Theatre review: Free As Air

Bonkers 1954 musical Salad Days was a hit when revived at Riverside Studios a couple of years ago, which makes it not quite obscure enough to fit the Finborough's "lost classics" strand. So instead, to mark that show's 50th anniversary, they're reviving Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds' 1957 follow-up, Free As Air. The fictional Channel Island of Terhu is preparing to celebrate its annual Independence Day, but is struggling to find a May Queen because their laws stipulate nobody can fill the role twice, and every woman and girl on the island has already had a turn. So when a stranger, Geraldine (Charlotte Baptie) is picked up by the supply boat, she not only solves this thorny problem, but steals the heart of the heir to the island, Albert (Daniel Cane.) But Geraldine turns out to be a wealthy heiress and favourite of the gossip columns, and the press won't let her hide so easily.

Theatre review: Gay's the Word

Occasionally the Finborough Theatre's Sunday-Tuesday shows get a further life, and so it is with Stewart Nicholls' production of Gay's the Word, now taking up residence at the Jermyn Street Theatre (which has replaced the ratty seating with something a bit comfier - although you still have to cross the stage to go to the loo.) Ivor Novello's final show attempts to blend his traditional operetta style with that of the American musicals that were pushing them out of theatres in the 1940s and '50s. And this theme feeds into the storyline, as the fading popularity of old-fashioned musical theatre spells trouble for Gay Daventry (Sophie-Louise Dann,) a stage star for the last 30 years, but now in dire financial straits after investing everything in a massive flop. Her co-star suggests she open her own drama school, but within months that too is struggling to make ends meet, and they may have to rely on some dodgy characters to bail them out.