End Of The Rainbow **** TNT

The legendary Judy Garland married five times, made several suicide attempts and never cracked the pill-popping habit encouraged by the film studios in her early years as a child actor.

Peter Quilter’s play (which premiered in Sydney in 2005) shows her ensconced in a luxurious hotel during a season at London’s Talk of the Town, just months before a fatal overdose in 1969.

It’s scant on biographical detail, but that hardly matters. Hilton McRae is quietly devoted as her gay pianist who instantly disapproves of her toyboy fiancé manager, and Tracie Bennett is simply sensational.

She gives what must surely be an award-winning performance as the troubled, insecure star, delivering barbed dialogue and musical numbers with unforgettable emotional power – desperate for drugs, drink and reassurance in (almost) equal measure.

Trafalgar Studios, SW1 (Tube: Charing Cross) endoftherainbow.com Until March 5 £25

Midsummer **** TNT

Outside, snow was falling, inside the heating had broken down, but David Greig’s delightful play with music lit up the stage and warmed the heart as the paths of divorce lawyer Helena and petty criminal Bob crossed in an Edinburgh bar.

They’d never have met if her married lover hadn’t stood her up.

A one-night shag turns into something potentially more rewarding as, through a series of adventures and misadventures, the two unfulfilled 35 year olds end up spending a rollercoaster weekend together encompassing a wedding, an Ikea car park, a bit of bondage, a swanky hotel and too much rain and booze. Strumming guitars, slipping out of character to address us directly, versatile Cora Bissett and Matthew Pidgeon are perfect in this beguiling yet poignant rom-com for all seasons.

Tricycle, Kilburn High Road, NW6 7JR (Tube: Kilburn) (020 7328 1000) tricycle.co.uk Until 29th January £12 - £22

Beasts and Beauties **** TNT

Long sausages of black pudding get stuck on noses, a goat craps gold and a dog joins forces with a fox in this winning selection of eight fairytales and folk stories gleaned from across Europe and wittily retold by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.

In the expert hands of Melly Still and Tim Supple, these warning tales (interspersed with folk songs) are brought to imaginative life – sometimes scary, sometimes gruesome but always engaging - as the cast swaps roles, costumes and acting styles with each new story.

Director Still maintains the magic of theatre, yet hides nothing – so, at the end of his murderous tale, Bluebeard checks with the audience that he’s removed all the colour as he rubs his beard clean with a towel. Jason Thorpe, carrying an udder-pink rubber glove, dons fake lashes and a massive tweedy skirt to become a lugubrious cow stuck on the roof when a grumbling farmer and his wife swap roles – disastrously – for a day. He’s pretty impressive, too, as an ancient canine rolling over for tummy tickles, and as an ugly troll who steals a little girl’s magic gifts, given to her by the North Wind.

Jack Tarlton makes a fearsome Beast with overgrown teeth and talons, then bravely bares almost all in a clever updating of The Emperor’s New Clothes - his modesty just preserved in a series of deftly choreographed manoeuvres. And in The Juniper Tree a little boy is decapitated by his stepmother, then minced (with every detail clearly seen in silhouette) and served up to his dad for supper.

Don’t worry if you can’t find a child to take with you – this inventive production is a seasonal treat for anyone from 8 to 80 who still has a sense of fun. Just go and enjoy.

Hampstead Theatre, Eton Avenue, NW3 3EU (020 7722 9301) Tube: Swiss Cottage hampsteadtheatre.com Until 31st December Adults £18 children £12

Bea*** TNT

Bea is just like any other young woman in her late twenties – or at least she would be if she weren’t trapped in a body that can barely move. For the last eight years she’s been confined to the same bed in the same room and she can’t kid herself that she’s going to get better.

Bea's body may have let her down, but mentally she’s as alert as ever – and she knows she’s had enough. Initially, the extent of Bea's disability isn’t apparent – we see her interacting with her mother and her new carer in the way she’d like to behave if only her body would still let her.

But playwright Mick Gordon (who has already tackled such serious subjects as religion and emotion with his On Theatre company) doesn’t shrink from portraying the full impact of her illness. And his play raises (even if it doesn’t fully explore) important issues - how far is her barrister mother (Paula Wilcox) prepared to go to help her daughter?Is quality of life necessary to go on living? And, incidentally, why is there no single word in the English language to define a bereaved parent?

Yet much of the time his play is both entertaining and very funny as Pippa Nixon’s Bea teases her Belfast care assistant (Al Weaver’s Ray who’s obviously gay but says he’s not) about his sexuality. Like all Gordon’s work, this intimate investigation into the limits of compassion and empathy is well worth a visit.

