Britain's Got Talent judge Simon Cowell reignited the row over children performing on the show by sending some of the competition's youngest contestants through to the grand final - but avoided a kiss from Amanda Holden in the process.

Shameless star David Threlfall has landed a role as the late comic Tommy Cooper - just like that.

This revival begins in a sombre mood with the thrust stage covered in crunchy desiccated leaves which a bleak Orlando, in servitude to his abusive older brother, and the loyal ancient Adam (beautifully played by David Fielder) have been tasked to sweep into a wheelbarrow.

Lyle, 55, pips Guan, 14, on the final round  but predicts a big future for youngster

Smashed, by Gandini Juggling, starts with apparent decorum. Dozens of bright red apples are laid out in a neat pattern. Cups and saucers look ready for afternoon tea. By the end of this inventive and very funny show, chaos reigns. That crockery is doomed.

More and more talented graduates are choosing to teach maths and fulfilling their ambition of securing a rewarding and challenging career

I am quite open about my illness and people generally are more interested than afraid of it. I remember that before I was diagnosed as a schizophrenic in my teens I did not know much about it.

How do you write a song about serial killings? Adam Cork tells Matt Trueman how London Road came about

How do you write a song about murder? Adam Cork reveals all

A midsummer night's murder mystery

A ventriloquist at a career crossroads lets her dummy show the way – to poignant effect

Two book adaptations join the season's outdoor productions, while a Greek tragedy exiles Antigone to Sixties corporate America

When the young Pierre Boulez said that opera houses should be blown up, he was attacking, not opera, but its cultural ambience- the snobbery, exclusivity and expense.

For a two-hour opera, not an awful lot happens in Werther – boy is denied girl, and sulks his way to suicide – but the status of Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther as the foundation stone of Romantic self-absorption means Massenet's opera is more character study than narrative.