Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Martin McDonagh’s play about the abolition of the death penalty in 1960s England hangs out to dry the idea that the country was a kinder, gentler placeIn Joe Orton’s 1969 play, What the …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:32AMMonday, December 28, 2015
Sometimes friends look at me with sympathy when they ask if I’m on the annual panto patrol. But it’s a great art form that creates a special bond between performers and audience – and …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:55AMWednesday, December 23, 2015
It looks a million dollars and has a great premise. But what’s it about? Don’t worry wonder.land, there’s still time to make improvements“I knew who I was this morning, but I’ve ch…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:07AMFriday, December 18, 2015
Swalec stadium, Cardiff This theatre-gig hybrid is impossible to dislike, but the average panto has rather more biteTake a pinch of psychedelia, a touch of manga, a dash of political fable a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:51AMThursday, December 17, 2015
Trafalgar Studios 2, LondonMorgan Lloyd Malcolm weaves enjoyably nasty twists into the tale of a tormentor and her victim, reunited after 20 yearsWhen Heather was at school she had plaits, g…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:20AMThe Almeida’s enthralling Oresteia is singled out by Lyn Gardner who, in no set order, chooses her other essential productions of the yearMore on the best culture of 2015Some may have thou…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:21AMWednesday, December 16, 2015
Unity theatre, LiverpoolPantomime is perfectly suited to addressing political issues – even if, as in this case, it can make the story unwieldy and imperfect Panto may be primarily enterta…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:30AMTuesday, December 15, 2015
Liverpool PlayhouseA young woman explores the ghostly recesses of a shape-shifting old house – and her own troubled mind – in this enjoyable Shirley Jackson adaptation“Houses aren’t …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:58AMMonday, December 14, 2015
Royal Exchange, ManchesterMatthew Xia’s revival of Stephen Sondheim’s dark, grownup musical lacks the light touch needed to stop it straying into the preachyIn the darkness, a child crie…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:45AMOily Cart create a Land of Lights in London, Aidan Gillen reads Joyce’s The Dead at Shakespeare’s Globe, and there is acrobatic mayhem in BrightonThe interactive Christmas family adventu…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:08AMSunday, December 13, 2015
Home, ManchesterThis take on Cornelia Funke’s magical novel, in which book characters come to life, downplays the darkness to produce a vigorous, good-natured narrativeSince her mother mys…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:03AMFriday, December 11, 2015
Lyric Hammersmith, LondonGlass slippers become glittery Converses in a contemporary twist on the fairytale, with show-stopping scenes and lots of sparkleIn recent years, Hammersmith has been…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:59AMSam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonSam Yates’s revival of Shakespeare’s late play never shirks from its absurdity and gains high returns from its low comedy“Stagey trash of the lowest melo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:39AMThursday, December 10, 2015
Noël Coward theatre, LondonPuppets and modern-day poignancy combine in Patrick Barlow’s high-spirited adaptation of DickensHas there ever been a Scrooge quite as genial and cuddly as the …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:51AMWednesday, December 9, 2015
Apollo, LondonIn this neat retread of the Play That Goes Wrong formula, Neverland is cleverly assailed by electric shocks and flying mishapsOver the years, I’ve seen plenty of Peter Pans g…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:27PMA lack of resources can spur theatre companies on to greater creativity and engagement with different audiences Complicite’s early shows evolved as much from a lack of resources as they di…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AMMonday, December 7, 2015
No Villian, Arthur Miller’s previously unseen first play, opens; Rash Dash rework Snow White in Cambridge; new works by Rona Munro and Stephen Greenhorn arrive in EdinburghGet ready to be …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:58AMFriday, December 4, 2015
Can you go wrong with Aladdin, Dick Whittington and Snow White? Oh no you can’t…London has upped its panto game in recent years, with the Theatre Royal Stratford East, Hackney Empire and…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:26AMThe festive season doesn’t just mean panto – how about Jim Broadbent as Scrooge, spine-chilling horror and a modern take on Sleeping Beauty?Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s 1927 mus…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:26AMThursday, December 3, 2015
Broadcasts of major productions are popular with audiences and deserve applause. Now we need proper research to determine their impact on live artsWhenever two or more arts writers are gathe…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:34PMMonday, November 30, 2015
Print Room at the Coronet, LondonTheatre Damfino’s sketchy exploration of how food gets on our plate would work better in the classroom than in the theatreTheatre and cooking have a real a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:02AMJim Broadbent does Scrooge, Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen hits the West End, there’s something fishy in Suffolk and Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart is staged in ManchesterJim Broadbent stars as …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:04AMMonday, November 23, 2015
A hip-hop history, a dance-theatre Macbeth and the start of the festive programme … here are the shows to look out for this weekThe Damon Albarn and Moira Buffini musical wonder.land, insp…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:54AMThursday, November 19, 2015
Unicorn, London The Big Bad Wolf is locked up with Captain Hook and co in an ingenious, witty musicalA few years ago a survey found that a substantial number of parents believed traditional …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:26AMA study suggests that bullying is more common in the arts than in the army. It's time to speak outFor many people working in theatre, bullying is a fact of life. The whispers about it are co…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:37AMThe Beeb’s On Stage strand of programmes about regional venues is well-meaning but presents a distorted picture of British theatre stuck in a time warpThe BBC’s recent collaboration with…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:34AMWednesday, November 18, 2015
Southbank Centre, LondonThe cabaret show skilfully celebrates music-hall routines and circus acts, adding a bit of darkness behind the dazzle London may now offer plenty of choice when it co…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:22AMMonday, November 16, 2015
This collaboration with Battersea Arts Centre showcased the values of British independent theatre: innovation, inclusivity and spontaneityIn an era when television has become slick and shiny…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:16AMRoyal and Derngate, NorthamptonHeart-stopping passion and delightful comic touches abound in Emma Rice’s finely judged, almost hallucinatory productionWhen Daphne du Maurier’s novel, whi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:03AMThe Bruntwood prize for playwriting is announced this week, and its anonymised selection process could provide a new model for all theatres when considering scriptsTomorrow, the winner of th…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:57AMThere's more to Warren Mitchell than meets the eye, Lyn Gardner discovers.Warren Mitchell has made a career out of playing miserable old gits. Most famously there was racist bigot Alf Garne…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:33AM 
