First Call, Last Call

First Call

TIMBERLAKE Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good explores what happened when a group of English convicts in 18th-century Australia were asked to celebrate the King's birthday with a staging of George Farquhar's Restoration comedy The Recruiting Officer. Unfortunately, the production depended on a largely illiterate cast and a leading lady facing the gallows. Max Stafford-Clark directs Wertenbaker's play after winning the Olivier Play of the Year award for his production of it at the Royal Court in 1988.

The Young Vic, 66 The Cut, London SE1 (0171-928 6363) from 10 Sept to 24 Oct. National tour begins 3 Nov

Last Call

IT'S NOT OFTEN that a hit single comes back to haunt a good band. Annoyingly for The Jungle Brothers (right), their seminal dance and hip hop crossover "Rock Da House" has relegated them to a nowhere land between the two genres. However, their recent album showed that they deserve to be taken as seriously as other poppy hip hop acts such as Run DMC. And the Eighties' nostalgia fad should see them emerge from a decade of obscurity.

Riverside, 57-59 Melbourne St, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (0191-261 4386) 21 Oct