production of Ionesco's Rhinoceros. The question posed: Is it better to lie down with the herd than to stand and say no?

( Please bear with us while we sort out formatting problems that for the moment are causing an excess of italics)

Is this the best Macbeth ever? Well, not exactly. What truly impresses here, though, is the vision of director Rupert Goold. And Patrick Stewart's magnetic assaying of the title role

(Please bear with us while we sort out formatting problems that for the moment are causing an excess of italics)

Despite its grim story line, Parade delivers a compelling propulsive staging. Not bad for the directorial debut of Rob Ashford

( Please bear with us while we sort out formatting problems that for the moment are causing an excess of italics)

In A Disappearing Number, Complicite's Simon McBurney has been able to take the complex subject of higher mathematics and make it into an fascinating time in the theatre

Eugene O'Neill's early experimental play The Emperor Jones still has the power to move audiences. Paterson Joseph is superb in the title role.

Let joy be unrestrained: Love's Labour's Lost...is a winner. This delicate souffle is staged exceedingly well by Dominic Dromgoole and his creative team at Shakespeare's Globe.

For a show that started out as a 15-minute lark nearly 40 years ago, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat has certainly shown great staying power-and a greatly enhanced length too

Early Pinter, The Hothouse , which takes place in a government mental institution, is probably his funniest and most accessible play.

Eagerly awaited, In Celebration is rather flat like warm beer. And as for Orlando Bloom, silence is not golden

Can there be a better place to do The Merchant of Venice, than Shakespeare's Globe? Up close and personal to all the players, the play's dynamics are on full view