Friday, May 17, 2024

Bangers and ballet: London’s Ministry of Sound embraces contemporary dance by Lyndsey Winship

Big-name ballet dancers and rising choreographers have found a new home in the superclub where the after-party goes on until 5am “It’s the easiest rider we’ve ever done,” says the Mi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM

Now, I See review – Black brotherly joy amid gut-wrenching grief by Arifa Akbar

Theatre Royal Stratford East, LondonThe second, strikingly physical part of Lanre Malaolu’s trilogy that began with Samskara explores bereavement with lightness as well as anguish It is ha…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AM

Grief, guilt and white working-class ‘fury’: Death of England heads to London’s West End by Lanre Bakare Arts and Culture Correspondent

Trio of plays co-created by Roy Williams explores British identity in the era of Brexit, Covid and Black Lives Matter The co-creator of the Death of England series of plays has said the deca…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:36AM
Thursday, May 16, 2024

Australian Ballet blasts newspaper review for describing dancers as ‘unusually thin’ by Sian Cain

Company’s artistic director David Hallberg says he was ‘shocked’ by critic’s review and that critique of dancers’ bodies is ‘not acceptable’ Sign up for our rundown of must-rea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:54AM

English review – Pulitzer-winning classroom play doesn’t quite make the grade by Arifa Akbar

The Other Place, Stratford-upon-AvonFour students in Iran are under pressure to pass their foreign language exams in Sanaz Toossi’s gentle comedy that puts discussion above drama and ideas…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:12AM
Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Fawlty Towers review – comedy history repeats itself as stage farce by Brian Logan

Apollo theatre, London John Cleese’s transposition of his TV sitcom to the theatre has pitch perfect performances, but it never quite becomes a play What should we hope for when TV hits of…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:54PM

Revealed: Magician David Copperfield accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women by Lucy Osborne and Stephanie Kirchgaessner

A total of 16 women have accused Copperfield of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior spanning decades. More than half said they were teenagers at the time. Copperfield’s lawyers sa…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:32PM

People, Places and Things review – Denise Gough reprises a shattering story of addiction by Arifa Akbar

Trafalgar theatre, LondonThe Olivier award-winner returns to her role as an actor in rehab in Duncan Macmillan’s brutally powerful play Duncan Macmillan’s 2015 play about addiction is a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06AM

Brighton festival: Lived Fiction/Fault Lines review – revolutionary dance by Lyndsey Winship

Corn Exchange/Dance House, BrightonStopgap and Lîla Dance deliver poetic and political work at this year’s festival, displaying bold innovation and evocative visions ‘It’s impossible …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06AM

Artists shouldn’t be political? Here’s a show that challenges Britain’s creeping censorship | Brian Logan by Brian Logan

Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art, at the Arcola in London, tackles freedom of expression – with particular focus on Gaza Arts Council England unleashed fury in Febru…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM

Withnail and I review – downtrodden duo return to demand some more booze by Mark Fisher

Birmingham RepA strong cast and a magical set make this more or less word-for-word stage transfer of the cult hit an entertaining tribute piece In 1988, I worked on a listings magazine’s c…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM
Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Margaret Williams obituary by Lyndsey Winship

Director who brought contemporary dance to mainstream British TV audiences with films such as Outside In and Veterans A“magician of the camera” with an extraordinary visual sense, Margar…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:24AM

Succession’s J Smith-Cameron to star opposite Mark Rylance in Juno and the Paycock by Chris Wiegand

Actors to play the lead roles in Matthew Warchus’s centenary West End revival of Seán O’Casey’s Irish civil war classic Sarah Snook has just finished her London theatre run in The Pic…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:24AM

Between Riverside and Crazy review – Danny Sapani’s ex-cop faces down the past by Arifa Akbar

Hampstead theatre, LondonStrong performances and jibing humour propel this exuberant but flawed revival of Stephen Adly Guirgis’s 2014 play about racism in the New York police force This r…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:24AM

The House Party review – teenage debauchery brings Strindberg to Saltburn by Chris Wiegand

Minerva theatre, ChichesterWrithing and retching while sandwiched between spectators, revellers navigate class, sex and power at Miss Julie’s 18th birthday celebration The Minerva’s last…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM

The Deep Blue Sea review – Tamsin Greig adds bite to Terence Rattigan by David Jays

Ustinov, BathAs a woman who has left her husband for a dissolute younger man in postwar London, Greig’s quiet despair compels The torch song Stormy Weather sobs between scenes in this revi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM
Monday, May 13, 2024

