Dance: The blood of a poet

GUNNED DOWN in his prime by Spanish fascists in the 1930s, the poet-activist Lorca might otherwise be celebrating his 100th birthday next month. Leading the rash of artistic efforts to mark the centenary is Rambert Dance Company with Cruel Garden. First staged in 1977, it recounts Lorca's life story as a fantastical allegory in dance, song, mime and verse. The poet (Conor O'Brien, right, with a bullish Simon Cooper) appears successively as matador, bride, Buster Keaton and Christ figure. There's pain as well as poetry in this garden.

Edinburgh Festival Theatre (0131 529 6000), 29 & 30 May; Northampton Derngate (01604 624811), 9-11 Jun; Norwich Theatre Royal (01603 630000), 18-20 Jun.