3 (Bloomberg) -- Comedies are like Eurozone crises. You wait ages for one, and then three turn up at once. Topping the list of cheer-uppers in London is a new National Theatre production of “She Stoops to Conquer,” Oliver Goldsmith’s mistaken-identity...

Elsewhere, the supporting performances go so over-the-top you might think we were still in panto season. The musical numbers inserted between every scene are tiresomely perky, and Sophie Thompson's endless gurning as Mrs Hardcastle looks like a crude...

The plot turns on a set of mistaken identities. Photographer: Johan Persson/National Theatre via Bloomberg Sophie Thompson in "She Stoops to Conquer" by Oliver Goldsmith at the National Theatre in London. Thompson's performance stands out for its comic...

Scott Rudin has axed the Broadway run of the hit play after falling out with its writer, Bruce Norris, according to reports Sophie Thompson (Bev) and Lorna Brown (Francine) in Clybourne Park, directed by Dominic Cooke, at London's Royal Court. ...

She Stoops to Conquer has received mainly positive press reviews after its first night. Jamie Lloyd's production of the 1773 play stars former Coronation Street star Katherine Kelly as mischievous heroine Kate Hardcastle. The Fast Show's Steve Pemberton...

But how to play it today? Lloyd's production shrewdly keeps the 18th century setting while encouraging the actors to tip us the wink that the work is an artful contrivance. The chief beneficiary is Sophie Thompson, who plays Mrs Hardcastle, wife of the...