De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea Picking on the audience is engaging more than cruel as Brydon riffs and ad-libs with seasoned charm in his new tourLined with retirement bungalows and hol…
A rush of new plays offer fictionalised versions of Labour's 1981 split, the revamp of the Sun, a TV quizshow scandal and other real events. Playwrights James Graham and Steve Waters discuss…
Barely out of Rada, Tamara Lawrance cruised into TV and stage roles. Now she's taking on Twelfth Night at the National. Can it beat her weird student version?Playing Viola in Twelfth Night a…
Theatre 503, LondonNeil LaBute and Caryl Churchill contribute to an evening of plays that make every effort to empathise with Trump votersNews that a London fringe theatre had commissioned a…
In the past, his plays have enraged the right. But Howard Barker's new foes are liberals " angry at the 'yellowface' casting in his latest work. Why is he so unbothered?At the bottom of the …
Her plays arrive fully formed " and she refuses to talk about what they mean. Mark Lawson talks to actors, directors and her publisher about what really makes Churchill tickSince the death o…
The writer remains nationally visible and professionally treasured, just don't be fooled into using the obvious label' B is for Betty's, S is for splother ... An A-Z of Alan Bennett' 80 year…
A new season of shows, on stage and screen, give a strong sense of deja vu. But are remakes always an artistic upgrade?The top-grossing films of 2016 in the UK are The Jungle Book and B…
Soho theatre, LondonPhoebe Waller-Bridge expertly controls the audience as she performs the original monologue that led to her TV smash It's unusual for the text of a theatrical monologue to…
How do you top a hit play about global politics? By tackling the end of the world " from nuclear meltdown to Brexit and Trump. The writer talks eavesdropping and honestyWomen who go to see a…
From One Man, Two Guvnors to Noises Off and What the Butler Saw, trouser-dropping and door-slamming is back with a vengeance in the West End and on Broadway. How come?On radio phone-ins at t…
The playwright discusses referendum gloom, turning down I'm a Celebrity, and why his third volume of diaries may be his last. Read an extract hereHaving been a Spitting Image puppet, voiced …
Part motivational seminar, part big-budget Blue Peter feature, this somersaulting lecture about human survival is unlike anything on the planetSuspended on wires high above Wembley arena, ru…
London Palladium The Dynasty star treads a line between spontaneity and laziness in the company of her fifth husband and an adoring audienceAlthough the London Palladium is famous for hostin…
The daughter of a Vietnam vet, Suzan-Lori Parks has now written an epic trilogy set during the American civil war. She talks about the military, Obama-era racism and loving Downton AbbeyAs a…
The three-time Pulitzer prize-winning playwright had an extraordinary career trajectory that saw him conquer critics and alcoholism to win more trophiesPerhaps the most remarkable achievemen…
G is for The Goat, L is for lizards and U is for umbrella … As A Delicate Balance returns to Broadway, dip into our guide to the great American playwrightAfter being born " on 12 March 192…
From Dan Brown to Graham Greene, the papacy has long proved fascinating to writers. Mark Lawson examines the mysteries around this powerful figure and the church he leadsThe first duty of a …
After his success with E4's Glue, Thorne is returning to the theatre with Hope, a drama at the Royal Court about local government budget cutsDespite having been up late last Monday night at …
Soho theatre, LondonMaria Alyokhina's dramatisation of artists targeted by Putin is most powerful when it evokes the dark political farce of PinterThe arrest and imprisonment of the Russian …
John Osborne's classic allegory The Entertainer is back. But the UK is now so fragmented that no modern playwright could pen a drama to sum up who we areKenneth Branagh, whose career has oft…
Screenwriters often find themselves in a straitjacket " but comedy shows written for the theatre have free rein to be as foul-mouthed and foul-minded as they like. The world needs more of it…
From the Brexit vote to the US presidential race, the tumult of the year's news shows how nimble " or lucky " artists need to be to stay relevantMost would agree that timing is vital to the …
As previews of the West End show reveal its gasp-inducing illusions, hanky-inducing scenes and Harry as a 40-year-old dad, the producers behind the darkest ever Potter project discuss secrec…
As she prepares to appear in the Young Chekhov trilogy, the star of Last Tango in Halifax and W1A talks about playing outsiders, growing up surrounded by white faces " and how it feels to be…