Academics are considering how comedy can be socially beneficial'You know what's not funny?" said the comedian Chris Rock once. "Thinking about it." As if to prove the point, last weekend's P…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:13PMOpera is waking up to the power of video. For his new production of Don Giovanni, the Royal Opera House's Kasper Holten collaborated with a designer who turned U2 tours and the 2012 Olympics…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:23PMSimon McBurney thought operas were obscure, wooden and pointless. So what made him agree to direct The Magic Flute? Stuart Jeffries finds outSimon McBurney has a wild glint in his eye as he…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:12PMMargaret Thatcher idolised the Queen – but the monarch felt patronised by her prime minister. Playwright Moira Buffini tells Stuart Jeffries how her new work eavesdrops on their weekly mee…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:00PMAs he prepares for his Edinburgh festival show, David Sedaris talks about the things that scare him: hecklers in their 80s, the stench of enthusiasm – and the word 'loo'One day David Sedar…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:00PMComedian, actor, writer and director who came to prominence in satirical TV sketch show Not the Nine O'Clock NewsMel Smith was once upstaged by a talking gorilla. He was playing a zoologist …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:12PMActor who became a household name in her 70s as Albert Square's indomitable matriarchWhen Anna Wing took on her most famous role, in EastEnders in 1985, the Sun ran the headline: "Enter the …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:56AMThe actor famous for being game for anything talks about his passion for physical theatre, his attraction to strong directors – but declines to comment on the size of his penisWhen Willem …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:00PMFor Tennessee Williams's troubling play about a fading movie star and her gigolo, the star of Sex and the City and director of War Horse had to face some uncomfortable truths'It's very painf…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:30PMFor Tennessee Williams's troubling play about a fading movie star and her gigolo, the star of Sex and the City and director of War Horse had to face some uncomfortable truths Continue readin…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:30PMSitcom star whose tragi-comic character Ted Bovis in Hi-de-Hi! was his great triumphIn one episode of the 1980s sitcom Hi-de-Hi!, the tragi-comic holiday camp crooner and funnyman Ted Bovis …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:39PMNational Indoor Arena, Birmingham"Oh my God, Birmingham, England!" yelled Jerry Seinfeld as he came on stage suited and shouting as though he sought to sell us something disreputable. "Do yo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18PMThe critics adore her and tomorrow she is up for an Olivier award. She is known for brave portrayals of emotional extremity, but Ruth Wilson says fear is the key to her acting'I wish I was m…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:05PMThe artistic director of London's Tricycle Theatre is leaving after a 28-year tenure. So what next for the man who put real-life politics, from Iraq to last year's riots, on stage?On his fir…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:04PMBond girl, fashion icon, renowned stage actor, Gurkha champion: Joanna Lumley has had a wonderful career. But it is her portrayal of Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous that is stamped on the nati…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:59PMCaryl Churchill's play may be regarded as a classic of political and feminist theatre, but I couldn't wait to leave. Was I missing something?Last week, a friend whispered to me: "This is ter…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:01AMAndrew Lloyd Webber's tame simulacrum of dark passion is now celebrating 25 years. This cultural juggernaut must be stoppedThe Phantom of the Opera is the most successful piece of entertainm…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:54AMLegendary actor and life-long activist Vanessa Redgrave on bad habits, brother Corin and why the battle for the beleaguered Travellers of Dale Farm matters so much to herWhen Corin Redgrave …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:04PMDavid Hare is one of Britain's most successful and political playwrights. His work has taken on everything from the invasion of Iraq to the global financial meltdown, yet today he finds hims…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:09PMScience and art are often considered opposites – so what happens when top practitioners in each field collaborate? The results, finds Stuart Jeffries, can be seismicYes, Leonardo da Vinci …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:30PMJanet Suzman was one of the giants of the British stage in the 60s and 70s. She might have made it in Hollywood too – if she hadn't looked so good in a tiara'See Pooh bear up there?" says …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:10PMRoyal Albert Hall, LondonIf we can get through this review without provoking Tim Minchin to write a song about it, we'll have achieved some kind of closure. Six summers ago, when a Guardian …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:27AMFamous for his role as a hard-bitten detective in The Wire, he is starring in a Simon Gray play as Butley, 'a man with no soul', as the serial killer Fred West in a forthcoming TV drama – …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AMThe West End impresario's first new show in a decade features an animatronic sow, voiced by Kylie. Can he make a silk purse from a sow's ear? Stuart Jeffries meets him to find outCameron Mac…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:45AMArts, CambridgeThe silhouette is unmistakable. The heels are five inches plus, pencil skirt tight as a drum, bust supported by something mighty, hair big as a guardsman's bearskin. Smoke fro…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:17PMThe story of one woman's struggle against Stalinist brutality and the gulag has electrified Russia. Will it work here? Roman Abramovich seems to think so.The last time I saw Moscow, Scarlett…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:31PMBill Bailey has been described as the world's seventh greatest comedian. But he's a lot better than that. Who else could make inverse femtobarns (look it up) funny?Oh dear, I seem to have pu…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:16PM
