Wednesday, November 20, 2013
A US documentary asserts that the Broadway musical is almost an exclusively Jewish creation. But is it useful to look at art in this way?A US documentary shown in Britain last week advanced …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:13AMA US documentary asserts that the Broadway musical is almost an exclusively Jewish creation. But is it useful to look at art in this way?A US documentary shown in Britain last week advanced …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:13AMMonday, November 4, 2013
It might be the artifice, or it might be the egos. But everyone from Bernstein to Simon Gray agrees: musical theatre is a nightmare to produceAlthough Fred Ebb – who wrote the lyrics to Jo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:30AMTuesday, October 22, 2013
It was a peaceful transition, but new artistic director Rufus Norris will be bound to impose his preferences on the institutionThe most dramatic event in British theatre last week took place…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:50AMFriday, October 4, 2013
Actors playing multiple parts is not only an economic necessity – it's huge fun for the audienceAlthough the main business of Handbagged, Moira Buffini's rightly acclaimed new play, is the…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:04AMWednesday, September 18, 2013
Medical tests, memory loss, exhaustion . . . acting in your 70s (and 80s) is no picnic. But that's not stopping Vanessa Redgrave, James Earl Jones, Sheila Hancock and Derek Jacobi. Mark Laws…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AMFriday, September 13, 2013
Whether it's an Irish Chekhov or an American classic, Mark Lawson finds that boiling down a nation's theatrical tradition to a single work is a difficult businessOne of the panels on the Gre…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:33AMTuesday, September 10, 2013
Actors on drugs, a booze ban for Derek Jacobi, stars not speaking … as his Midsummer Night's Dream hits the stage, director Michael Grandage tells Mark Lawson his highs and lowsReading a n…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AMTuesday, September 3, 2013
From a vanishing Hayley Atwell to a script-reading Oedipus, welcome to the season of the understudyA surprise piece of computer dialogue greets anyone buying tickets online for the current r…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:07PMMonday, July 29, 2013
Premium tickets over £100. A £1,500 access-all-Ayckbourn luxury package. £10,000 for lunch with the director of the National. Welcome to the curious world of the 'premium' theatre ticketW…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:00PMFriday, July 12, 2013
A prescient memoir by the theatre's former chief suggests that when it comes to this prestigious yet demanding post, candidates have always been thin on the groundWhen Ronald Reagan was shot…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:30AMFriday, July 5, 2013
Four recent shows show how design razzmatazz can charm the senses – and also draw attention to holes in the writingIn cinema, the term "high production values" has long been code for the s…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:00AMWednesday, June 12, 2013
David Mamet has now had six box-office letdowns in a row. Is Broadway's insatiable desire for big talking-point plays to blame?Critics often commend theatres for going off-piste and staging …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00PMFriday, May 3, 2013
Mamma Mia! it wasn't, but at least Judy Craymer's Spice Girls stageshow escaped the fate of the musical Kelly, which closed on opening nightThe plot of Mel Brooks's 1968 movie The Producers …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:20PMThursday, April 11, 2013
Nicholas Hytner is stepping down as artistic director of the National Theatre. Who will take his place? It's a crowded field – with some surprise inclusionsThe National Theatre's artistic …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:39AMMonday, April 8, 2013
The stage world's response to the death of Richard Griffiths shows certain theatrical traditions have an enduring relevanceA friend who went to see the Alan Bennett double bill Untold Storie…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:07AMMonday, April 1, 2013
Audiences today often don't know the name of a play until just before its run starts. But would you book a ticket for a show without a title?With a new play, audiences never quite know what …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:17AMAudiences today often don't know the name of a play until just before its run starts. But would you book a ticket for a show without a title? Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:17AMWednesday, March 20, 2013
With only four great plays to Chekhov's name, what are British theatres to do? Write some new ones, of course ...In the days when record shops existed widely, music fans were prone – as Ni…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:26AMTuesday, March 12, 2013
Taboo-busting musical The Book of Mormon isn't anti-Mormon: it also has Jews, Starbucks, gay people and Africans in its sights. As the show debuts in London, Mark Lawson asks its American st…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:30PMFriday, March 8, 2013
A Chorus Line – being revived in London – is one of several successful shows that put the focus on theatre itselfReaders and critics are traditionally sniffy about novels about novelists…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:30AMFriday, March 1, 2013
No matter how good the understudy, the withdrawal of a leading name is almost inevitably bad news for a stage productionNormally the question star-seeking theatregoers ask is "Who's in it?" …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:39PMNo matter how good the understudy, the withdrawal of a leading name is almost inevitably bad news for a stage production Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:39PMThursday, February 21, 2013
Stage actors – with minimal scope for makeup or prosthetics between scenes – tend to find it easier to age down than upThere are various ways of measuring a play: the number of character…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:03PMMonday, February 11, 2013
With Hymn and Cocktail Sticks, Alan Bennett joins a tradition – including Dario Fo and David Hare – of writers putting versions of themselves into the frayAn American TV viewer once wrot…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:09AMMonday, January 28, 2013
From Simon Gray to Alan Ayckbourn, many playwrights have kept their most interesting roles out of sight – but very much in mindRowan Atkinson dominates the posters for a West End productio…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:57AMMonday, January 21, 2013
Are rich patrons easier to entertain? And are those in the cheap seats more discerning?Coughing, texting, talking and rustling sweets are all ways in which audiences can affect a performance…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:38AMFriday, January 11, 2013
From John Osborne to Howard Brenton, many fine playwrights have suffered periods of neglect – but, as Peter Nichols's resurgence shows, dramatic fortunes can rise as well as fallIt's notor…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:05AMTuesday, January 1, 2013
As Merrily We Roll Along extends its run at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Stephen Sondheim offers rare proof that it's possible to create a show that sinks before it swimsStephen Sondheim's …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:44AMAs Merrily We Roll Along extends its run at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Stephen Sondheim offers rare proof that it's possible to create a show that sinks before it swims Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:44AMWednesday, December 19, 2012
Rarely have theatre critics doled out so many ill-starred reviews, from the Donmar's Julius Caesar to the Spice Girls' Viva Forever!. Strangely, sometimes producers rely on themAlthough it's…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:54AM 