Soho Theatre, Dean Street, W1D 3NE (020 7478 0100) Tube: Tottenham Court Road sohotheatre.com Until 8th January (£12.50 - £20.00)

The Rivals *** TNT

Lovers’ tiffs, intrigue and deception run rife when the fashionable folk descend on Bath in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s quintessentially English comedy of manners which was first performed in 1775.

Lydia Languish has had her head turned by too many romantic novels and plans to elope with the man she believes to be a lowly ensign, but who is, in reality, Captain Jack, the son of wealthy Sir Anthony Absolute who, unknown to him, has already arranged his marriage - to the very same Lydia.

Meanwhile a pugnacious Irish baronet and a cowardly country buffoon are all set to draw swords over the capricious young heiress even though she has no interest in either of them, and her cousin (Annabel Scholey’s intelligent Julia) is driven to despair by the self-indulgent insecurities of Tony Gardner’s suspicious Faulkland.

Against the constant backdrop of Simon Higlett’s simple Royal Crescent design, duels are almost fought, misunderstandings are finally sorted out and the true natures of Sheridan’s characters are exposed in all their foolishness.

Director Peter Hall has just turned 80, and the best performances come from the oldest members of the cast - Peter Bowles as an elegant, once racy Sir Anthony who always gets his way and Penelope Keith as Lydia’s guardian, Mrs Malaprop, who, sadly, may not find a husband but is a master at mangling the English language, muddling her “pineapple” with her “pinnacle” and her “alligator” with her “allegory” in this elegantly costumed, sprightly but rather uninspired revival.

Theatre Royal Haymarket, Haymarket, SW1Y 4HT (0845 481 1870) Tube: Piccadilly Circus trh.co.uk Until 26th February £17.50-£49.50

Get Santa! **** TNT

Ever wished it could be Christmas every day? You certainly won’t by the end of Anthony Neilson’s imaginative seasonal offering in which stroppy 10 year old Holly (Imogen Doel making her professional stage debut) decides to hijack Santa because, year after disappointing year, he’s ignored her Christmas wish to find her real dad.

Angry as a wasp in her stripy yellow and black jumper, she’s determined to confront him and hatches an elaborate plan which involves blocking the chimney with a sleeping bag, a crisp-covered carpet (she’ll hear the crunch when he drops through the skylight), glue on the mantelpiece and a great big bucket.

Of course, things don’t go quite as expected and she ends up with Santa’s son (Tom Godwin’s gangling Bumblehole in bright elf-green) tied to the tree with tinsel, an increasingly malevolent teddy bear with a Russian accent masquerading as her father, and a Groundhog situation in which no sooner has Christmas day ended than it starts all over again.

Though aimed at 7- 11 year olds, there’s more than enough here to entertain teens and adults too. Neilson (who also directs) and co-writer Nick Powell (who provided the songs) have added some nicely inventive touches: Holly’s stepdad is a dog (her mum turns out to have a bit of a thing for furry animals) - when he takes himself off for a walk he makes sure he’s got a plastic poop bag stuffed in his trouser pocket, and he’s decked the tree with sausages and bacon.

Grumpy Santa is on the verge of retirement, and this is surely the first time in its history that a toy teddy (with a life of its own, thanks to puppeteer Chand Martinez) has had a starring role at the Royal Court.

Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS Tube: Sloane Square (020 7565 5000) royalcourttheatre.com
Until 15th January £12-£25 (under 16’s £8 - £12.50)

The Invisible Man *** TNT

The cast certainly seems to be having a good time in this determinedly jolly but dated revival of the late Ken Hill’s 1991 spoof adaptation of H.G.Wells’ famous thriller.

There are corny jokes and innuendo, stock stereotypes (from pipe-smoking bluestocking to buxom innkeeper) and magic tricks galore, but this tale of mysterious goings on in the Sussex village of Iping is too long and the slapstick too repetitive to completely sustain interest.

Still, Ian Talbot’s musical hall style production with its intentionally rough and ready feel boasts a splendid comic performance from Jo Stone-Fewings as a silly ass Squire, Gerard Carey’s lovesick vicar is good value, too, and with glass or more of festive cheer beforehand and a helping of seasonal indulgence, this alternative to panto will doubtless pass muster.

Menier Chocolate Factory, 53 Southwark Street, SE1 1RU (020 7907 7060) Tube: London Bridge menierchocolatefactory.com Until 13th February (£33.50 & Meal Deals available £40.00)

Quality Street **** TNT

Three years before he wrote “Peter Pan”, J.M. Barrie had a considerable success in 1901 with this whimsical social comedy set around the time of the Napoleonic wars. It hasn’t been seen in London since 1946 and, although only a slight work, Louise Hill’s revival proves a charming little gem.

