Monday, May 16, 2011
One of Britain's leading female playwrights known for Piaf, Queen Christina and StanleyIn her best-known work, Piaf, the playwright Pam Gems, who has died aged 85, developed a new form somew…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:58AMSunday, May 15, 2011
'Want to read an in-depth review of a star performance? Turn to the sports pages'A few weeks ago, there was a symposium at Kent University with the title: What Is Theatre Criticism For? No s…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:45PM'Want to read an in-depth review of a star performance? Turn to the sports pages' Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:45PMRoyal and Derngate, NorthamptonYou can't get a Hamlet without breaking a few eggs, suggests one of the characters in this frisky musical homage to the great play. And indeed I suspect it wil…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:58AMFriday, May 13, 2011
Brighton festival is buzzing but there's action all over the place, such as a three-day walking performance in the Yorkshire DalesBrighton was buzzing when I visited earlier in the week, whe…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:21PMNorfolk and Norwich festival"We're late, and it's still quite early. Let us leave no bird unstoned," says the Queen of Hearts, otherwise known to the Mad Hatter as "your angina". Her vivacio…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:43AMThursday, May 12, 2011
Arts, LondonBy 1962, two of the silver screen's great leading ladies, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, were has-beens. The women – both famed for playing strong independent characters, both …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:41PMWednesday, May 11, 2011
The Basement, Brighton festivalNot all the artists taking part in this performance require balls, but the audience does. Part of the Brighton festival, 5x5 is a series of brief performance e…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:00PMHilary Westlake's groundbreaking dinner party-cum-performance of Alice in Wonderland has passed into theatrical legend. Lyn Gardner can't wait to fall back down the rabbit holeThe White Rabb…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:27AMMonday, May 9, 2011
For Fissure, Louise Ann Wilson has combined an epic drama with a walk in the Yorkshire Dales. She tells Lyn Gardner whyStand on the limestone pavement near Long Churn Cave in the Yorkshire D…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:00PMSouthwark Playhouse, LondonIn theatre and literature, visions of dystopian futures have overtaken utopian ones, but rewind 70 years to the darkest days of the second world war and JB Priestl…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:03PMSunday, May 8, 2011
Jermyn Street theatre, London"Is there any troublesome thing that gnaws here in this house?" asks the Rat Wife in Ibsen's mysterious and compelling late play, offering her Pied Piper-st…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:30PMFriday, May 6, 2011
From Bristol to Brighton the festival season is in full swingWith the fabulously eclectic Mayfest kicking off in Bristol yesterday, Norfolk and Norwich starting today and the Brighton festi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:08PMThursday, May 5, 2011
Shakespeare's Globe, LondonGood things often come in small packages, and so it is with Dominic Dromgoole's speedy, pared-down Hamlet, which will tour outdoor spaces in the UK and Europe thro…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:00PMTuesday, May 3, 2011
Junction, CambridgeThis micro-festival, featuring a mix of new pieces and works in progress, is in the ascendant. It's a rewarding development that allows audiences access to process as well…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:00PMMonday, May 2, 2011
Charing Cross theatre, LondonWho shot music hall owner Champagne Charlie backstage at the Empire in the middle of a performance? Was it the conjuror Mephisto, famed for his bullet-catching t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:05PMFrom receiving a letter from a stranger to being kidnapped, what you take away from a performance can be much more than a programmeA couple of weeks ago, a letter addressed to me dropped thr…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:32AMFriday, April 29, 2011
A secret location, LondonThe bride is upstairs having her mehndi done. Down in the living room, the bride's mum is all smiles, leading the dancing and plying us – the guests – with …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:30PMRoundhouse, LondonA teenage boy removes most of his clothes. He has a small figure or doll strapped to his chest. He lies down on a white sheet of paper. The youngsters around him …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:00PMAnother packed long weekend, with the outdoor season getting underway in Norfolk and festivals kicking off across the countryAnother long weekend ahead – and while there's nothing on the s…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:32AMThursday, April 28, 2011
Theatre 503, LondonEver since David Mamet's testosterone-fuelled 1983 play, Glengarry Glen Ross, theatre-goers have known that estate agents sell their own grubby souls along with the proper…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:15PMWednesday, April 27, 2011
Southwark Playhouse, LondonThey sit on chairs at opposite ends of a traverse stage. They could be gladiators squaring up to each other, but this man and woman are lovers. She (Vinette Robins…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:09PMHouse of Detention, LondonGrowing up in public is hard to do, but that is what Belt Up have been doing since they burst upon the theatre scene at Edinburgh in 2008. While other young compani…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:09PMTuesday, April 26, 2011
This epic production drew together the people of Port Talbot and explored myriad ways of delivering theatre – from Twitter to whispered rumour. Has it changed the shape of participatory pe…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:01AMMonday, April 25, 2011
Southbank Centre, LondonOrigami meets theatre in Rip, Fold, Scrunch, a fantasy played out in a white world where paper falls from umbrellas like snow and can be transformed into a hat, a fan…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:07PMSunday, April 24, 2011
Port TalbotThe once a decade passion play by the German town of Oberammergau may be the most famed around the world, but it's hard to believe any version can have the heart and soul of Port …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:48PMFriday, April 22, 2011
Despite it being a double bank holiday week, there's plenty of theatrical activity all around the UK. Here's the cream of the cropWith Easter and the royal wedding (arguably a massive piece …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:11PMWednesday, April 20, 2011
Barbican, LondonWith experimental theatre and live art from around the globe, the biannual Spill festival of performance never fails to surprise. Don't be astonished to find yourself attendi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:45PMAs a new piece at the Barbican shows, first-person recollections bring theatre performances back to life more vividly than reviews ever canNot long ago I had a conversation with a man in a r…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:09AMSunday, April 17, 2011
Bishopsgate Institute Library, LondonWith UK libraries fast becoming an endangered species, Ant Hampton and Tim Etchells's piece – designed to be played out in the hushed surroundings of r…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:45PMWednesday, April 6, 2011
Old Red Lion, LondonThe wealthy Snelgraves, shut up in their house in a plague-ravaged London in 1665, have only hours left of a 28-day quarantine when their home is invaded by a sailor, Bun…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:58PM 
