TV review

UNTIL going to Nigeria to stage the 2002 Miss World contest, organiser Julia Morley thought Sharia was a girl's name.

She learnt the hard way that it refers to an Islamic law used to sentence a woman to be stoned to death for sex outside marriage. Publicity over a woman in this half-Muslim country receiving such a punishment was only the start of Morley's problems.

Why, you might very well ask, put on a competition involving beautiful women in tight dresses displaying bare flesh in a country where local women are required to cover themselves and wear veils?

The answer, obviously enough, is money. Nigeria paid the Miss World organisation £5m for the privilege of welcoming 95 glamorous contestants for the month-long pageant. The publicity, they figured, would benefit their tourist industry.

It was not money well spent, as this documentary showed. After several weeks and threatened boycotts by contestants, the would-be Miss Worlds fled the country in the wake of riots that left 250 dead and 1,000 people injured.

Film-makers had the advantage of home movie footage shot by contestants and post-contest interviews showing they were no air-headed bimbos. Several also took the opportunity to highlight how controlled they were by organisers, unable to go anywhere or do anything - even visit the toilet - without a chaperone.

Some doubted the wisdom of this conspicuous display of money and glamour in a poor, religious country.

Miss Norway decided to boycott the contest over the planned stoning, until given assurances the punishment wouldn't go ahead. Miss Belgium raised the "amputation problem" after learning of children having their hands cut off for stealing.

It wasn't just their presence that sparked riots. A 21-year-old Nigerian journalist wrote a newspaper article that offended religious authorities with her comments about Mohammad and provoked riots. A fatwa was put on her, forcing her to flee Nigeria and go into hiding.

The furore continued after contestants got out of Africa and relocated to London at a cost of £1m. Miss England wanted to pull out because, like many of the others, she'd lost faith in the contest and had no interest in becoming Miss World. Eventually, organisers persuaded her to take part, but she only did it after being guaranteed she wouldn't win.

Even the outcome, some suggested, was political. The winner was Miss Turkey - who was beautiful, docile and Muslim.

Two Tracks And Text Me, Courtyard Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse

THE mobile phone plays a vital role in Sol B River's "thriller for today's technological age". A stray text message links Beeves and his two mates to a young girl, Louise, who's being held in a room by the mysterious Father but has access to a mobile phone.

Two Tracks began as a ten-minute short play three years ago - and it shows. Far too much dialogue seems like padding. Is it a social commentary about three guys and two girls, or a thriller about the child sex industry? By trying to be both, it fails to fully explore either.

Director Joe Williams utilises everything available to a multi-media stage production, with film sequences and a soundtrack underlining the drama. None of this can disguise that the characters are thinly drawn and, in some cases, underplayed.

We have to wait an awfully long time for the two strands of the story to come together, when Beeves and Father finally meet. A final twist, a revelation that one character is not whom he seems, is more laughable than surprising.

Steve Pratt

l Runs until November 1. Tickets 0113- 213 7700.

Northern Sinfonia, Newcastle City Hall

NORTHERN Sinfonia music director Thomas Zehetmair was clearly in his element in his latest performance at Newcastle City Hall. By happy coincidence, he found himself conducting a menu of Schumann's works days after scooping the coveted Gramaphone Record of the Year award for his quartet's recording of Schumann's string quartets. The evening, recorded for broadcast on Radio 3 on November 9, opened with the Overture Manfred, featuring some exquisite string work. Pianist Christoph Berner then brought the house down with a blistering performance of Schumman's Piano Concerto in A Minor. The notes seemed to fall from the sky and roll around the hall, in a pulsating outpouring of the lyrical work. Berner's complete synergy with the sinfonia was complete. It was a hard act to follow, but the sinfonia rose admirably to the occasion with a stirring rendition of Schumann's Symphony 4, drawing out its rich melodic lines and racing to an intense climax. A fitting way for Zehetmair to crown his achievement.

Gavin Engelbrecht