Friday, November 26, 2021
The American composer and lyricist, who has died aged 91, shaped the musical artform with his wise, witty and extravagantly clever work
Stephen Sondheim achieved such acclaim – for deepeni…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06PMFinborough theatre, LondonDavid Ireland’s provocative, surreal, intensely brutal farce finds a former loyalist paramilitary seeking mediation from Eamonn Holmes for a dispute with his neig…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AMThursday, November 4, 2021
North Wall, OxfordWill Howard and Kimberley Jarvis portray more than 20 characters with ease in this superb tale set against the 2001 disaster
The new BBC Two documentary Blair and Brown: Th…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06PMFriday, October 29, 2021
Bush theatre, LondonIgor Memic’s prize-winning debut is an affecting if slightly uneven conflict romance brought to life by vivid detail
Igor Memic, winner of the 2020 Papatango new writin…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:06PMWednesday, October 27, 2021
Soho theatre, LondonThis play daringly switches tone as it follows three mothers and explores exhaustion, panic and feelings of inadequacy
The title of Mum – a fertile-with-ideas play by M…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:18PMFriday, October 15, 2021
Minerva theatre, ChichesterDavid Storey’s intense drama of cross-talking patients in an institution has gained fresh relevance from the pandemic
Harry and Jack – distinguished-looking ol…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54AMThursday, October 14, 2021
Theatre Royal WindsorArtfully combining clumsiness with precision, McKellen’s Firs is the highlight of a production marked by arresting gestures and modern parallels
Having recently playe…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:24AMFriday, October 8, 2021
Chichester Festival theatreTara Tijani and Llewella Gideon are superb in this unblinking portrait of dignity amid moral horror, which follows a Jamaican woman looking back on her life
An add…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:24AMFriday, October 1, 2021
Caryl Churchill explores grief and loss with a study of a man facing different possible futures
During the time it took Keir Starmer to deliver his party conference speech this week, Caryl C…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:12PMTuesday, September 14, 2021
Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonSeven actors share 42 roles in Rebecca Taichman’s stunning production of Paula Vogel’s Tony award-winner about a controversial queer Yiddish play
Contempo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:03PMThursday, September 9, 2021
Curve, LeicesterAn imaginative staging of Tennessee Williams’ classic foregrounds the southern drama’s roots in Greek tragedy
One of the catchiest titles in the theatrical canon will alw…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:03AMAs the third part of her Thomas Cromwell trilogy hits the stage, the writer talks about the perils of political powerplay, fleeing Brexit to Ireland and setting her next novel in more recent…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:12AMTuesday, August 24, 2021
The author of dark comic novels such as Divorcing Jack has written a play, Nutcase, drawing on his relationship with his teenage son
After writing 34 books (including comedy crime novels suc…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AMWednesday, July 21, 2021
Garden theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonThe Royal Shakespeare Company’s outdoor production grabs every possible gag in this tale of twins and doppelgangers
Even ITV’s emotive DNA-reunion sho…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AMWednesday, July 14, 2021
Chichester Festival theatreIt’s a story bordered by violence and bigotry, but this vibrant production emphasises the anti-racist message of the 1949 Broadway hit
Old shows often pass nervo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:06PMThursday, July 8, 2021
Kiln theatre, LondonA US bank employee is captured in Pakistan in Indhu Rubasingham’s pacy revival of Ayad Akhtar’s chillingly ingenious play
A frequent critique of financial markets –…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:03PMTuesday, June 29, 2021
Garrick theatre, LondonMichael McManus, a former aide to Edward Heath, takes us on a rollicking ride through the politician’s clashes with Thatcher
The Tory prime ministers elected in the …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AMSunday, June 27, 2021
Greenwich theatre, LondonA respiratory crisis in a world tensed by terrorism is among topical themes in this compelling showcase of the playwright’s shorter, earlier works
If Caryl Churchi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18PMFriday, June 18, 2021
Reading Abbey RuinsBeth Flintoff’s atmospheric Reformation drama casts Henry VIII as a Boris-like bully, and is staged amid the ruins of his Catholic frenemy’s abbey
With so many people …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:32AMThursday, May 27, 2021
Orange Tree, LondonTwo plays explore George Bernard Shaw’s questioning of social values, directed by Paul Miller as a pointer towards Pinter
Great Irish playwrights born two years apart in…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AMWednesday, May 5, 2021
Agatha Christie’s snowbound whodunnit is the world’s longest-running play. Now it’s leading the big reopening – with a double cast and no kissing
The London West End is filled with g…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:42AMSaturday, April 17, 2021
The exquisitely talented actor shone at playing complex, intelligent women with a seemingly effortless skill
Helen McCrory dies aged 52
It seems fitting that one of Helen McCrory’s final s…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42AMThursday, April 1, 2021
Available on BBC iPlayerProvocative playwright David Ireland returns with a slow-burn character study screened as part of the BBC’s Lights Up festival
In Cyprus Avenue (2016) and Ulster Am…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:32PMWednesday, March 10, 2021
He’s no stranger to walk-outs and trigger warnings. So the daring dramatist is amazed the BBC is broadcasting his dark new play about a Belfast woman’s lockdown crisis
A decade ago, Davi…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AMFriday, February 12, 2021
Peter Barnes’ monologue about a royal footman was commissioned for radio but never broadcast until now. Director Philip Franks and others unravel its mystery
The most celebrated set of dra…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42AMFriday, December 11, 2020
Theatre Royal Haymarket, LondonThe emotional and physical distance of this epistolary novel for the stage is ideal for Covid-era theatre, performed here with power and finesse
Pandemic theat…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:03AMThursday, October 22, 2020
Theatre Royal BathStaged in a Covid-safe auditorium, this rattling revival of Harold Pinter’s mind-stretching drama is enjoyably brisk
Harold Pinter came to regret his frequent speech dire…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42AMMonday, October 12, 2020
London PalladiumJason Robert Brown’s song cycle on the theme of life choices adapts well to social distancing, with a cast whose big voices make the huge auditorium feel small
Balancing dr…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AMSunday, September 13, 2020
Available online In Richard Nelson’s third play about a US white liberal family Zooming through the pandemic, the Apples are forced to confront whether they are racist
In the Guardian on S…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:06PMThursday, September 10, 2020
From kick-ass screen roles to award-winning theatre and TV ones, with a curious sideline in nuns, the Yorkshire-born actor’s class and spirit earned her a magnificent career
Diana Rigg, A…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54PMTuesday, July 7, 2020
Harry Gabriel, gatekeeper of London’s Shaftesbury theatre, recalls greeting the stars, his bond with Peter O’Toole and how the Harlem Globetrotters launched his West End career
The staff…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:32AM 
