Friday, January 16, 2026

Gerry & Sewell review – tragicomic search for a Newcastle United season ticket by Arifa Akbar

Aldwych theatre, LondonJamie Eastlake’s play about two football fans mixes together song, dance, comedy and dark family drama, with incohesive results This tale of two hard-up reprobates i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:02AM

‘Naked homophobia’: play revisits BBC’s first programme on gay men in 1950s by Mark Brown North Of England Correspondent

Original script from 1954 referring to ‘troubles of this kind’ to be brought to life on stage for LGBT+ History Month “All the homosexuals I’ve known have been extremely eager, like …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AM

Already Perfect review – Broadway star faces the past to make peace with himself by David Jays

King’s Head theatre, LondonLevi Kreis embarks on a journey of rediscovery in song, from self-hating adolescence to self-destructive adulthood The title of this semi-autobiographical musica…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM
Thursday, January 15, 2026

Our American Queen review – ambition and allegiance on the eve of 1864 US election by Lucinda Everett

Bridewell theatre, LondonThomas Klingenstein’s account of the formidable Kate Chase’s political plotting during the civil war has dense dialogue and a limited scope ‘Sometimes she unde…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:02AM

Theatre of catastrophe: the hard-hitting play about France’s Grenfell moment by Phil Hoad

Mathilde Aurier’s 65 Rue d’Aubagne looks at the 2018 house collapse in Marseille and how the city healed itself through ‘love and solidarity’ “It was a turning point for Marseille,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:32AM

The play that changed my life: ‘You meet 33 characters in Barber Shop Chronicles – I believed in all of them’ by Gayathiri Kamalakanthan

Inua Ellams’ play takes you to different destinations for intimate conversations about sex, queerness, capitalism, football and much more I first saw Barber Shop Chronicles on National The…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24AM
Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Ariana Grande to make London stage debut alongside Jonathan Bailey in Sunday in the Park With George by Chris Wiegand

The singer will reunite with her Wicked co-star in a revival of the musical inspired by artist Georges Seurat in summer 2027 Wicked co-stars Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey are to reunite …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:36PM

He lived in a cage, jumped from a window and spent a year roped to a friend: is Tehching Hsieh the most extreme performance artist ever? by Sinéad Gleeson

He has broken his ankles, endured 365 days in a cell and faced down the 20th century’s worst winter. Yet he says he is not a masochist. We meet the man Marina Abramovich calls ‘the maste…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:18PM

Resolution festival review – admin hell, an epic club night and flamenco voguing by Chris Wiegand

The Place, LondonIntriguing works by Seirian Griffiths, Qi Song and Isadora D’Héloïsa explore in-between states in this month-long showcase of the future of dance Each evening at the Pla…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:18PM

‘I fell in love with him on the spot’: Alan Rickman remembered, 10 years after his death by Catherine Shoard, Additional Reporting By Miatta Mbriwa

On the anniversary of his death aged 69, stars from Sigourney Weaver to Sharleen Spiteri, Tom Felton to Harriet Walter, remember the wit, charm and endless generosity of one of Britain’s b…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:42AM

Think panto season is behind you? Oh no it isn’t – some haven’t opened yet by Chris Wiegand Stage Editor

A trip to the pantomime is a Christmas tradition but they also lift the January gloom and even run later in the year The Christmas decorations have been packed away, kids are back at school …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:42AM
Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Punchdrunk’s new mission: inside ‘live action video game’ Lander 23 – in pictures by All Photographs By Tristram Kenton

The celebrated immersive theatre company has launched a new multiplayer stealth game at its headquarters in Woolwich, south-east London. Photographer Tristram Kenton was granted special acce…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:02AM

Lovers and fighters: how Les Liaisons Dangereuses reveals the passions of Christopher Hampton by Michael Billington

As the writer turns 80, his masterful adaptation of the French novel is being revived at the National Theatre. It highlights his lifelong interest in political power play I once dubbed Chris…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:24AM
Monday, January 12, 2026

Chaos, crying and poo explosions: baby-friendly comedy clubs take off in Britain by Amelia Hill

Daytime gigs where parents can bring their infants without fear of judgment are proving a sellout success When Nick Page saw the exhaustion of the new mothers arriving at his comedy gig, he …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:12AM

‘It feels so taboo’: Natalie Palamides on playing both halves of a toxic couple and her shocking next show by Brian Logan

From laying eggs on stage to coaching the Clintons in clowning, the LA performer is full of surprises. She talks about bringing back her rollercoaster solo romcom Weer and the new project th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:12AM

