All stories by Mark Lawson on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Indecent review – a brainy play staged with the panache of a musical by Mark Lawson

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 07:03PM
Thursday, September 9, 2021

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof review – Big Daddy’s birthday party still blazes by Mark Lawson

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 11:03AM

Hilary Mantel on staging The Mirror and the Light: ‘I should have been doing this all my life’ by Mark Lawson

As 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 02:12AM
Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Colin Bateman: ‘I don’t usually get emotional while writing but this is hugely personal’ by Mark Lawson

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 03:54AM
Wednesday, July 21, 2021

The Comedy of Errors review – exhaustingly funny take on identity and reality by Mark Lawson

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 08:32AM
Wednesday, July 14, 2021

South Pacific review – a roof-raising Rodgers and Hammerstein triumph by Mark Lawson

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 01:06PM
Thursday, July 8, 2021

The Invisible Hand review – thrilling tale of money lust and morality by Mark Lawson

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 07:03PM
Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Maggie & Ted review – two Tory prime ministers, one long spat by Mark Lawson

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 08:32AM
Sunday, June 27, 2021

Bad Nights and Odd Days review – prescient and daring Caryl Churchill by Mark Lawson

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 09:18PM
Friday, June 18, 2021

The Last Abbot of Reading review – Tudor history goes back where it came from by Mark Lawson

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 04:32AM
Thursday, May 27, 2021

Shaw Shorts review – a double dose of delightful comedy by Mark Lawson

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 07:24AM
Wednesday, May 5, 2021

The case of the Covid-compliant murder: how The Mousetrap is snapping back to life by Mark Lawson

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 03:42AM
Saturday, April 17, 2021

Helen McCrory: engaging, enthralling, always magnetically watchable by Mark Lawson

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 09:42AM
Thursday, April 1, 2021

Sadie review – lockdown Belfast drama is hilarious and harrowing by Mark Lawson

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 03:32PM
Wednesday, March 10, 2021

David Ireland: 'As a writer, I want to be socially irresponsible' by Mark Lawson

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 09:48AM
Friday, February 12, 2021

True Born Englishman: did the BBC ban this Buckingham Palace play? by Mark Lawson

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 09:42AM
Friday, December 11, 2020

Love Letters review – Jenny Seagrove and Martin Shaw are superbly matched by Mark Lawson

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 10:03AM
Thursday, October 22, 2020

Betrayal review: Pinter's love triangle offers fresh pleasures and shorter pauses by Mark Lawson

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 08:42AM
Monday, October 12, 2020

Songs for a New World review – singers face forwards in bold, Covid-safe show by Mark Lawson

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 10:48AM
Sunday, September 13, 2020

Incidental Moments of the Day review – a feast for Covid historians by Mark Lawson

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 01:06PM
Thursday, September 10, 2020

Diana Rigg: star with an independent streak to match her glamour by Mark Lawson

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 03:54PM
Tuesday, July 7, 2020

'There's something special in every show': 40 years at the stage door by Mark Lawson

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
Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Think you love musicals? Meet the fan who has seen Les Mis 977 times by Mark Lawson

What makes Wicked and Starlight Express so addictive? A new documentary, Repeat Attenders, chronicles the reasons superfans return to see their favourites You might guess that the Australian…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:42AM
Sunday, May 3, 2020

A Separate Peace review – Stoppard gem earns an ovation from the sofa by Mark Lawson

The Remote ReadDavid Morrissey headed up a cast united on Zoom for a show that took on poignant new meaning and exuded theatrical joy The countdown to the play beginning was on screen rather…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:42AM
Monday, March 23, 2020

Lovely jubbly! How theatre tuned into classic TV sitcoms by Mark Lawson

From a musical version of Only Fools and Horses to a stage show based on The Good Life, small-screen comedies are inspiring theatre-makers During the social confinements caused by coronaviru…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:12AM
Thursday, March 5, 2020

The Revenger’s Tragedy review – gruesome tale with a touch of Berlusconi by Mark Lawson

Barbican, London Cheek By Jowl’s handsome Italian-language update of the cruel classic with Milan’s Piccolo Teatro delivers a harsh verdict on political corruption When Chekhov is perfor…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:54AM
Monday, February 17, 2020

The Upstart Crow review – authentically Shakespearean right down to the puffling pants by Mark Lawson

Gielgud theatre, LondonDavid Mitchell is engaging and confident as Ben Elton brings his hit TV sitcom to the stage – it’s the definite article Audiences unfamiliar with British TV will w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:03PM
Friday, February 14, 2020

Content warning: this play only lasts 40 minutes by Mark Lawson

Both the Donmar Warehouse and the Royal Court are staging plays that are under three-quarters of an hour long. Are theatregoers being short-changed? People do a double take at the advisory n…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:03PM
Friday, February 7, 2020

The Haystack review – brainy GCHQ surveillance thriller by Mark Lawson

Hampstead theatre, LondonAl Blyth’s debut play explores how far into the lives of citizens a state can pry, and the effects on the snoopers themselves After the movie Official Secrets, abo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AM
Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Endgame review – Daniel Radcliffe and Alan Cumming await a riveting apocalypse by Mark Lawson

Old Vic, LondonDeftly bringing out the humour in Samuel Beckett’s lines, the two actors bring fresh life to a tale of imminent doom As a blind man and his valet swap evidence of personal a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54PM
Monday, January 13, 2020

Brian Blessed: 'All my life, 90% of men have bored the arse off me' by Mark Lawson

Dressed in pyjamas and wellies, the great actor talks about his astronaut training in Russia, the original Cats – and putting his might behind his daughter Rosalind’s very personal plays…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AM

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