Friday, November 21, 2025

Back to the Future celebrates 40th with three Marty McFlys performing the musical by Chris Wiegand

The West End show’s former lead actors will travel back in their careers to share the role with its current star for the 1985 film’s anniversary Audiences at the West End musical Back to…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:32AM

Sherlock Holmes and the 12 Days of Christmas review – Lloyd Webber and Rice reunite for festive felonies by Mark Lawson

Birmingham RepHumphrey Ker and David Reed’s witty thriller blends Victorian sleuthing, meta gags and new songs by the great musical-theatre duo A serial killer working through the alphabet…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:32AM

Inseparable, sensuous and confident, the Kessler twins were pioneers of variety show culture by Angelica Frey

Alice and Ellen Kessler, who died by joint assisted suicide this week, entertained – and occasionally scandalised – Europe with their glitzy and subversive pop music and classically info…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:32AM

On the way to Wicked: Cynthia Erivo’s stage musicals – in pictures by Guardian Staff

Long before her big-screen success as Elphaba, the British actor lit up the stage with performances in Sister Act, The Color Purple and other hit shows Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18AM

Marking Time review – Nico Muhly inspires a brilliant night of beguiling dance by Lyndsey Winship

Sadler’s Wells, LondonA trio of choreographers respond to Muhly’s vivid scores with works that veer from the meditative to the macabre If you thought we had exhausted shows that were pos…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18AM

End review – Saskia Reeves and Clive Owen draw couples trilogy to a tender close by Arifa Akbar

Dorfman theatre, London David Eldridge’s two-hander depicts the difficult conversations that follow one partner’s cancer diagnosis David Eldridge’s trilogy has travelled across the ear…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:02AM
Thursday, November 20, 2025

My cultural awakening: I moved across the world after watching a Billy Connolly documentary by Melanie Brehaut; As Told To Emma Loffhagen

A chance viewing of the comic’s World Tour of Scotland made me swap Australia for the Highlands, although things didn’t quite go to plan … I was 23 and thought I had found my path in l…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AM

The Scouse Christmas Carol review – knockabout comedy with a potty mouth by Mark Fisher

Royal Court theatre, LiverpoolPaul Duckworth’s sweary Scrooge has romantic history with Marley’s widow in a pun-heavy festive show Whether it’s Paul Hilton at London’s Old Vic this w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AM

Ride the Cyclone review – teens sing for their salvation in cult musical by Anya Ryan

Southwark Playhouse Elephant, LondonA rollercoaster accident leaves six choristers in limbo, each having to make their case for a second chance on Earth in this eccentric show Well, this is …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AM

The play that changed my life: ‘It was frightening at first but The Inheritance let me discover myself’ by Paul Hilton

Roles as EM Forster and a young, gay American dying of Aids in the 2018 play allowed an opportunity for deep personal and social reflection In 2018 I had recently lost my mother, so I was lo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM
Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Rab C Nesbitt actor Gregor Fisher: ‘People say: I didn’t realise you could speak properly!’ by Brian Logan

He’s been in everything from Love Actually to Shakespeare with Al Pacino – but will he always be thought of as the string-vest-wearing boozy Glaswegian? Ahead of a tour as himself, the a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM

The Wizard of Oz review – Dorothy follows the yellow brick road from the Lake District by Mark Fisher

Theatre by the Lake, KeswickAll the major characters are present in Sonia Jalaly’s update, but this is also a journey of self-realisation with brisk songs and cartoonish humour Most peopl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54AM

Precipice review – horror on the Thames in a baffling musical dystopia by Arifa Akbar

New Diorama, LondonTwo stories, centuries apart, are used to chart climate disaster in this ambitious musical with bitty scenes and cumbersome lyrics This climate disaster musical takes plac…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:48AM
Tuesday, November 18, 2025

The World of Tomorrow review – Tom Hanks returns to the stage for time travel charmer by Benjamin Lee

The Shed, New York The actor indulges his love of the past in a breezily enjoyable play about a man falling for a woman from the 1930s, played by a standout Kelli O’Hara Tom Hanks is a sta…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:30PM

Moving beyond bar lines: composer Nico Muhly on dancers reimagining his music by Nico Muhly

Choreographers hear, somehow, a larger heartbeat; it’s fascinating and revelatory to have them reinterpret your compositions, writes the US musician, ahead of a triple bill featuring his m…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24PM

Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink to make West End debut in Romeo and Juliet by Chris Wiegand

The actor will appear opposite British film star Noah Jupe in a production directed by Robert Icke opening in March Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink is to make her West End debut next year in R…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24PM

