203 stories by "Andrew Dickson"
The production of Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch has been criticised for moving around the play's most famous soliloquy. The furore ignores the fact that people have been messing with …
Shakespeare's Globe, London Helen Edmundson's powerful play about the life and works of proto-feminist Juana Inés de la Cruz boasts powerful performances and a quiet witIt's scandalous that…
The Asylum, CornwallThis all-singing, all-dancing adaptation of a Michael Morpurgo novella has plenty of fizz, but only in its dying moments does it strike an emotional chordGiven the globe-…
After early success writing for the National Theatre and for Alan Partridge, Patrick Marber's career stalled. As he returns with two plays, he explains how Lewes FC, Turgenev and an escape f…
Royal Opera House Stores, AberdareArtist Marc Rees thinks big with this multimedia account of Welsh settlers in South America, told in a vast storage facility with the help of an Eisteddfod …
The RSC's new production of Shakespeare's tragedy has a black Iago in Lucian Msamati while Hugh Quarshie is battling with the lead role of the wise yet murderous Moor. But is the play even a…
Written in the 1960s to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the sealing of the charter, John Arden's radical play Left-Handed Liberty still has lessons to teach us Continue reading...
My piece on training courses for young directors raises the question of what makes a good one - skill, instinct or funding?
He's played everyone from Mahler to Cardinal Wolsey and once did King Lear and Winnie the Pooh in the same day. So why is Jonathan Pryce so worried about playing Shylock in The Merchant of V…
From a doom-metal George Osborne to Judi Dench placing her cross live on polling day, British theatre has caught election fever. Can playwrights swing the vote? Andrew Dickson talks to David…
With 11 nominations, the Young Vic is set to dominate this weekend's Olivier awards. Its artistic director, David Lan, explains how a theatre once housed in a converted butcher's shop became…
How do you make a play about something as vast as the NHS and its 1.6 million workers? As playwright Michael Wynne explains, you need to speak to nurses, executives and whistleblowers " and …
What could we possibly want to discover from the Bard's bones? The thing that made him extraordinary was his brain " no one is going to unearth that Continue reading...
Ustinov Studio, BathThere is doleful humour and quiet despair in this piece by Pavel Pryazhko, directed by Michael Boyd and designed by Tom Piper Continue reading...
Tobacco Factory, BristolThe Montagues and Capulets face off like Anthony Burgess's droogs in a Verona on the edge of meltdownThe kids are taking over the theatre company Shakespeare at the T…
There's no denying the power of the story but this verbatim play has the feeling of a well-intentioned research projectIn 2009, rugby star Gareth "Alfie" Thomas had the world at his feet. An…
Porter's, CardiffWith brutal depictions of sexual violence and suicide in a venue this intimate, it's sometimes as much as you can do to look at the stage Continue reading...
Sarah Kane's plays shocked audiences and critics with scenes of rape, cannibalism and suicide. As they are revived, we talk to the cast about a body of work that laughs in the face of darkne…
Roundhouse, LondonSomewhere between solo reverie and group therapy, Non Zero One's immersive piece explores what makes us who we are Continue reading...
Theatre Delicatessen, LondonToo many of this series of short works look inwards, failing to tackle broader questions of culture, morality and freedom of expression Continue reading...
Scotland's most successful playwright explains why his Macbeth sequel is rooted in the war on Iraq'You know," says David Greig, staring moodily into his chicken broth, "I'm jealous of people…
Her fierce and funny plays have tackled child abuse and sexting. Next, Alice Birch wants to end porn. She talks about women's revolt, communes and being chosen for the National"I find talkin…
A musical version of the Spanish director's famous farce might seem an odd idea but, as a tour of his Madrid reveals, Almodóvar's taste for the surreal is perfectly suited to the stage'"P…
Finborough, LondonStaged for the first time in nearly a century, this tragedy echoes Ibsens Hedda Gabler with absorbing results Continue reading...