The characters could almost have stepped out of a Jane Austen novel with too many single women and not enough men to go round. Most of these genteel ladies are resigned to being left on the shelf, but it seems as though Phoebe Throssel is on the verge of receiving an “offer” from handsome young physician Valentine Brown – except that instead of proposing, he announces that he’s taken the king’s shilling and is going off to fight.

With half their money gone thanks to an unfortunate investment, Claire Redcliffe’s Phoebe and her older sister Mary open a school, putting all thoughts of romance behind them – until, ten years later, and the war over, old feeling surface once again. But how can an old maid of thirty – her once famous ringlets now tucked away beneath a demure cap, her eyes tired after long hours in the classroom - possibly be attractive anymore?

The answer, it seems, is to pretend to be her non-existent niece, Livvy – who proceeds to entrance all the returning soldiers and confuse her nosy spinster neighbours. Designer Alex Marker does wonders creating the Throssel sisters’ modest dwelling which morphs into a ballroom and back again, and James Russell (who last played an elephant at this address) makes a dashing if rather smug Valentine in this enjoyably whimsical confection.

Finborough, Finborough Road, SW10 9ED (Tube: Earl’s Court) (0844 847 1652) finboroughtheatre.co.uk Until December 22 [£15 (Tuesdays £11)]

An Ideal Husband **** TNT

The perfect partner turns out to have feet of clay in Oscar Wilde’s 1895 melodrama concerning a high-flying politician whose first foothold on the ladder of success was gained by dubious means.

There’s an initial surfeit of ostentatiously witty padding, and the idealistic Lady Chiltern’s declarations of her husband’s virtues are too long-winded, but these are minor niggles in a strongly plotted play.

Elliot Cowan relishes the comic aspects of an apparently superficial dandy who turns out to have surprising moral strengths, Alexander Hanson’s Chiltern agonises over the threatened exposure of the youthful insider dealing which could end both his marriage and his career, and Samantha Bond (his real life wife) glitters dangerously as the mysterious Mrs. Cheveley who seems to hold all the cards in Lindsay Posner’s gilt-edged production.

Vaudeville, Strand WC2R 0NH (0844 412 4663) Tube: Charing Cross www.anidealhusbandwestend.com Until February 19 (£27.50 - £50.50)

Kin *** TNT

E.V Crowe’s short new play is certainly no advertisement for boarding school life. Set in the 1990’s, it paints a worrying picture of ten year olds with angelic faces who swear like troopers and have the morals of alley cats. They lie, torment and bully without a moment’s hesitation – especially the marginally older Janey for whom everybody, including dorm-mate Mimi, is fair game. No wonder the somewhat neurotic housemistress thinks her charges are less than human – and not just because they lob tennis balls at her head.

Yet there’s something fundamentally sad about these prepubescent, supposedly privileged youngsters (primarily from broken homes and ex-pat families) packed off with a trunk and a tuck box to the austerity of what is, in Bunny Christie’s purposely drab design, a prisonlike institution where tears can only be shed in secret and the communal payphone is the main link with home.

Making their professional stage debuts, Madison Lygo’s tough but vulnerable Janey and Maya Gerber’s bright Mimi (with a starring role in the school play, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, which itself depicts a hothouse of female emotions) handle the brief, disjointed scenes of Jeremy Herrin’s production with confidence. And Ellen Hill’s intimidated Nina quietly suffers the indignity of being forced to execute a knickerless handstand in a promising but not altogether satisfying play.

Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS Tube: Sloane Square (020 7565 5000) royalcourttheatre.com Until 23rd December (£10-£15)

Black Watch **** TNT

Black Watch once again transforms the main house for the welcome return of National Theatre of Scotland’s multi award winning portrayal of life as a soldier in Iraq and back home.

A sell-out at this address a couple of years ago, and a well deserved hit at the Edinburgh Festival two years before that, the inspired staging has lost none of its emotional power.

What comes across most strongly is the loyal camaraderie of these Fifeshire lads and the realisation that, unless you were there, you can’t really know what it was like to live through the waiting, the bombing, and the indelible horror of seeing your comrades blown up by a suicide bomber.

With much of his material gleaned from interviews with ex-squaddies, Gregory Burke’s joshing, expletive-filled dialogue rings as true uttered in civvies round the pool table as in fatigues crammed into an armoured car.

Director John Tiffany employs a stirringly atmospheric mix of video, music, skirling bagpipes and stylised movement, with Steven Hoggett’s visceral choreography fusing the disciplined drill of the parade ground with softer, almost balletic moments as, one after another, the soldiers open their letters from home.

