The Independent recommends: Theatre

BUILDING ON the reputation for provocative writing he established with Shopping and Fucking, Mark Ravenhill delivers the goods again in the ingenious Handbag. Juxtaposing a Wildean prequel to The Importance of Being Earnest with brutal scenes showing the various parental crises of very Nineties couples, it provides a survey of biological complications without daring to suggest solutions.

Lyric Studio, Hammersmith, London W6 (0181-741 8701) 8pm

Personals (right) is a musical revue devised by the creators of Friends - David Crane and Marta Kauffman, together with Seth Friedman - and that concentration of talent shines through in spry songs and sketches about the pleasures and pitfalls of dating in the mean metropolis.

New End, London NW3 (0171-794 0022) 7.30pm