The Queen's accession seemed to herald a fresh start for Britain. But as politics became more squalid, her bland persona was a good match for the monarchy's survival instinct, says playwrigh…
During David Hare's 50 years in theatre its fortunes have changed beyond recognition. In the face of cultural cuts and crises, he sets out his vision for a Playhouse for todayIn 1946, George…
Like everyone else she knows, Eleanor voted leave. She knew she wouldn't really get her country back but why hasn't the result made her happier? Eleanor Shaw is in her 50s, well-spoken, Home…
It's 22 years since the playwright's chronicle of an election-losing Labour leader, The Absence of War, premiered at the Olivier theatre. On the eve of its revival he calls for the party of …
Ibsen wanted his plays to be continually updated after his death. As his new version of The Master Builder opens, Hare reflects on the pain and pleasure of adaptation " and what he learned p…
Theatre director most admired by playwrights and seen as the master of 20th-century repertoryIn June 2007, the Guardian critic Michael Billington was asked to name the best theatre director …
As he brings one of the crime writer's novels to the National stage, David Hare reveals why he loves the pithy, power-obsessed creator of MaigretLike many bookish children, I grew up consumi…
Ibsen wanted his plays to be continually updated after his death. As his new version of The Master Builder opens, Hare reflects on the pain and pleasure of adaptation " and what he learned p…
The early works of the great Russian playwright receive less attention than The Cherry Orchard and Uncle Vanya. But these direct, risky plays remain vital " and The Seagull is perfection In …
The playwright and screenwriter on his ideal festival, American revolution musical Hamilton, and box setting clever with BorgenDavid Hare was born in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex. After study…
From Sarah Bernhardt to Angelina Jolie, actors who engage with public events or express a personal opinion are ridiculed. It's time they were given the respect they deserve, argues David Hare
It's 22 years since the playwright's chronicle of an election-losing Labour leader, The Absence of War, premiered at the Olivier theatre. On the eve of its revival he calls for the party of …
When the feted stage designer Maria Björnson was asked to do the decor for a revival of Plenty with Cate Blanchett in the West End in 1999, she admitted to me there was little she could do …
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One of the most winning aspects of the Almeida theatre, as run in the 1990s by a couple of actors, Jonathan Kent and Ian McDiarmid, was their determination to take up the cause of certain fe…
Turning Terence Rattigan into a martyr smacks of the wheedling Tory tone of self-righteous privilegeOf course, you must expect it: in rightwing times, rightwing art flourishes. In the London…