The performer and theatre-maker stars in George Brant's Grounded, which portrays war as soul-crushing shift workFor the past few months, Lucy Ellinson has been living inside the mind of an A…
He started work on his greatest verse cycle; she painted, wrote and danced. Laura Barnett reports on a new play trying to uncover the truth about the relationship between the poet and his ma…
Philip Glass talks about the stars he'd like to work with, the price of fame and why an artist has to be true to himselfWhat first drew you to music? I can hardly remember: I was playing by …
In between Edinburgh gigs, Lucy Porter talks about the itinerant life of the standup, why Kate Bush is such an inspiration, and reveals her greatest ambition " to go on CountdownWhen did you…
As their show tackling the London riots opens at the fringe, two of Scotland's top playwrights talk to Laura Barnett about teens, tweets " and why the wrong people always seem to t…
This brilliant celebration of North America's lumberjack heritage taps cleverly into nostalgia for old-time skillsWhen it comes to lumberjacks, Monty Python has a lot to answer for. I've los…
'Until a few years ago, I was endlessly playing villainous, smug, posh guys on telly'Your parents [Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens] were both famous actors. Was following in their footsteps…
Our Glass House, a production at the Edinburgh fringe next month will, its creators hope, encourage victims of domestic abuse to come forwardIt is an ordinary house, on an ordinary street. O…
At a theatre summit in Spain, each critic's opinion seemed to bear the influence of their nationality. What's your own experience of how prejudices play out?How much does our nationality inf…
'My low point? Sending designs to Shakira " while I was in labour'What first drew you to theatre design?Going to the English National Opera with my family from the age of 12. If you booked i…
Gielgud, London"Everything that happens is chance," says Amanda Prynne, one half " with Elyot Chase " of the warring couple whose abusive co-dependency is the subject of Noël Coward's ace…
'Playwrights are no wiser than anyone else " but people start asking you about the economy'What first drew you to writing plays?I wrote my first, based on a story I took from a comic, w…
Chantal Coady of the Rococo chocolate company applauds a new stage production of Roald Dahl's book " and remembers her own real-life Willy WonkaI first read Roald Dahl's book when I was five…
Open Air theatre, Regent's Park, LondonIn the six years since he took over as artistic director of London's Open Air theatre " lovely on a warm evening, though booking a ticket always involv…
Stage and screen actor Francesca Annis talks about the cult of celebrity, going nude for Roman Polanski and the pressure of playing a famous beautyWhat first drew you to acting?It happened b…
London Wonderground; the Shed at the National Theatre, LondonOn a summer evening, few places in London can rival the South Bank for atmosphere, even when, as on the two consecutive nights I …
'If I hadn't been able to make people laugh, I'd have ended up hitting someone with a brick'When did you first discover you could make people laugh?When I was 13. I got into lots of fights a…
Casting directors are among the most powerful figures in showbusiness, able to make or break careers. But what exactly do they do? Laura Barnett talks auditions, callbacks " and tearsUp in h…
Casting directors are among the most powerful figures in showbusiness, able to make or break careers. But what exactly do they do? Laura Barnett talks auditions, callbacks and tears Continu…
Contemporary dance pioneer Siobhan Davies talks about accidentally becoming a choreographer, Strictly Come Dancing and painful reviewsWhat first drew you to dance?It was completely random. I…
Nerves, speeches, practising their fake-congratulation face " five nominees for this year's Olivier awards, including Luke Treadaway and Hattie Morahan, tell Laura Barnett about one of theat…
Hampstead theatre, LondonOn 3 April 2011 Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was arrested at Beijing airport. Then began a Kafkaesque nightmare: 81 days in detention without trial; accused of being a s…
Do resale websites selling seats to hit shows at grossly inflated prices pose a genuine threat to London's theatreland?It's Saturday night on Shaftesbury Avenue in London's West End. A crowd…
Bruce Norris's play skewers the failings of capitalism, but ignores some sensitive and nuanced debatesIn broad terms, I'm sympathetic to the central theme of this play by Bruce Norris. From …
When Wallander actor Krister Henriksson memorised a downbeat Swedish novel, he didn't expect this efforts to produce a theatre smash hit. He tells Laura Barnett about playing the West End, h…