George Clooney to make Broadway debut in Good Night, and Good Luck by Benjamin Lee

The actor will play the lead in a stage adaptation of his Oscar-nominated journalism drama from 2005 George Clooney is set to make his Broadway debut in a stage adaptation of his 2005 journa…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:01PM

Prunella Scales returns to role of Queen Victoria for Edinburgh fringe show by Mark Fisher

The Fawlty Towers actor has often played the monarch in the past and has now recorded audio for a new production at the festival At the age of 91, Prunella Scales has reprised one of her fav…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:48AM

Rhod Gilbert and the Giant Grapefruit review – hilarity and horror on standup’s cancer journey by Brian Logan

Cliffs Pavilion, SouthendNow free of cancer, Gilbert looks back on his illness with a characteristic mixture of emotional candour and uproarious humour A standup show about cancer? It’s a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:48AM

Maggie & Me review – Damian Barr’s raw memoir gets an overcooked staging by Mark Fisher

Tron theatre, GlasgowThatcher stalks the stage like an untamed monster, but the rest of Barr’s account of growing up gay in the 80s is sentimentalised and soppy On the page, Damian Barr’…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:03AM
Sunday, May 12, 2024

Get Off review – walking the uncomfortable line between desire and disgust by Kate Wyver

Battersea Arts Centre, LondonKaty Baird’s strange, intimate work of performance art leaves little unexposed – but its lack of depth leaves us wanting more Last time I saw Katy Baird, she…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AM

Mary Said What She Said review – Isabelle Huppert dazzles in a one-woman tour de force by Claire Armitstead

Barbican, LondonThe final hours of Mary, Queen of Scots are enacted with hypnotic precision in Robert Wilson’s collaboration with Théâtre de la Ville–Paris In the grand soap opera of 1…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM

The Winter’s Tale review – Royal Ballet’s powerful war of the worlds by Sarah Crompton

Royal Opera House, LondonChristopher Wheeldon strips Shakespeare’s play of distractions in this boldly choreographed, nuanced masterpiece Ten years ago, when Christopher Wheeldon created T…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18AM

The week in theatre: The Cherry Orchard; Minority Report; Laughing Boy – review by Susannah Clapp

Donmar Warehouse; Lyric Hammersmith; Jermyn Street, LondonThe aged servant steals the show in a fast-paced 21st-century Chekhov, Max Webster’s dystopian sci-fi dazzles the eye but skips th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18AM
Friday, May 10, 2024

Benjamin Millepied on queering Romeo and Juliet: ‘In France they called me woke’ by Dee Jefferson

The Black Swan choreographer is bringing his unique take on Shakespeare to Sydney – involving cameras and dancers running outside the Opera House Perhaps no single person has done more to …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:32AM

‘Punching up against colonialism is glorious!’ The unstoppable rise of Indian comedy in the UK by Rachel Aroesti

Standup has enjoyed a rapid rise in India over the last decade, and now its leading lights are conquering the Edinburgh fringe and packing out the Royal Albert Hall. Where better to take aim…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:18AM

‘They’re teaching me’: Greg Doran on staging Shakespeare’s unloved Two Gents with students by Michael Billington

The theatre director, now teaching at Oxford after years running the RSC, thinks The Two Gentlemen of Verona is perfect for a young cast to argue over. We go into rehearsals Which is Shakesp…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM

Twelfth Night review – splashes of fun beside the seaside by Kate Wyver

Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, London Owen Horsley’s frolicking staging has jaunty music and mischief, but this production dances over sadness Tonight belongs to the lovers, but not th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM

Punch review – James Graham’s tragic study of a fatal blow by Arifa Akbar

Nottingham PlayhouseA teenager kills a trainee paramedic with a single strike on a night out in Nottingham in this deftly directed play based on a real story Take note: this is not a play ab…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:03AM
Thursday, May 9, 2024

Sappho review – the poet’s passions, from ancient Lesbos to spangly clubland by Arifa Akbar

Southwark Playhouse Elephant, LondonA mix of songs, dance, glitter and camp, this ancient-modern mashup is derailed by bland debates and a convoluted script An ancient Greek love story, this…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM

The Government Inspector review – Ghosts stars team up for cartoonish corruption satire by Brian Logan

Marylebone theatre, LondonKiell Smith-Bynoe and Martha Howe-Douglas ably embody Gogol’s schemers, but this show doesn’t hit any 21st-century targets You can see why, in 2024, one might r…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards