First Call, Last Call

First Call

AT THIS YEAR'S Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Sarah Kane's Crave got the thumbs-up from the same critics who had damned her previous outings. Not surprisingly, Crave marks a departure in style for Kane (right) - subtle character development replacing her usual stock of shock tactics. Crave looks at an older man's obsession with a young woman who was abused as a child and an older woman's desire for a younger man to father her child. The provocative material remains.

Royal Court Theatre Upstairs (at the Ambassadors),

London WC2 (0171-565 5000) 8 Sept - 3 Oct

Last Call

LAID-BACK rappers Cypress Hill will be playing a couple of gigs in September. Cypress Hill's blend of funk grooves and fast talking has much in common with other crossover acts such as De La Soul and the Beastie Boys, and their hip hop celebrates smoking cannabis more than smoking guns. The crew have been involved with remixing most of the top names in hip hop and are currently working on their fourth album, which should be released by the end of the year.

Astoria, London (0171-434 0403) 11 Sept; Manchester University (0161- 832 1111) 12 Sept