Holding note

Today I planned to write reviews of Hoy Polloy's Tom Fool (highly recommended) and Red Stitch's very creditable production Leaves of Glass, but I received some good news (which was a big surprise and which I will share with you in due course) and find myself knocked deliriously off course.

I'll put myself back together and finish the reviews tomorrow: in the meantime, let me note in passing that suddenly Caryl Churchill's controversial playlet Seven Jewish Children will have three separate readings in Melbourne, after the STC's Australian premiere reading last month. The first will be at the State Library on May 18, and features Max Gillies and Miriam Margolyes (other dates reported as they come to hand). The Age reports this morning that Ms Margolyes, an Anglo-Jewish actor, has been dropped from a Jewish charity appearance for her participation in an allegedly "anti-Semitic" work. To quote the redoutable Ms Margoyles, "That's bollocks". You can check out a video of the Royal Court reading on the Guardian site here, and make up your own mind.

NB Details for Monday's reading, which features a stellar cast, here (thanks Michael Magnusson!) It's first come, first served, and has been generating a lot of publicity, so get there early...