I’m not a great one for horror films: I scare way too easily. Even Shaun of the Dead gave me nightmares, and no, I’m not kidding about that. I’ve never seen any of the original Troma c…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 06:15AMHow much has changed for female playwrights since 1985 when Charlotte Keatley wrote her landmark play, My Mother Said I Never Should? The play is now receiving its first major London revival…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 10:58AMI’ve met up with two friend couples since seeing Nick Payne’s new play Elegy at the Donmar Warehouse on Saturday afternoon – well, seeing it via the loop in the theatre bar…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 12:14PMYesterday, I chaired an event looking at security risks currently facing Theatreland. As far as terrorism threats go, let me share some good news from our guest speaker, Rob Hoblin, a Cognit…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 12:18PMI shared some of my own thoughts about Jamie Lloyd‘s new production of Doctor Faustus – along with choice quotes (be they care of Christopher Marlowe or Colin Teevan) – last night. Thi…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 06:47AMThe first thing you need to know about Jamie Lloyd’s new production of Doctor Faustus – apart from the fact that it stars Kit Harington (a.k.a. Jon Snow from TV’s Game of T…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:02PMSnippets of Hamlet, Henry V, As You Like It and Julius Caesar delivered by some of my favourite actors – including Alex Jennings, Michelle Terry, Ashley Zhangazha, Jamie Parker and Will Ke…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 05:28PMJust a fortnight ago, bets were already being placed on Glenn Close to secure the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her commanding turn as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevar…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 06:19AMThis past Sunday, I went on my first run for ages – and managed all of 5k. I have run a few half-marathons in fitter periods, after each of which I vowed that I would never – nev…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 09:42AMIn this theatre diary catch-up, I want to concentrate on five top plays – four of them which also make Mark Shenton’s Top Ten list and three of them led from the front by stunning female…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 12:57PMAs the second-annual Also Recognised Awards conclude, here are a few words, and many thanks, from the awards organisers - and an invitation to you to help us decide what else should be recog…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 05:47AMAll the overnight reviews for Sunset Boulevard at English National Opera, starring Hollywood's Glenn Close as Norma Desmond. Plus, #StageFaves social media directory for the production and f…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 06:19AMMates co-founder Terri Paddock was in Twitter duty for @MyTheatreMates as well as her mad-about-musicals site @StageFaves and her own @TerriPaddock. How'd she do?
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:22AMPost-show Q&A: What’s the essence of good comedy? And what marks out an Alan Ayckbourn comedy in particular? What does the UK’s most prolific, produced playwright (80 plays and coun…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:56AMI recently wrote about super-hot French playwright Florian Zeller’s London hat trick – with The Father, The Mother and, still running at the Menier Chocolate Factory, The Truth. As I sat…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 04:17PMThis time last week I was coming down from the buzz of BEAM:2016. Today, as was re-reading my notes and other people’s write-ups for this blog, I got news on casting for The Toxic Avenger,…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 02:06PMMy partner Peter and I spent most of this weekend in a frenzy of DIY-ing and de-cluttering, with an emphasis on the latter. We live in a small two-bedroom flat near Waterloo and, in a matter…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 08:11AMI have all sorts of bias when it comes to Bar Mitzvah Boy: my friend Lara Stubbs stars (as the somewhat spoilt, Jewish princess older sister of bar-mitzvahed boy in question); the show is di…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 07:06AMYes, I am posting this #PressPass at gone 4am – blame those incessant Motown hits that keep spinning round and round and round my head after attending tonight’s (technically, now…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 11:25PMWhat’s the difference between political theatre and theatre about politics? Can theatre be a catalyst for real change? Do right-wing political perspectives get a fair hearing onstage or is…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 03:51PMThe speeches at this year's Susan Smith Blackburn Prize ceremony were inspiring - in particular, the speech made by actor and judge Tanya Moodie, whose many credits (coincidentally) include …
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 03:58PMThe Donmar Warehouse announces that Ron Cook will complete full casting in Brian Friel’s Faith Healer, joining previously announced cast Stephen Dillane and Gina McKee. Faith Healer is dir…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 05:48AMI gave Mrs Henderson Presents a very enthusiastic response at the curtain call of last night’s West End premiere – so enthusiastic that, as I tweeted at the time, I dented my rin…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 07:41AMThe poster of Nell Gwynn shows a saucy, bare-shouldered Gemma Arterton and promises “fun, funny and joyous… a cast of 20! and a band… naughty songs… merry dances. And…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 10:39AMI wrote last night about my personal response (including misgivings) to Matthew Perry's playwriting debut, and return to the West End stage, in The End of Longing which I saw last week. And …
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 05:36PMNear the end of an interview Matthew Perry gave with The Times last weekend, the interviewer Sarfraz Manzoor commented “having made so many people so happy it feels only right to wish some…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 08:18PMIs Florian Zeller the new Yasmina Reza? Certainly, he’s the most successful French playwright to hit English shores since Reza, whose 1990s hits – Life x 3, The Unexpected Man an…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 07:56AMHere are a few more plays that I’ve seen recently and can happily recommend. As usual, I’ve listed them in closing order – and two of them finish their London runs this wee…
SOURCE: Terri Paddock at 06:43AMWhen commissioned by the Finborough, the young director Jake Daniel (one to watch) suggested dusting off Andy Capp The Musical, not least because he hails from near Hartlepool himself and, h…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 06:36AMThe Perfect Pitch Award, co-presented by Theatre Royal Stratford East, is a sort of Dragons Den for new musical writing … with a twist. In this, long before the aspirants get to the pitch …
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:10AMThe audience at yesterday’s National Theatre press conference gave the biggest cheer to news that hasn’t generated headlines anywhere: artistic director Rufus Norris invited jour…
SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 06:39AM