A strong ensemble gives their all – a fitting salute to the young men who fought not for Queen, Government or country, but for their regiment, their company, their platoon and, most importantly, for the mates they hoped would still be alive at the end of their tour of peacekeeping duty.

Barbican, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS (020 7638 8891) Tube: Barbican www.barbican.org.uk Until 22nd January (£35-£40)

FELA! TNT

A legend in his life time in his native Nigeria and beyond, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti is a name unlikely to be familiar to the National’s usual audience - but then this isn’t a typical NT show.

The pounding rhythms of his Afrobeat music flood the auditorium as his female Queens gyrate intensely, provocatively on a set decked out to recreate the Shrine, the Lagos night club where, in the late 70’s, his fans gathered to smoke spliffs and hear his anti-government lyrics.

Sahr Ngaujah’s charismatic Fela persuades the audience to practise its pelvic thrusts, and Bill T. Jones’ hip-swivelling choreography is hypnotisingly exuberant. But the narrative is so disjointed and one-sided that ultimately this musical is more over-extended carnival than informative biography of a provocative political activist and hedonistic polygamist.

Lyttelton at the National, South Bank, SE1 9PX (020 7452 3000) Tube: Waterloo nationaltheatre.org.uk In rep until 23rd January (£10.00 - £44.00)

Les Parents Terribles **** TNT

The Donmar’s Trafalgar Studio showcase season for its Resident Assistant Directors comes to a darkly glittering close with a dream cast portraying a nightmare family in Jean Cocteau’s 1938 farcical tragedy.

Every character is screwed up to some degree in this hothouse drama of heated emotions and misplaced love. Middle-aged and middleclass, Yvonne and husband George live in mock bohemian chaos which her orderly spinster sister Leo can barely keep in check. Since the birth of their son Michael, Yvonne has devoted herself to the boy, at the expense of her spouse who now spends his time messing with useless inventions – currently an underwater machine gun.

But now, at the age of 22, (and still living with his parents) Michael has fallen in love with Madeleine, a bookbinder just a few years his senior, and everything starts to implode.

The claustrophobically mirrored design emphasises the intensity of the relationships in this expertly judged and cruelly funny production.

Frances Barber’s dishevelled Yvonne (a diabetic semi-invalid who prefers to live in gloom and clings to Michael with the ferocious possessiveness of a lioness) switches from histrionics to helplessness in the blink of an eye. Sylvestra Le Touzel’s soignée Leo, not a hair out of place, is every bit as impressive – a self-confessed paradox, you’re never quite sure what emotions are suppressed beneath that calm, immaculate exterior or how strong are her feelings for Anthony Calf’s unexpectedly determined George who, to complicate matters even further, has been having a secret affair with Elaine Cassidy’s touchingly vulnerable Madeleine.

Written in just eight days, there’s a feverish, melodramatic quality to this conflict between the old and the young, and director Chris Rolls’ expertly judged production hits all the right notes as the dysfunctional setup threatens to collapse.

Trafalgar Studios (2), Whitehall, SW1A 2DY Tube: Charing Cross (0844 871 7632) donmarwarehouse.com £17.50 Until 18th December

The Glass Menagerie **** TNT

Tennessee Williams called this a “memory play” and director Joe Hill-Gibbins’ expressionistic production highlights the non-naturalistic aspects of the playwright’s highly autobiographical 1944 dramatisation of his early adult life.

Tom Wingfield (Williams’ alter ego) also acts as narrator and master of ceremonies, conjuring the plush red curtain to rise and reveal the strained domesticity of the St. Louis tenement home where he is trapped with Laura, his emotionally and physically frail sister, and their mother Amanda, a faded Southern Belle who still dreams of suitors from long ago.

Stiflingly overprotective, Amanda is desperate to find a husband for the painfully shy Laura. An uncomfortable combination of the practical (she brought up her children singlehandedly after her husband walked out years ago) and the self-deluding (with her endless talk of the non-existent “gentlemen callers” who might turn up to woo her daughter) she finally persuades Leo Bill’s frustrated poet Tom to invite Jim from the warehouse (excellent Kyle Soller) to dine.

Deborah Findlay’s overbearing Amanda struggles at first with her accent, but captures the comic absurdity of a woman denying the passing of the years, whose attempts to do the best for her children do more harm than good. And Sinéad Matthews is heartbreakingly touching as the fragile, limping Laura - too nervous to work, and happiest in the company of her collection of glass animals until Jim (with his determined optimism and easy, open charm) seems, briefly, to offer an unexpected chance of real happiness in a play full of thwarted dreams and unfulfilled ambition.

Young Vic, The Cut, SE1 8LZ Tube: Southwark / Waterloo (0207 922 2922) youngvic.org Until 15th January
£10.00 - £27.50