Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The idea of white actors making themselves up as black is shocking to most of us – and yet a theatre in Germany has seen fit to continue the tradition. Why? Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:27AMSunday, October 21, 2012
He writes for Doctor Who and Sherlock – now Mark Gatiss is starring as Charles I on stage. He talks to Mark Lawson about overreaching royals, bad auditions and why he's the man to play Jer…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:59PMTuesday, October 16, 2012
Radio is a great place to push the boundaries of drama, for playwrights and audiences alike – as recent productions testifyFor a long time, many London West End openings – think Ghost: T…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:05AMWednesday, October 3, 2012
Her plays arrive fully formed – and she refuses to talk about what they mean. Mark Lawson talks to actors, directors and her publisher about what really makes Churchill tickSince the death…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:44PMCasting well-known names from TV or film has become a sure-fire way of generating ticket sales. But it blinds us to the true depth and breadth of British theatreAlthough theatre reviewing ha…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:36AMCasting well-known names from TV or film has become a sure-fire way of generating ticket sales. But it blinds us to the true depth and breadth of British theatre Continue reading...
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:36AMThursday, September 20, 2012
I'd always been sceptical of site-specific and non-text-based theatre, but Robert Wilson's astonishing Walking won me overAs readers rapidly come to suspect, critics tend to have their preju…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:20AMWednesday, September 12, 2012
Some dramatists, such as Caryl Churchill and Debbie Tucker Green, refuse point blank to talk about their work. Is this vow of silence defensible – or detrimental?Before the opening of a ne…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:21AMTuesday, September 4, 2012
It's a paradox that the more successful a show or theatre, the more difficult it is to get a ticket. Has Josie Rourke found a cure?Is it possible for a theatre to become too successful? Over…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:39AMThursday, August 30, 2012
From Madness frontman Graham McPherson to Falklands veteran Ken Lukowiak, solo shows are all the rage right now. But what makes this the moment of the monologue?It's often been said that eve…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:25AMWednesday, August 22, 2012
In search of theatrical immortality? You could get your play on the school syllabus, like Tom Stoppard, mention the US elections or Christmas, like Gore Vidal and Alan Ayckbourn – or just …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:27AMTuesday, July 31, 2012
You thought it was innocent family entertainment? Wrong. Danny Boyle's political production would have made Joan Littlewood and the leftwing Theatre Workshop proudDuring the era of agitprop …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:17AMTuesday, July 24, 2012
I've somehow notched up 15 different Julius Caesars, 12 Pinter Betrayals, and who knows what else. Where do you stand on seeing shows more than once?Audiences sometimes experience the unfort…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:21AMTuesday, July 17, 2012
Picasso, Munch and Gormley have all dabbled, but imagine the inspired collaborations that could result if more major artists turned their talents to stage designThe artists Gilbert & George,…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:01AMWednesday, July 11, 2012
Whether it's coalition government, banking or war, scenes or subjects – even apparently inconsequential – can take on a new resonance for audiences in the light of current eventsA direct…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06AMTuesday, July 3, 2012
The sight of Stephen Mangan's prosthetic penis in Joe Penhall's Birthday was too much for preview audiences, who thought it was real. Why can't theatre cope with too much reality?A few weeks…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:22AMThe sight of Stephen Mangan's prosthetic penis in Joe Penhall's Birthday was too much for preview audiences, who thought it was real. Why can't theatre cope with too much reality? Continue r…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:22AMTuesday, June 26, 2012
Too much publicity threatens the surprise and suspense of narrative art. That is why the Royal Court and the National Theatre have tried to keep quiet the entire content of a playIn the stor…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:59AMThursday, June 21, 2012
Julie Walters returns to National stage in The Last of the Haussmans as baby boomer confronted by her adult childrenSubsidised theatres have been under pressure from governments and funding …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AMTuesday, June 19, 2012
The idea of the epic theatre marathon isn't new – but it raises fascinating questions about how much an audience is prepared to put up withIn Tom Stoppard's one-acter The Real Inspector Ho…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:23AMSunday, June 10, 2012
From One Man, Two Guvnors to Noises Off and What the Butler Saw, trouser-dropping and door-slamming is back with a vengeance in the West End and on Broadway. How come?On radio phone-ins at t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:30PMMonday, June 4, 2012
Long test periods for shows are driven by the neurosis of producers. In any case, these days bloggers and tweeters are sharing their verdicts long before the official opening nightIt's rare …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AMTuesday, May 29, 2012
This specialised weapon in a theatre's armoury must be used with care – but the benefits are revolutionaryOn two consecutive nights last week, I saw examples of revolutionary theatre. Neit…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:09AMMonday, May 21, 2012
Programmes can give a clue to game-changing last-minute appearances – which is why some writers have gone to great lengths to conceal crucial surprisesThe actor Christian Rodska has an imp…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:02AMMonday, May 14, 2012
Audiences know the action kicks off on stage when the curtain goes up – so why are so many directors dispensing with the idea?The tradition that performances are punctuated by the rise an…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:57AMTuesday, May 1, 2012
Several of the Bard's plays, as was common in Elizabethan drama, incorporated the efforts of other writers – so why are we reluctant to acknowledge it?The depressingly predictable decision…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:17AMMonday, April 23, 2012
From David Suchet's broken shoelace to the tumbling barometer in Noel Coward's Hay Fever, theatre is always playing with the threat – and the thrill – of things going wrong for realThe t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:12AMTuesday, April 17, 2012
The King's Speech is struggling to make anywhere near the same impact on stage as it did on the big screen. Can cinematic and theatrical versions of the same piece happily co-exist?Two newsp…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:56AMMonday, April 9, 2012
The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables and Blood Brothers all have links to French literature and have been going strong for around 25 years. The plot thickens ...Working on a radio docum…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AMFriday, March 30, 2012
In the first of a new series that puts theatre's hidden stories in the spotlight, Mark Lawson looks at the dramatic effect that an awkward fall or twanged hamstring can have on a productionO…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48AMFriday, March 23, 2012
Mike Daisey's campaigning monologue about Apple may have succeeded as a play, but it failed as journalism. Does it matter if theatre based on real-life material takes dramatic licence?Some t…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:29PM 
