Natural born thriller

Tickets for Othello at the Donmar are now changing hands for £1,200. The draw is Ewan McGregor - but the real star of the show may well turn out to be Kelly Reilly. Stuart Jeffries mee…

Jersey Boys - Review by Lyn Gardner (**)

'Have I retired? It's hard to know'

Playwright Michael Frayn talks to Mark Lawson about rumours that he has put down his pen

'Who am I?'

As The Lady from Dubuque, forgotten for nearly 30 years, comes to the London stage, playwright Edward Albee talks to Carol Rocamora about death, the ups and downs of a long career, and how h…

Review: Marguerite by Michael Billington (***)

Equus
Review by Michael Billington
****

'Human beings are animals'

Conor McPherson writes plays to exorcise his demons. He talks to Maddy Costa about religion, alcoholism, painful break-ups - and why there are so few women in his work

Crisis in the West End

Theatreland is in dire straits. Second-rate musicals rule, new drama is dying, and the venues are falling apart. The time has come for a revolution, writes Michael Billington

'I was naive and stupid'

When playwright Bryony Lavery was accused of plagiarism, the furore went worldwide. In her first interview since those 'dark times', she tells Lyn Gardner how writing got her through

'This will horrify my colleagues'

A rooftop park, rehearsals open to the public, a new building ... Nicholas Hytner explains his vision for the National to Michael Billington

Extract: The Vertical Hour

'A five-course meal after a diet of candyfloss' - Hare hits Manhattan by Michael Billington

New York audience finds sustenance in a play about Iraq, patriotism, and the Anglo-American cultural divide

The reviewer reviewed by Michael Billington

We all love seeing our work praised, but I most relish the well-aimed critical arrows. Honest

If it's Tuesday, I must be Hamlet

How does an actor juggle playing two very different roles at once? Patrick Stewart, Simon Russell Beale and Tamsin Greig tell Hilary Whitney how they pull it off

Interview: Belle de jour by Chrissy Iley

When it comes to playing tortured heroines, the ethereally beautiful Jessica Lange has no equal.

A 2,500-year-old sex ban

Aristophanes' Lysistrata was about the power of women in a time of war. Blake Morrison felt an update was overdue.

Portrait of the artist: Susannah York, actor
Interview by Laura Barnett

'There was nothing cool about me'

He played the Fonz, the coolest man of the 1970s. Now Henry Winkler's taking to panto. He talks to Patrick Barkham about dyslexia, swordfights - and why women still throw themselves at him

A break in the clouds

Richard Griffiths has plenty of reasons to be pleased with life - plays, films, Broadway triumph - so why does he always expect to be disappointed? Oliver Burkeman finds out

The plight of the young American playwright

British dramatists have taken centre stage on Broadway, as their US counterparts struggle to get their voices heard or abandon the theatre for TV and film work. Damian Fowler looks at the ob…

My pink fountain pen has run dry by Mark Ravenhill

I think 'writing gay' is a project that is now totally over

'People thought we were mad'

Jonathan Kent is the champion of serious drama. Can he save the West End? As he gets his hands on his own theatre, he reveals all to Michael Billington

Blanchett not fit to run our theatre, says actor by Barbara McMahon

Review: Never So Good by Michael Billington (****)

Free radical

Christopher Hampton's star is brighter than ever - but he hasn't lost his famous irony. The playwright talks to Michael Billington about Rimbaud, Billie Piper and Hollywood

'I wanted freedom'

Why won't Joseph Fiennes make life easy for himself? As he prepares to star in an explosive play about paedophilia, he tells Phil Hoad why he's glad he turned his back on Hollywood

Review: Afterlife by Michael Billington (***)

While the play draws attention to a neglected theatrical master, it leaves you feeling that Frayn has been circumscribed rather than liberated by his chosen morality-play structure.

"Stratford-upon-Avon is the worst kind of tourist trap - exploiting both the Bard and the punters," by Germaine Greer

Why is "world-class Stratford-upon-Avon" such a dump?

Drama out of a crisis

To mark World Aids Day, Toby Jones explores the work of a theatre group promoting behaviour change and self-advocacy in Africa

'It was the part of a lifetime'

Simon Callow was a struggling young actor when a script landed on his doorstep: Amadeus. As a new version opens, he recalls the rows and thrills behind the staging of Shaffer's classic

Q&A: Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer
Interview by Rosanna Greenstreet