John C Reilly wants to win hearts in Mister Romantic, a show that’s truly lovable by Chris Wiegand

From Chicago to Stan & Ollie, the Oscar-nominated actor has sung on screen for years. Now he arrives on stage – inside a trunk – to serenade the audience In one of Hollywood’s nice…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24PM

Wagner Moura to lead Ibsen update in unique European festival collaboration by Severin Carrell Scotland Editor

Brazilian actor will star in The Trial: Enemy of the People, which examines modern political and environmental conflicts The award-winning Brazilian actor Wagner Moura is to star in a new pl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24PM

‘I drove a tank and went to Bratislava with my hairdresser’: how Ian Smith turbocharged his standup by Brian Logan

The Yorkshire comic was going nowhere with his act which relied on gimmicks, set-pieces and standing on tables. So he decided it was time to live a more interesting – and stressful – lif…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24PM
Monday, November 17, 2025

The flop that finally flew: why did it take 40 years for Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along to soar? by Michael Billington

Its 1981 New York premiere was a disaster but this told-in-reverse musical became a Tony award-winning hit with Daniel Radcliffe. The film version is a tear-jerking joy I have made enough mi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:24AM

Chess review – messy Broadway revival wastes catchy Abba songs by Jesse Hassenger

Imperial Theatre, New York A 1980s concept album, from Tim Rice and Abba members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, is brought back to the stage with uneven results According to plenty of c…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:12AM

Russell Tovey on pride, sexual power and politics: ‘The Green party slogan – make hope normal again – is what we need’ by Michael Cragg

One of the most prolific and popular actors of his generation, he reflects on therapy, homophobia, why he suspects now is the worst time in history for trans people, and his secret life as a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:54AM

‘He caught what I thought was impossible’: Danny Boyle, Hanif Kureishi and others on the genius of Akram Khan by Interviews By Lyndsey Winship

Thikra: Night of Remembering is Akram Khan Company’s last touring show. Here, the choreographer and dancer’s collaborators recall how he motivated them Nitin Sawhney, composer, collabora…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:54AM

‘We say yes to what she gives us’: Perfect Show for Rachel, the hit comedy in which its learning disabled star calls the shots by Kate Wyver

This madcap variety show sees its titular lead direct proceedings from her control desk. Rachel, her co-star sister and their mum explain what it reveals about disability in the UK Rachel O…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:42AM
Sunday, November 16, 2025

Marianne Jean-Baptiste: ‘I’d work for Mike Leigh again in a heartbeat – in fact, I’ll pay him!’ by Amy Raphael

The actor moved to LA 22 years ago. Now she’s back in the UK to star alongside Bryan Cranston in All My Sons. She talks about the frightening rehearsal schedule, how she’d work again wit…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:32PM

The Royal Ballet: Perspectives review – intimate seduction, pure dance and enduring beauty by Lyndsey Winship

Royal Opera House, LondonIn an engaging triple bill, a new work from Cathy Marston explores the emotional charge of Britten’s Violin Concerto, while works by Justin Peck and George Balanch…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AM
Saturday, November 15, 2025

Greg McCarthy obituary by Louisa Davies-Foley

My friend Greg McCarthy, who has died aged 47 from a heart attack, was an in-character educator, and brought history to life for primary schoolchildren across the Midlands. Through his own c…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:02AM

Loop review – this warped tale of sexual fantasies could be wilder by Miriam Gillinson

Theatre503, LondonA young woman loses her grip on reality in writer-performer Tanya-Loretta Dee’s unsettling monologue At what point does infatuation tip over into something darker and mor…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:36AM
Friday, November 14, 2025

‘I’m not just putting on nice plays’: Hollywood star Alan Cumming’s plan to reignite theatre in the Scottish Highlands by Libby Brooks

What is the effervescent new boss at Pitlochry theatre planning for his first season? Huge names, undersung stars – and a King Lear played by ‘the woman who changed my life’ ‘Holy sh…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:12AM

Best foot forward: Justin Peck’s Royal Ballet debut – in pictures by Guardian Staff

The Royal Ballet’s Perspectives brings together a George Balanchine classic, a new work by Cathy Marston and Peck’s Everywhere We Go, with music by Sufjan Stevens All photographs by Tris…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AM

Sex, cash and intruders? The groundbreaking drama series Play for Today is back by Mark Lawson

The revered BBC strand that gave us Abigail’s Party and The Black Stuff makes a return … on Channel 5. Will it be as successful as in its heyday? In March 1977, BBC One screened Spend, S…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:02AM

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