The Observer from London, Greater London, England • 13

SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER 1994 THE OBSERVER NEWS13 THE MEN WHO KNOW Virgin tastes victory cola MICHAEL Howard may look frightening, but he doesn't deliver. After the faltering prgress of his 27-point plan against crime, announced at last year's Tory Party conference, he has come up with a plan this year with no point at all. A scheme under which it is not compulsory to carry an ID card (for instance, if you don't feel like it or if you are a criminal) is no good to anyone. Mr Howard isn't a Blt tihft feflV jl'I CT computer and wallet industries. But there would also be teething problems.

A black market in forged cards would mushroom. Undesirables would get into Radio 1 with fraudulent Emma Freud cards and play their favourite records to an audience of three. Hackers might implant viruses into swipe machines so that, when you used it, the assistant would laugh at your GCSE battle identity cards Roger Tredre patch on Douglas results, then whip out your kidneys. 'Gang-buster' Hurd, who beat as he swept while cleaning the streets, or It you lost your card, you wouldn't Kenneth Baker, who set up death know who the hell you were and the squads tor innocent dogs, wnat a wnole ot Britain would become a no-go COCA-COLA and Pepsi-Cola have slugged it out for years. But last week the two soft, drinks corporations found themselves under attack from -new rivals.

Woohrorth's last week reported strong sales of its 29p, own-brand Genuine American launched 10 days ago, but the greater potential threat to the dominance oftheArner-i ican drinks giants comes from Richard Branson's Virgin Cola; to be launched next month in a joint ven-; ture with the Canadian Cott Corpor ration of Toronto. Virgin Cola is expected to retail at 25p undercutting Coca-Cola and Pepsi by up to8p. But which cola will taste the Even the most discerning palates'may be forgiven for being confused, and regular Coca-Cola drinkers found it difficult last week to identify their favourite drink in a blind Tasting conducted by The Observer. shame he chickened out of compulsory ID cards for all. Smart JD cards could hold information on everything from your criminal record to your credit rating and organ donor details, not to mention getting you a 5 per cent discount on Crown wallpaper.

As a bonus, the ID card is handy for separating cheese slices bought from certain cheap supermarkets that skimp on the greaseproof. Known criminals, trying to make a withdrawal from a cash dispenser, would be recognised and sucked into the slot, td be processed by the judiciary and sentenced to clean a canal out with a toothbrush, but no J-Cloth. There would be other benefits too, including welcome business for the zone. police would have to wear big raincoats and say You'd risk arrest for being a resistance worker. You'd nave to travel incognito in wagons full of hay and constables would poke pitchforks into it while you tried to go through the Ring of Steel.

Those in favour of ID cards claim it worked in South Africa, so why not here? In Iraq, they say abuse has been stamped out altogether, by cutting off the hands, feet and ears of forgers (very few do it again). If you're caught without a card in Baghdad, they tattoo 'Friend of George Bush' on your forehead, and you.can?t leave that at home. The Men Who Know are Michael Magenis and Martin Plimmer All colas have much the same reci-pe dominated by water and sugar, with the addition of caramel, phosphoric acid, decocainised coca leaves and caffeine. Coca-Cola's additional 'secreV ingredients. the celebrated 7X formula are not much of a secret within the drinks industry: they are thought to comprise natural oils including orange, lemon, nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander, neroli and lime.

company spokesman, said: 'The drink has been consistently taste-testing better than Coca-Cola. It's certainly less sweet. Our research shows that people prefer their drinks to be less sweet these But both drinks were rated lower than Pepsi-Cola, which was considered the best of the six. was also ahead of Virgin and Coca-Cola: The Marks Spencer drink, which includes 'spring water', was The first cans of Virgin Cola were dispatched to The Observer for the blind tasting, along with the Wool-worth's cola, Marks Spencer's Traditional Flavour Cola and Sainsbury's Classic Cola, whose can design was the subject of legal action by Coca-Cola last summer. Virgin outscored Coca-Cola in the tasting by four regular cola drinkers.

When we broke the news to Virgin, it was delighted. Will Whitehdm, a judged 'too watery', while Sainsbury's was given the down by all four tasters. However, taste may not be the deciding factor in the long term. In the soft drinks industry, marketing hype and advertising spend are the most powerful persuaders of the pub-He palate.And Richard Branson has never had any problems on the hype front. Cut-price deaf, Business, page 1 Playiimg safe to stage irecoveiry Michael Coveney TMA questionnaire, admitting to a total of almost 43m.

Many regional theatres are now planning co-productions and pooling tying in projects with festivals, considering new or forgotten areas of me repertoire and trying to avoid the obvious. The Royal Exchange, Manchester, whose artistic director, Braham. Murray, once said his theatre would present a play by Alan Ayckboum over Ins dead body, presents Ayckbourn's Absurd Person Singular this week. Against this uncertain background, the TMA, which was founded by Sir Henry Irving, celebrates its centenary this year. Its Martini awards Mghlight regional activity in a way no other theatre awards can.

Possible winners include Alan Cumming for his Hamlet with. English Touring Theatre; Ken Stott and Sheila Hancock for their "performances in, respectively, Death of a Salesman and Gypsy at the West Yorkshire Playhouse; David Kane's hilarious boarding house farce, Dumb-'struck, at the Tron, Glasgow; Theatre de Complicates The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrok and Anthony Clark's revival of The Atheist's Tragedy at the Birmingham Rep. Research from the City University in London has compared the capital's theatre today with that in Shakespeare's time. Around 21,000 (13 per cent of the then London population) attended the theatre each week in 1605; in 1991, a million went four times a year. THEATRE audiences are falling and the nation's repertoire has become progressively conservative, according to a survey of members of the Theatrical Management Association.

The figures may confine the joy at a lunch Manchester today, at which the movers and shakers in theatres throughout the UK will honour the winners of the fourth annual Martini Regional Theatre presented, in. association with the TMA The survey of theatres in both the commercial and subsidised sectors shows the recession has put paid to taking risks and that fewer actors are being employed. Around 7.5 million people bought theatre tickets ih-1993-94, compared with 10m in 1990-91. The number of TMA members concerned about the future rose from 10.2 per cent to 18.3 per cent- The number of performances fell over the same period, from more than 24,500 to just "under 18,500, whfle box-office revenue remained almost constant, at around 31m. The level of sponsorship was little changed.

The TMA figures reflect a nationwide pattern of retrench-1 ment and 'playing safe', despite: the valiant efforts of buzzing ven-: ues such as the Nottingham Play-" house, the Glasgow Citizens' and the West Yorkshire Playhouse to reverse the trend. Few subsidised theatres own up to their accumulated deficits: there were only 23 replies to the A CERTIFIED CHRONOMETER FOR FW LESS THAN 750 A ROVER 214 SPECIAL EDITION FROM JUST HOW DO THEY DO IT? Amazing isn't it? Something you very rarely come across. A car with such a high level of specification as to make its competitive 10,770 price tag seem somewhat improbable. Hard to believe, but most definitely true. The superb features which have been included on the Rover 214 Special Edition add genuine distinctiveness to its already inherent style and quality.

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