He's the anarchic comedian behind the musicals Matilda and Groundhog Day. He talks about dashed Hollywood hopes, the dangers of modernising Roald Dahl and feeling out of step with his progre…
It's half a century since Sir Ian McKellen first played Hamlet. Now he's starring as the Dane again " at 82. He talks about his extraordinary life, why he'll never write his memoir " and his…
Nish Kumar considers himself a mild-mannered British Asian man who does comedy. So why does he attract so much rage from the rightwing press and social media? Hide your commemorative Brexit …
She was a rising star, but silently struggled with alcohol and panic attacks. The actor tells all about her breakdown and her hard-won recoverySheridan Smith arrives at the restaurant with a…
Tarell Alvin McCraney's plays have seen him feted here and in America. And now he's turning his writer's eye on London lifeIn a room on the top floor of a rehearsal studio in south London, w…
Could gamblers do with a little help from God? Would a rich spiritual life improve a rugby team? And does faith have a place in the theatre? With church attendance in decline, Tom Lamont mee…
Three years ago the actor was on the verge of giving up. Then Homeland came calling. He talks about the CIA, leaving London for the US and why he really misses the pubThe sun is out in north…
Mat Horne has had a rocky time since Gavin & Stacey. A bit of Chekhov will cheer him up…
The Mad Men star on being Peggy Olson, taking to the West End stage with Keira Knightley, and Ricky Gervais's winning ways at the Golden Globes
It took the Essex actor a decade to fully regain his confidence after falling victim to a knife attack at 18. And a decade, too, to be comfortable portraying his own sexuality on stage and s…
Running around in the dark, peeing on stage and not knowing your lines every single night makes for pretty riveting theatre Continue reading...
The simple pleasures of going down the boozer, randomly selected protagonists and 1990s TV on an endless loop Stephanie Merritt's Edinburgh comedy round-up Continue reading...
The myriad theatrical novelties of the fringe may be seductive, but they invariably leave you feeling disappointed. Surely this year would be different Continue reading...
Ballad of the Burning Star; Nirbhaya; Our Fathers; The Islanders; Have I No Mouth; On the One Hand; Stuart: A Life BackwardsNot a lot separates performers from spectators at the fringe. You …
Blam!; On the Beach; Kubrick3; High Plains; Oh My Irma; Gardening for the Unfulfilled and AlienatedGive or take the odd cancellation " a four-hander about a prison break, called off; an oper…
Adam Buxton's solo show Bug pokes fun at the casual brutality of online discourse"It's a steep curve in the net age," says comedian Adam Buxton, "learning to deal with a new type of casual, …
The young British actor loved the film and now stars in the musical. But his co-star took some persuading…Declan Bennett and Zrinka Cvitesic signed up to play the leads in Once, the acclai…
His score for the stage version of Roald Dahl's Matilda has transformed the one-time struggling standup into a leftfield Andrew Lloyd Webber. Next month, the production reloca…
After three weeks, the Crucible's production of My Fair Lady, starring Dominic West and the 24-year-old revelation Carly Bawden, has become one of the hottest tickets in the countryThe cast …
The set designer reveals how his scribbled ideas in notebooks become the 'brains' of a hit West End productionPeter McKintosh designed the set for the recent revival of the Michael Frayn far…
Why the woman behind the Spice Girls musical is indebted to the humble Post-ItCraymer produced Viva Forever!, the musical about the Spice Girls that opened at the Piccadilly theatre this mon…
Boris and Sergey's Vaudevillian Adventure; The Fantasist; Grit; Rubies in the Attic; The Sewing Machine; Dirty Great Love StorySometimes a show has "a good Edinburgh". Enthusiastic early hou…
Peep; Still Life; Coalition; After the Rainfall; One Hour OnlyOn the first day of the Edinburgh festival fringe last week " "preview Wednesday", when venue staff are still wallpapering every…
Old Vic, LondonPolitical coalitions come and go, a central character in Democracy is warned, but your party is for keeps; so don't ever be so foolish as to risk the latter for the former. Mi…