Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Ms Holmes and Ms Watson – Apt 2B review: mysterious case of the joke-cracking Sherlock by Arifa Akbar

Arcola theatre, LondonThis riff on Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective stories has flashes of promise but its comedy and purpose never land Shouldn’t that be Flat 2b? Then again, there are bi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AM

Dog Man: The Musical, based on Dav Pilkey’s bestsellers, to be staged in London by Chris Wiegand

Inspired by the series of irreverent comic books by the Captain Underpants creator, the show will run at the Southbank Centre in 2026 Dog Man, the half-canine crimefighter dreamed up by Capt…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24AM
Monday, December 1, 2025

‘There was rage and pain and iron in him’: Patrick Marber on the great hits – and fond smokes – he had with Tom Stoppard by Patrick Marber

The director worked with theatre colossus Tom Stoppard on two smash hits. Here, he remembers their heated rehearsals, the night they stayed up watching Jaws – and the last four cigarettes …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:06PM

‘We were swimming in the mind pool of Tom Stoppard!’ – actors salute the great playwright by Chris Wiegand

Rufus Sewell, Christine Baranski, Susan Wokoma, Toby Jones and Harriet Walter share their unforgettable encounters with a theatrical giant I worked with Tom when I was quite young, on Arcadi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:02AM

How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? review – have yourself a merry little rumpus by Chris Wiegand

Unicorn theatre, LondonThis exuberant adaptation of Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s picture book moves with the rhythm of a child’s racing imagination Never mind what’s hidden inside the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AM

The best theatre to stream this month: A Jaffa Cake Musical is a juicy courtroom comedy by Chris Wiegand

Gigglemug’s musical revisits 1991’s cake-or-biscuit VAT dispute, John C Reilly gets romantic and Beauty and the Beast rock out Is it a cake or is it a biscuit? That’s the juicy questio…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:06AM
Sunday, November 30, 2025

Paddington: The Musical review – they’ve looked after this bear quite splendiferously by Arifa Akbar

Savoy theatre, LondonState-of-the-art animatronics, imaginative staging, fabulous performances and some marvellous songs about marmalade make for an evening that will fill you with joy and m…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06PM

The Little Mermaid review – fairytale musical has splashes of magic and mysticism by Anya Ryan

Watermill theatre, NewburyRelocating the Hans Christian Andersen tale to Cornwall, with its folk musicians and fishermen, Elgiva Field and Lara Barbier’s show is cheery and sweet Christmas…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:06PM

Cariad Lloyd and Rachel Parris look back: ‘We’ve been through a lot – trying for children, losing parents … but our friendship is constant’ by Harriet Gibsone

The comedians on their first meeting, pissing each other off, and a shared obsession with Pride and Prejudice Born in London in 1982, Cariad Lloyd is a comedian, actor and podcaster. She met…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:02AM

Aladdie review – rags to riches panto is a merry, magical ride by Mark Fisher

Gaiety theatre, AyrA rosy-cheeks-and-spotty-socks kind of show full of generous laughs, Fraser Boyle’s take on Aladdin also has several original innovations and a subversive streak Who ne…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:02AM

Mama Goose review – boisterous satirical panto is a carnival of colour and style by Brian Logan

Theatre Royal Stratford East, LondonAfrobeat-tinged music, an AI love interest, Elon Musk as a panto villain, and a cast who are clearly having a ball mean there is something for everyone in…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AM

Tom Stoppard – a life in pictures by Guardian Staff

Award-winning playwright Tom Stoppard has died aged 88 Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM

Where to start with Tom Stoppard: from Brazil to Leopoldstadt by Mark Lawson

The great playwright had a 60-year career in the theatre and also wrote scripts for radio and the screen – here are some of his very best With his restless imagination, Tom Stoppard showe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM

Comedian Judi Love: ‘I’m a big girl, the boss, and you love it’ by Michael Segalov

Before she was a TV mainstay, Judi Love was a single mum juggling standup with care work. Now she’s back on stage for a show that finds humour in past trauma: ‘It’s laughter that helpe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM

Sir Tom Stoppard obituary by Michael Coveney

One of Britain’s most outstanding playwrights famed for the ‘hypnotised brilliance’ of his prose and dialogue After the first night of his play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM
Saturday, November 29, 2025

Tom Stoppard, playwright of dazzling wit and playful erudition, dies aged 88 by Claire Armitstead

