If you like the circus but want to see something different Cirkus Cirkor at Saddler’s Wells could be for you.

The Cirkus Cirkor show is themed weirdly around life/death, the body, heart and blood circulation and just about hangs together. I did hear a child say ‘is there a story?’

However its is definitely enjoyable particularly when members of the audience are involved in the act. The cast are very good and the performances of a very high quality.

The band Irya’s Playground are on the stage and play throughout the performance – very good I bought the cd.

Marharaja – the splendour of India’s royal courts at the V&A is a surprising and enlightening exhibition.

The Marharajas had a specific role in India running across centuries until the present. As well as covering the period before and after the impact of the British (East India Company), you can see the stately Victorian Raj and the swinging Twenties.

Worth seeing are the fabulous ‘classical’ paintings including courtiers spraying each other with coloured paint; the board game with dice made of diamonds; the British envoy wearing a top hat in the midst of turbans; and the film of the Victorian Durbars.

Terror at the Southwark Playhouse are a suite of short pieces on the theme of terror. This is an entertaining evening in a great intimate venue, five minutes from London Bridge.

It is a brilliant chance to see new work by Neil LaBute Some white chick which shows the ‘best side’ of (American) men similar to In the company of men; Mark Ravenhill wrote and performs (excellently) The experiment; Twisted by Anthony Nielson is just that; and ‘Psychogeography’ by Lucy Kirkwood made everyone jump.

Prepared to be scared and probably don’t sit in the front row.

Thanks to Travelex I was able to see Fiona Shaw in Mother Courage at the National Theatre for £10.

Bertolt Brecht might not be to everyone’s taste but the central concept, a woman (Mother Courage) who can only make a living selling goods from a wagon to soldiers and therefore prays for eternal war, is of universal relevance.

All the performances are very good and Fiona Shaw impresses with a dogged determination that even involves dragging the very heavy wagon herself. The music is also excellent. I certainly felt virtuous after having sat through this long and gruelling play.

Who would have imagined that a wacky story of an old man floating away in his house supported by balloons would make Up such a great and gripping film?

Pixar and John Lasseter have made it funny in an unpredictable way (frog alarm clock anyone?); with great characters (and they are not just the ‘humans’) – was there ever such a funny talking dog?

Up, unlike some other ‘children’s’ films, does not patronise as it deals with serious issues hence a number of times the noticable snuffles from the many adults present. The 3-D helps enhance a future classic film.