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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Nick Kimberley's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Trevor Nunn.
Cast: Royal Opera, Charles Mackerras (cond), Maria Bjornson (des), Felicity Palmer (Marfa Ignatevna Kabanova), Chris Merritt (Tichon Ivanyc Kabanov), Janice Watson (Katerina), Christianne Stotjin (Varvara), Oleg Bryjak (Savel Prokofjevic Dikoj), Kurt Streit (Boris Grigorjevic), Toby Spence (Vana Kudrjas), Anne Mason (Feklusa), Elizabeth Sikora (Feklusa, Jun 22, 25), Jeremy White (Kuligin)
Description: Charles Mackerras takes the baton as Trevor Nunn directs Janacek's small-town story of Katya and her unhappy marriage, torn between her husband and her lover. With Janice Watson as Katya, Felicity Palmer as Marfa and Kurt Streit as Boris. Sung in Czech with English surtitles.
Trains: Tube: Covent Garden 
Phone: 0207304 4000
Website: www.roh.org.uk
Email: onlinebooking@roh.org.uk
Extra info: Air Conditioning, Food
Strong: Janice Watson in the lead role of Katya Kabanova
From the moment the timpani tap out their sinister little tattoo in the overture, you know things will go badly for Katya Kabanova. Those eight faint heartbeats, ever more insistent as Janacek's opera progresses, seal her fate.
In Trevor Nunn's 1994 production (revived by Andrew Sinclair), Maria Bjornson's single set vividly represents the emotional whirlpool that sucks Katya to her death. Despite moments of quaint pictorialism, the staging delivers a sense of a community engulfed as archaic superstition gives way to indifferent modernity: the opera premiered in 1921 but is set in 1860s Russia.
No conductor knows Janacek better than Charles Mackerras, and, at 81, he rides the waves of the orchestral storm like a surfer. His account is muscular, flexible, sometimes savage, yet there is also tenderness, a willingness to take time. He is blessed with a fine cast, all apparently at home with the Czech language.
The women are stronger than the men, which is how Janacek saw things. As Katya's sister-in-law Varvara, Linda Tuvås has the right degree of flighty innocence, the perfect counterpoint to Felicity Palmer's Kabanicha, Katya's mother-in-law from hell. Palmer never descends into caricature, so her tight-lipped venom is all the more terrifying, every note wrenched from somewhere dark and cavernous.
Then there is Janice Watson's superb Katya. Occasional traces of raw timbre suit the role: this Katya has backbone as well as sweet innocence. As she tries to fantasise her way out of a brutal marriage, every broken hope registers in her voice and face. In a remarkable opera, hers is a remarkable performance.
• Until 5 July (020 7304 4000).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
