All stories by Chris Wiegand on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Dracula review – Mina Harker bites back but drama is deadened by tricksy retelling by Chris Wiegand

Lyric Hammersmith, LondonA fixation on how to frame Bram Stoker’s story disrupts the flow of this feminist reboot, killing the fear factor Drac is back. Earlier this year, the caped bloods…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06PM
Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Hamlet review – Giles Terera dives deep into the prince of Denmark’s torment by Chris Wiegand

Minerva theatre, Chichester Justin Audibert’s lucid production is classically considered, with a fine cast making full unsettling use of the intimate space By the t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18PM
Monday, September 15, 2025

High Noon heads for the West End as Billy Crudup takes on Gary Cooper role by Chris Wiegand

The Tony award-winning actor will play the marshal in a London stage adaptation of the 1952 western that won Cooper an Oscar Billy Crudup is to take on the role that won Gary Cooper an Oscar…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06AM
Friday, September 12, 2025

Self Esteem to star as raging rock star in revival of David Hare’s Teeth ’n’ Smiles by Chris Wiegand

Rebecca Lucy Taylor will play Maggie, a role originated by Helen Mirren, in a ‘landmark’ 50th anniversary production in London in March Fifty years after Helen Mirren originated the role…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:36PM
Thursday, September 11, 2025

Cow | Deer review – extraordinary sound journey into the lives of animals by Chris Wiegand

Royal Court theatre, London Katie Mitchell, Nina Segal and Melanie Wilson’s ‘experiment in performance’ uses expressive performance and inventive sonic effects to bring a wordless worl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:02AM
Monday, September 1, 2025

The best theatre to stream this month: Basil’s back as Fawlty Towers reopens for business by Chris Wiegand

John Cleese’s stage version of his beloved sitcom, a cast recording of Cornish musical The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Robert Wilson’s production of Handel’s Messiah are among …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54AM
Sunday, August 24, 2025

Golden Time (and Other Behavioural Management Strategies) review – a magic hour by Chris Wiegand

Pleasance Dome, EdinburghKate Ireland’s warmly delivered one-woman show considers the pressures of productivity, rules and rewards at school and beyond She has been given 60 minutes out of…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AM

The Crawl review – madcap swimming comedy performed by synchronised duo by Chris Wiegand

Pleasance Dome, EdinburghAlexander Burnett and Ellie Whittaker dive into multiple roles in a bubbly show with plenty of audience participation This highly physical comedy about two competiti…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM

Black Blues Brothers: Let’s Twist Again! review – circus pals rock, roll, jump and jive by Chris Wiegand

McEwan Hall, EdinburghThe sharply dressed quintet perform acrobatics that often complement the 50s chart hits on the jukebox For their fifth season at the fringe, this quintet of Kenyan acro…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM
Friday, August 22, 2025

Lost Paws review – furry fun as two felines expose their owners’ foibles by Chris Wiegand

theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall, EdinburghThis playful performance explores loneliness, liberty and life in early adulthood through two adventurous cats and their demanding humans Ellie Rose Ami…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:12PM

Hamlet by New York Circus Project review – a flashy, dreamy spin on Shakespeare by Chris Wiegand

Assembly Roxy, EdinburghThere’s a hint of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet in the cocksure, poppy aesthetic of this charismatic display of acrobatics, tumbling and clowning It wouldn’t be…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:24AM
Tuesday, August 19, 2025

House Party review – home truths about gentrification in east London by Chris Wiegand

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghChakira Alin’s buoyant show is shot through with bitterness as she gives a lucid account of Hackney’s transformation In her solo show about the aftermath of…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24PM

The Butterfly Who Flew Into the Rave review – mesmerising trio tear up the dancefloor by Chris Wiegand

Summerhall, EdinburghOli Mathiesen, Lucy Lynch and Sharvon Mortimer bring absolute focus to a shatteringly powerful show of street dance choreo and techno beats This could be the definition …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36AM
Monday, August 18, 2025

Scott Turnbull presents … Surreally Good review – that’s edutainment! by Chris Wiegand

Summerhall, EdinburghThe theatre-maker’s childlike passion for stories and illustrations makes facts a hoot in this faux seminar You can’t argue with the title: here is a weird, wonderfu…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:06AM
Sunday, August 17, 2025

Bury the Hatchet review – choppy musical account of Lizzie Borden’s shocking story by Chris Wiegand

Pleasance Dome, EdinburghCombining folk song, true crime, macabre comedy and more makes it hard to keep up with the already complicated 1892 case How do you stage the life and trial of Lizzi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AM

Brainsluts review – clinical drug trial comedy could cause severe laughter by Chris Wiegand