The Storm Whale review – touching tale of a little leviathan’s surprise visit by Chris Wiegand

Little Angel Studios, LondonTwo children’s books by Benji Davies are adapted for an attractive production that would benefit from a bit more raucous fun Who wouldn’t like to be beside th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:48AM

Take your partner for Mr Beveridge’s Maggot! The boom in regency balls by Priya Bharadia

Fans of Jane Austen and Bridgerton delight in recreating historical dances – but how do they learn the right moves? Inside the high-arched lobby of the Bank of England Museum, lines of wom…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:32AM
Sunday, January 11, 2026

Orphans review – oddball hostage power play is a peculiar gem by Arifa Akbar

Jermyn Street theatre, LondonAn outstanding cast grapple with this revival of Lyle Kessler’s 80s set drama but the play feels incomplete with too many threads remaining unresolved The quie…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AM

A Ghost in Your Ear review – truly terrifying ‘headphone horror’ by Arifa Akbar

Hampstead Theatre, LondonWith shades of MR James and Inside No 9 Jamie Armitage’s innovative recording studio haunting is a good old-fashioned fairground-ride chiller The trigger warning a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AM
Friday, January 9, 2026

High Noon review – Billy Crudup brings classic Hollywood western back with a bang by Arifa Akbar

Harold Pinter theatre, LondonCrudup and Denise Gough lead a tense adaptation that turns the film into a debate play whose McCarthy-era roots resonate powerfully today How do you turn a class…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24PM

Hans van Manen obituary by Lyndsey Winship

Pioneering Dutch choreographer who fused classical and modern ballet styles into stripped back movement The Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen, who has died aged 93, was a pioneering and pro…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:36AM

Kate Owens: Cooking With Kathryn review – recipes for religious repression, rebellion and ruin by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonThe comic targets Christian sexism head-on – while the argument is well worn, Owens’ manic physicality and dark humour keep the show fizzing Who would have thought, i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AM

Strike a pose: vogue balls go mainstream in New Zealand by Eva Corlett

Led by Māori and Pasifika queer communities, the counterculture has gone from performing in lounges and clubs to Wellington’s national museum In a large gallery at New Zealand’s nationa…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12AM

Hamnet review – Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley beguile and captivate in audacious Shakespearean tragedy by Peter Bradshaw

Chloé Zhao’s film version of Maggie O’Farrell’s myth-making novel powerfully reimagines the agonising loss of a child as the source of Hamlet’s grand stage drama ‘The joys of pare…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12AM

Jade Franks on how cleaning toilets at Cambridge inspired her hit show: ‘I’m not watering down the fury – just sneaking it through the back door by Kate Wyver

The Merseyside comic used her experiences of Oxbridge to create the fringe hit Eat the Rich, but struggled in ways her well-off contemporaries didn’t. Now she’s determined to use success…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12AM
Thursday, January 8, 2026

Bug review – Carrie Coon brings intensity to paranoid Tracy Letts revival by Jesse Hassenger

Samuel J Friedman Theatre, New York The White Lotus and Gilded Age actor takes on her real-life husband Tracy Letts’ 1996 thriller, which could have afforded some modern-day tweaks You can…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:30PM

Becoming Victoria Wood review – intimate and hilarious portrait of the trailblazing standup by Cath Clarke

Featuring Wood, her famous sidekicks Julie Waters and Celia Imrie and other female standups, this documentary is tender, moving and an absolute hoot There is a moment at the start of this do…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18PM

A provocative new play challenges society’s ‘discomfort that disabled people have sex lives’ by Caroline Butterwick

(We indulge in) a bit of roll play is an explicit drama about a young disabled man’s sexual expression – and puts uncomfortable questions to its audience “I’m asked quite a lot why e…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AM
Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Art could save your life! Five creative ways to make 2026 happier, healthier and more hopeful by Daisy Fancourt

Engaging in creativity can reduce depression, improve immunity and delay ageing – all while you’re having fun For some reason, we have collectively agreed that new year is the time to r…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AM

Dublin Gothic review – epic ‘losers’ history’ of the city traces 100 years of family life by Helen Meany

Abbey theatre, DublinBarbara Bergin’s tale follows four families through strikes in the slums, the Easter Rising, the early years of independence and the HIV-Aids crisis of the 1980s In Ba…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AM

‘I’d never told the same joke twice!’: the explosive rise of Ayoade Bamgboye, Edinburgh’s best new comedian by Brian Logan

The Londoner from Lagos wowed the fringe with a show about language, family and cross-cultural identity. She talks about dread, dreams and her bid for ‘controlled chaos’ Before her first…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:06AM

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