Dying For It - TNT
9th April 2007

A would-be suicide provides excellent entertainment in this sparky adaptation of Nikolai Erdman's 1930 original. A late night matrimonial spat over black sausage tips unemployed Semyon (a brilliantly manic Tom Brooke) over the edge and, fed up with his pointless existence, he decides that the only way to improve matters is to take his own life. Hearing of his intentions, a host of diverse characters (ranging from a member of the intelligentsia to a sozzled priest) turn up to encourage him on his way and to simultaneously further their own ends. The performances in Anna Mackmin's fast-paced production are a joy to watch, whilst Lez Brotherston's dingily dilapidated set serves as a visual reminder of the depressing Stalinist regime Erdman tried (the play was banned in his native Russia) to satirise.
Almeida, Almeida St, N1 (020-7359 4404). Until April 28

The Wonderful World of Dissocia - TNT
9th April 2007

Thirtysomething Lisa tunes her guitar till the string snaps — and something in her mind cracks along with it. Anthony Neilson paints a bizarre Alice in Wonderland scenario of the things that go on in her freewheeling, disassociating brain as, following the instructions of a strange Swiss watch-repairer, she embarks on a search for the hour she lost when crossing time zones on the way home from New York. It's a Technicolor world of crazy logic which contrasts powerfully with the bleak, numbed, drug-induced "normality" of the second half. The performances are excellent, the writing imaginative, but — medicated or not — being inside Lisa's troubled head is an experience I'd rather not repeat.
Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Sq, SW1 (020-7565 5000). Until April 21

LOUISE KINGSLEY