Plays, 4/11.

"English National Opera's latest venture - three weeks of contemporary opera in the intimate space of the Young Vic theatre - is launched with the UK premiere of Olga Neuwirth's Lost Highway," writes Andrew Clements in the Guardian. "Based on David Lynch's 1997 film, Neuwirth's theatre piece has travelled widely since it was first seen five years ago - mainly, one suspects, because Lynch fans have been curious to discover how such a psychological thriller could be reinvented for the lyric stage.... If Lynch's compelling storytelling survives its transformation, it is debatable whether that is because of Neuwirth's score or in spite of it. But the show is worth seeing: this is contemporary European music theatre of a kind rarely staged in Britain."

Updated through 4/12.

More from Rupert Christiansen (Telegraph) and Richard Morrison (London Times). And by the way, in the LA City Beat, Andy Klein reviews the new DVD release of the film.

At the 29th St Rep through May 4: Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation, adapted by Kate Harris. "It was unlikely for the stage, and unlikelier still for a 74-seat house, but leave it to clever, industrious Chicagoans to figure out a credible way to make it work," writes Robert Cashill. And Sam Thielman has a full review in Variety.

Norman McLaren "is virtually unknown outside art-school studios, but a stage show that reaches Stirling this week should revitalise the reputation of one of the most original artists that modern Britain has produced," writes Erlend Clouston in the Guardian. Norman is at the MacRobert Arts Centre from April 17 through 19 and at the Theatre Royal in Brighton from May 6 through 10. Update: John Coulthart goes looking for a bit of online viewing - and finds it.

Brian Logan talks with Tom Stoppard for the London Times.

Update, 4/12: "Margaret Martin is, to say the least, a highly unlikely choice to write the book, lyrics and music for a major West End musical version of Gone With the Wind," write Donna and David Kornhaber, who talk with her in London for the New York Times. "Her adaptation, which began previews on April 4, opens at the New London Theatre here on April 22."

Posted by dwhudson at April 11, 2008 1:53 PM