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The tragic thing is that the sort of events dealt with in this true story are still happening all over the UK.

When Connor dies whilst in the care of the NHS, his mum, Sara, wants answers. Premiering under Stephen Unwin’s taut direction, Sara Ryan’s Laughing Boy is a bittersweet docu-play about brutal neglect and apathy. While it’s a damning inquiry into the shortcomings of public health, is it a good play or is it a great production of a rather mediocre one? In our opinion, it's the second.

Theatre: Show offers a golden ticket reinforcing seasonal message that goodness will be its own reward

The children in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are greedy, nasty and bad to the bone. And they get magnificently punished by Willy Wonka for their transgressions inside the factory. The whole scenario is so at odds with contemporary attitudes to children and parenting that it provokes a hilarious level of mind-blowing dissonance.

Rossini’s joyously inventive music makes Il barbiere di Siviglia a deftly-paced triumph of comic timing. But woe betide anyone taking too many liberties. Adelina Patti, the great 19th century diva, once sang the aria ‘Una voce poco fa’ to Rossini, adding numerous florid embellishments. The composer responded: ‘Very nice, my dear, and who wrote