World Weddings:

Gypsy Child Brides (BBC2)

ROMANIAN gypsy brides have a reputation for looking unhappy. This is hardly surprising. They face a lifetime of subservience or, as one observer put it, "a woman's role is that of a slave".

They are expected to cook, clean and bear children. One wife told how her husband doesn't even put on his own socks. She does it for him, after she's got up early, cut wood and made a fire so he can get up to a nice warm room.

At least the matter of the nightdress ended happily. The blood staining the white fabric proved the bride was a virgin on her wedding night. She remained in that state for several nights until bridegroom Christopher deflowered Regina.

She was 14 and a gypsy in Romania, where brides are bought like cars (new, not second-hand ones). The happy couple met just once before the ceremony. Christopher's father saw Regina in the street and asked: "Do you want to be my daughter-in-law?" before buying her for $3,000.

She said "Yes", he related, although how much choice she had must be open to debate.

One wife who dared to run away was pursued by her husband and pulled back by her hair. She related the story without anger or animosity as though she fully deserved to be treated like that.

All this was shocking news, if not exactly new. The world was outraged the other year when the story of the princess bride emerged. Critics condemned the wedding of the daughter of the king of the gypsies to a man of 17 as nothing less than child abuse.

Nothing much has changed. We saw Albert, a 14-year-old who looked barely old enough to be out of short trousers, getting engaged to Julianna, also 14. The cameras watched as their fathers bartered over the price for the bride. She went for $5,000.

No amount of money could make up for the life she and others like her face. Regina's new home has no running water and no toilet. She faces a lifetime of racial harassment. Two weeks before the wedding, a mob attacked her new home and beat up her husband-to-be's mother.

Ten years ago, in a village a few miles away, the homes of 27 gypsy families were burnt to the ground while the mayor and police looked on. The same mayor threatened the camera crew when they visited the village.

Meanwhile, Regina and Christopher were happy and relieved that she'd been proved a virgin. She'd have been returned like faulty goods if she wasn't. Now, six weeks after getting married, they declared they loved each other and couldn't bear to be apart. A happy ending of sorts.

Opera North: Eight Little Greats, Newcastle Theatre Royal

OPERA North has, for 25 years, been the national opera company for the North of England, informing, challenging and educating young and old alike, and introducing opera to people who think it's for toffs. This programme consists of eight mini-operas - two each evening, each one lasting about an hour, so not too much culture at one go.

Pagliacci is one that most people know, if only for the heartbreaking 'tears of a clown' aria that's part of most tenors' repertoire. In this production, however, that highlight was somewhat overshadowed by the concept of Pagliacci being the leader of some sort of music group, Canio and the Clowns. The renowned Opera North chorus played the audience to the hilt, swaying back and forth with their arms in the air, waving lighters about, offering adulation that was convincing and distracting. I confess I was confused.

The second offering was Djamileh, a one-act opera by Bizet about a slave who falls in love with her cold-hearted master. As in the first piece, the singing and acting were first-class, but the characters in Djamileh seemed more accessible emotionally. Paul Nilon as the heartless Haroun stamped about in a grubby dressing gown - heaven knows what the lovely Patricia Bardon as the slave girl saw in him. An entertaining deadpan comic performance from Keith Mills as the slave trader lightened the proceedings. Opera North's orchestra, led by David Greed, was superb and singing from principals and chorus was faultless.

Sue Heath

l Runs until Saturday. Booking Office: 0870 9055060

Studs, Arc, Stockton-on-Tees

AWARD-winning Teesside writer and director Gordon Steel has hit the back of the net once again with this hilarious, bitter-sweet drama.

Set against a backdrop of Sunday league football, Studs is authentic working-class Teesside through and through - from the raw accents and Netto carrier bags down to the passion for football.

The Eston Bank Hotel players are desperately trying to win the county cup while battling a mixture of heavy hangovers, turbulent love lives and the council - who want to close the club down. There's Mac (Christopher Connel), a womanising thug who delights in telling everyone how he's "not called top scorer for nowt", his nervous team mate Tommo (Graham Martin) and their girlfriends Kylie (Danielle Williams) and Mandy (Laura Lonsdale). Ronnie House (Robert Hudson) is the team manager whose passion for the game is infectious. All the characters are excellently portrayed, though my favourite was Robert Hudson's pedantic ref Roy, who's mannerisms were just inspired.

It often feels as if Gordon Steel puts a lot of himself into his plays and this is no exception. The reminiscences Ronnie has of his dad, and his desire to respect his memory, are one of the more moving aspects of the production.

You don't have to be a big football fan, a theatre lover or even a Teessider to enjoy this play. It was a sell out when toured by Hull Truck, so don't miss the chance to see it on home turf for the first time. Simply one of the most enjoyable, funny productions I've seen for some time.

Michelle Hedger

l Runs until Saturday. Box Office: (01642) 525199