Preview; First call

Rachel Weisz (above), hot new British starlet, follows in the footsteps of Elizabeth Taylor, who used her tremulous sexual presence to great effect in the movie version of Tennessee Williams's Suddenly Last Summer. Back then, Katherine Hepburn played the fearsome mother, a role now inhabited by the great Sheila Gish. She has performed in countless productions of Williams's plays - notably in A Streetcar Named Desire. The pairing of Gish and Weisz in this typically torrid, macabre tale of a mother's bitter quest to avenge the death of her son, is a positively mouthwatering prospect.

Comedy Theatre, London, SW1 (0171-369 1731) 8 Apr to 17 Jul

The Seventies retro sound of Kula Shaker (above) emerged, incongruously, at the same time as New Lad culture. Stranger still, the band has survived unscathed, praised even by Oasis. Although tickets sold out for a date at the 108 Club within three hours, Crispian et al are embarking on a tour later in March. Naturally you'll have to act fast... the London date may have sold out already.

Venues include: Academy, Manchester (0161-832 1111) 17 Mar; Corn Exchange, Cambridge, (01223 357851) 24 Mar, Brixton Academy, London (0171-942 9999) 26 Mar

LAST CALL