Theatre review: The Collector

Even with the Old Vic Tunnels long gone there seems no end to the amount of railway arches under Waterloo Station being used as theatres. The network of performance spaces known as The Vaults have colonised another tunnel down the road, now confusingly christened The Vault Theatre, and a dingy kind of space is apt for Mark Healey's adaptation of John Fowles' The Collector. The setting is a large basement kitted out in mismatched old furniture, the cellar of a remote 17th century farmhouse bought by Frederick Clegg (Daniel Portman) after winning millions in the lottery. Working class, poorly educated and socially awkward, the money has opened up possibilities for him, but he's gone straight for the darkest possible interpretation of this: He's been obsessed with art student Miranda Grey (Lily Loveless) for months, and can now collect her.

Theatre review: Scarlet

Sam H. Freeman's Scarlet could be called a monologue for four actors: Lucy Kilpatrick, Jade Ogugua, Heida Reed and Asha Reid all play Scarlet, a girl who's always enjoyed sex and a couple of years into her university course has already chalked up lovers in double figures. The four women's costumes and attitudes suggest slightly different aspects to her personality - Reed's Scarlet is slightly prim and proper, in a 1940s-inspired outfit, Reid's a no-nonsense punky one, and the other two very much 21st century girls in more revealing outfits - but they are all pretty much in sync with each other, presenting Scarlet as a confident and fun woman with a united front. Things get a lot more out of her control though after a fellow student lies about sleeping with her, and she calls him out on it, inadvertently making him a laughing stock.