Terrace Restaurant

A bleak warning about the dangers of Stalinism told through the perspective of a farmyard of mutinous pigs may not seem the most heartening setting or subject for a West End musical.

We have read chick lit and watched chick flicks; now women are queuing up for a stream of female-friendly dramas on the stage. Theatre is awash with shows appealing particularly to women, many based on popular novels and films, and more are in the pipeline. Women are responding in their droves, often on a girls' night out.

It is possible for an adult to sit through hundreds of hours of In the Night Garden and still not have a clue what is going on. Children, however, see the multi-Bafta-winning show entirely differently. They know exactly what is happening – the only problem is extracting them from in front of the television set when it is on.

He is the "last dictator in Europe" with a ruthless streak and a Soviet-inherited belief that any opposition to the state is wrong. In short, the word of Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, is law. Step forward the challenger: the most lucid master of English letters, Sir Tom Stoppard.

Mamma Mia certainly did the business in reviving Abba's worldwide reputation; now the Catholic Church is hoping a new, all-singing, all-dancing biography can do the same for John Paul II and his flock.