Pleasance Dome, EdinburghAn anti-work activist and a nepo volunteer join the group for a research study in Dan Bishop’s polished play When plays get under way we wait for something to happ…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42AM
Saturday, August 16, 2025

Furniture Boys review – grab a seat for clever comedy that turns exes into beds and chairs by Chris Wiegand

Underbelly, George Square, EdinburghA locked drawer that never opens, a rug that everyone walks all over … Emily Weitzman’s metaphors for boyfriends are ridiculous and revelatory It’s …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:03AM
Thursday, August 14, 2025

Knight, Knight review – spangly chivalry with psychosexual horseplay by Chris Wiegand

Underbelly, George Square, EdinburghMadeleine Rowe’s physical comedy, deft vocal work and twinkle-eyed charisma takes the relationship between man and steed to extremes Academic texts have…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AM
Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Body Count review – dark laughs in a tale of Bonnie Blue-style sexual extremes by Chris Wiegand

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghIssy Knowles considers the phenomenon of sex as a competitive sport with a portrait of a fictional OnlyFans star and her balaclava-clad followers ‘I would lov…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AM
Thursday, August 7, 2025

Solitude Without Loneliness review – bad dates, frenzied flyering and the spirit of the fringe by Chris Wiegand

Dance Base, EdinburghMalcolm Sutherland’s meta production about isolation and the search for intimacy knowingly ties its themes to the experience of the fringe The dry title belies a show …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36AM
Friday, August 1, 2025

The best theatre to stream this month: tailoring comedy Alterations gets a fitting tribute by Chris Wiegand

Pin-sharp comedy from the National Theatre’s Black Plays Archive, a 12-hour ‘theatre-rave’ and Rachel Zegler’s balcony performance of Don’t Cry for Me Argentina are among this mont…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:54AM
Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Tanz fever: a whirl through the Viennese festival where dance erupts across the city by Chris Wiegand

Austria’s month-long ImPulsTanz celebration goes beyond the norm to turn rope jumping, navel-gazing and masked protest into explosive shows Matteo Haitzmann is a violinist who has tonight …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:03AM

Edinburgh funniest fringe joke award scrapped for 2025 by Chris Wiegand

TV channel U&Dave has announced its award for best joke at the fringe, launched in 2008, won’t be given this year It’s beyond a joke for pun-lovers. The traditional list of the funni…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36AM
Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Minnie Driver signs up for lead role as Every Brilliant Thing comes to West End by Chris Wiegand

The actor will follow stars including Lenny Henry and Sue Perkins, leading the hit show in which a performer enlists the audience’s help to tell ‘funny, sad and unique’ story Minnie Dr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:06AM
Tuesday, July 1, 2025

The Constant Wife review – Rose Leslie and Laura Wade let fresh light into Maugham’s drawing room by Chris Wiegand

Swan theatre, Stratford upon Avon A sharp new version of Somerset Maugham’s 1926 tale of adultery is led by the Game of Thrones star and includes a jazz score by Jamie Cullum Anyone awaiti…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12PM

The best theatre to stream this month: Stereophonic’s suite of addictive songs by Chris Wiegand

A sensational Broadway recording, an electrifying Liza Minnelli documentary and King and ‘Queen’ Lear It’s billed as a play not a musical but Stereophonic, the US hit now in London, ha…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:42AM
Friday, June 6, 2025

‘I must have done something right!’: dance master Jiří Kylián on his festival, fierce critics and the Ministry of Silly Walks by Chris Wiegand

At 78, the great choreographer is enjoying a career-spanning celebration in Oslo. He reflects on his leap from dance to visual art and why he feels snubbed by Britain A gang of young dancers…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12AM
Thursday, June 5, 2025

Dominic Cooke appointed as the Almeida theatre’s artistic director by Chris Wiegand

Cooke, who ran the Royal Court for several years, will succeed Rupert Goold at the illustrious London venue in 2026 Dominic Cooke has been appointed as the new artistic director of the Almei…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:12AM
Sunday, June 1, 2025

The best theatre to stream this month: George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck goes live by Chris Wiegand

Clooney’s Broadway hit, Disney musical Frozen and a taster for a new romcom at Stratford East are among this month’s highlights Here is that rarest of opportunities: a live stream for a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:32AM
Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Shucked review – terrific songs add zest to undercooked corn country musical by Chris Wiegand

Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, London Thin tale of neighbourly spirit is loaded with groansome gags but the hoedowns and show tunes are full of flavour Aw, shucks. There’s plenty to lov…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM
Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Actor and writer Gawn Grainger dies aged 87 by Chris Wiegand

A prolific performer with the National Theatre, the actor and playwright – who was married to Zoë Wanamaker – was also a regular on TV, starring in Doctor Who The actor and writer Gawn …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:24PM

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