A theatrical sensation since the 1960s, whose dramas included Arcadia, The Real Thing and Leopoldstadt, Stoppard also had huge success as a screenwriter Tom Stoppard: a life in pictures A b…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:06PM

Tom Stoppard: a brilliant dramatist who always raised the temperature of the room by Michael Billington

The self-described ‘bounced Czech’ created cerebral works centred by a core of genuine emotion – and always understood the ways of our world All the best dramatists extend the frontier…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:06PM

With his restless imagination, Tom Stoppard showed us a mind on the move by David Jays

The questing Czech-born playwright gave us plays that explored arcadias, utopias and affecting notions of home Tom Stoppard’s breakthrough play opened on a bare stage, with two characters …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:06PM
Friday, November 28, 2025

‘The new Hamilton’? Show with Mary Todd Lincoln as drunken first lady comes to London by Nadia Khomami Arts and Culture Correspondent

The one-act play Oh, Mary! – ‘the stupidest, funniest thing possible’ – to open after blockbuster run in New York What if, in the final weeks before Abraham Lincoln’s assassination…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:42PM

Arthur Miller? Snore! Audiences want new plays – why are theatres scared of them? by Brian Logan

A new report suggests playwriting is in crisis after Covid, with producers retreating into safe old classics. Well, not from where I’m standing Crisis? What crisis? British Theatre Before …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:42PM

A Midsummer Night’s Dream review – nightmarish take brings the brutal undercurrents roaring to the surface by Kate Wyver

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonDirector Holly Race Roughan transposes the summer tale into the darkest of winters as the fairies’ feud over the stolen child leaves the snow smeared with bl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:12AM

A Child’s Christmas in Wales review – exquisite Dylan Thomas adaptation has magic in every scene by Miriam Gillinson

The Lucky Chance, FromeJoy radiates from the stage as an ensemble cast from the Emma Rice Company bring Thomas’s twinkling poem to life Dylan Thomas’s beautiful Christmas poem has that a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:02AM

The Sound of Music review – a rich, relevant revival big on the bangers by David Jays

Curve theatre, LeicesterA full-throttle Maria, a memorably forlorn Captain von Trapp and the carousel of classic hits make Nikolai Foster’s production something to savour You know what to …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:02AM
Thursday, November 27, 2025

The one change that worked: I was trembling with anxiety when I found a fun, free way to get calm by Olivia Petter

I can’t dance. Not even a little bit. But the terrible moves my friends mock are an antidote to the racing heart and quivering breath that arrive in my more anxious moments The first time …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:36PM

Ring Ring review – La Ronde reimagined as a carousel of modern anxieties by Kate Wyver

White Bear theatre, LondonWriter Gary Owen stitches together glimpses of contemporary life with a spin on Arthur Schnitzler’s classic that doesn’t quite coalesce Gary Owen’s gentle dan…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AM

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy review – flimsy extravaganza needs deeper thought by Arifa Akbar

Riverside Studios, London The madcap sci-fi tale is retold on a lavish scale, complete with in-show merch, but it never really blasts off Douglas Adams’s sci-fi comedy about Earth’s dest…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AM

Jill Freud obituary by Emma Freud

My mother, Jill Freud, who has died aged 98, was a dynamic actor and producer, and the founder of one of the UK’s most cherished summer rep theatres. On graduating from the Rada drama scho…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54AM

Jack Shepherd obituary by Michael Coveney

Versatile actor, director and playwright who found television fame in the detective series Wycliffe The actor Jack Shepherd, who has died aged 85, was, in his own quiet and modest way, a Ren…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:48AM

The Little Mermaid review – underwater wonders cast a spell in mid-air by Chris Wiegand

New Vic theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme A fresh telling of Hans Christian Andersen’s story deploys circus skills and inventive design to create a memorable merworld The Little Mermaid is big…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:42AM

Move over Ebenezer! Ebony Scrooge gets Dickens dancing with a hip-hop Christmas Carol – in pictures

The classic novel is given a new spin with this festive spectacular at Sadler’s Wells East following the fortunes of a fashion designer encountering ghosts of the past, present and future …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:42AM
Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Secrets of the cow-skulled scarecrow: did one man’s cruel tales inspire Paula Rego’s best paintings? by Claire Armitstead

When the great artist saw a shocking play by Martin McDonagh about the torture of children, she asked him for more dark stories. As the vivid, extraordinary works they triggered go on show, …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48PM

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