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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,
Fiona Mountford's rating
Reader rating
Description: Live Theatre and The Empty Space present a contemporary drama about women whose lives have been deeply affected by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Trains: Tube: Leicester Square 
Phone: 0207240 6283
Website: www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk
Real life: Motherland is based on interviews of wives and mothers of those on active service
With Remembrance Day coming up, it’s salutary to be offered this chance to reflect upon war’s impact on the families of our armed forces.
Director Steve Gilroy and his excellent four-strong cast from the Live Theatre, Newcastle, interviewed a number of wives and mothers of those on active service, and have edited the testimonies into a largely affecting patchwork of unshowy stoicism.
The strength of the piece lies in the warm evocation of the everyday, reminding us that the Army — that increasingly abstract noun we hear too often and reflect upon too little — isn’t something that simply happens “over there” as a depressing statistic on faraway foreign soil.
That’s why, for instance, the tiny details of the Cretan holiday on which the two Joannes meet their young soldier boyfriends matter so much.
Even so, compassion fatigue does begin to set in after a certain number of stories, and individual details blur. As if in tacit acknowledgment of this, Gilroy unnecessarily employs a few modish directorial tricks, and by the time we learn — gosh — that Bush and Blair have blood on their hands, this particular viewer longed to buy a poppy and make her escape.
Until 7 November (020 7240 6283,
www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
