Theatre review: Churchill in Moscow

Howard Brenton's history plays have an eclectic scope that's previously seen him tackle everything from Ancient Greek philosophers to the Partition of India. He's also dealt with the life of Harold Macmillan, but for his latest play he goes for the British Prime Minister who must have been interpreted on stage and screen more than any other, as Roger Allam plays the title role in Churchill in Moscow (he plays Churchill, not Moscow.) Set in 1942, things look particularly dark for the Allies as the Nazis are making inroads into Russia and approaching Stalingrad. Meanwhile British forces have been depleted to the point that they'd be wiped out instantly if they attempted to invade Europe via the Channel - US troops will eventually supplement them, but they're not really feeling it just yet. Winston Churchill is on a secret diplomatic mission to Moscow to inform Joseph Stalin (Peter Forbes) of the bad news that D-day won't come until at least the next year.

Theatre review: Farm Hall

When looking at the ethics of science, there's no more fertile ground for writers to explore than the atomic bomb. In her impressive playwrighting debut, Katherine Moar explores the issue through six scientists who've already lost the nuclear arms race - they just don't know it yet. Based on a real event and secretly recorded conversations, Farm Hall takes place during the last days of the Second World War, after Hitler's fall and the revelation of the true horrors Germany had perpetrated. The six German men are under house arrest in an English country pile, filling their time playing chess, mending a broken piano, and staging a reading of Blithe Spirit, whose recent success in the middle of the Blitz baffles them. They are Hitler's surviving nuclear physicists who hadn't already defected by VE Day, and nobody seems sure what to do with them, or even if they'll be allowed to survive their comfortable prison.