Downtrodden sitcom assistant Lynn Benfield is the inspiration for a play about a woman who escapes a relationship and starts a band. Its creator explains why its more true-to-life than you'd…
Dorfman theatre, LondonThis Pulitzer-winning play delicately explores issues of race, sexuality and masculinity with humour as the main ingredient A group of Black American men have convened…
Opéra Grand, AvignonNoé Soulier's new piece has six dancers, five musicians and one fixed camera which picks out details from individual and entwined figures For his new creation, French c…
Palladium, London For all its Broadway dazzle and gags, this musical's story of midlife bereavement and a second chance at love carries intense feeling How often do you see an old-style musi…
La FabricA, AvignonBausch's 1978 classic is presented six times, interspersed with memories of the performers, in this epic treatment by Boris Charmatz Since Pina Bausch's death 15 years ago…
The comedian's show Collaborator involves 160 audience members getting speaking parts " and Kitson has anticipated every possible question, anxiety or misstep What happens when an audience p…
Royal Court theatre, LondonVarious actors, including Adrian Lester and Fiona Shaw, step into playwright Nassim Soleimanpour's shoes as he reckons with the possibility of never returning to I…
Chartreuse de Villeneuve, AvignonThere is gallows humour and unzipped ribaldry as a mischievous group share stories that are joyful, tender and sometimes eye-watering Warning! The people in …
Tom Taylor says most of the problems in the in-tray of the new culture secretary are traceable to one cause: underfunding We hope that Lisa Nandy's appointment as culture secretary stops the…
Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonClive Rowe and Lucie Jones star in Schwartz and Joseph Stein's tale of a French bakery, given a chamber setting Life should be sweet as our asparagus and apri…
Manager 'was everything we didn't have in our politics', insists James Graham as he rewrites ending of play The playwright James Graham has paid tribute to the outgoing England football mana…
Kyle Gass's ill-judged Donald Trump assassination jibe has put Tenacious D on ice. Will he be for ever cancelled, or bounce back like Billy Connolly and Jo Brand? On the edge. Walking a tigh…
Our series on theatrical discoveries continues with Trevor Griffiths' incandescent examination of laughter and prejudice, remembered by the director who first put it on I very nearly lost my…
From the Gareth Southgate play Dear England to Red Speedo, about a swimmer caught doping, dramatists are using sport to examine class, race, morality " and life in Britain today Will no one …
The comic on her standup heroes, using depression as an inspiration for laughter and stereotypes about northerners How did you get into comedy?I'd always wanted to do it but was way too self…
Finborough theatre, LondonThe last surviving member of a military band shelters from Russian bombardment in Inna Goncharova's valiant attempt to capture the terrible essence of war As the pl…
Researchers say standups' contribution is unsung, and hope findings will help to bolster the industry's credibility The live comedy industry in the UK contributes more than £1bn to the ec…
County Hall, LondonVisitors get stuck in when they enter the world of 32 Windsor Gardens, thanks to a merry immersive show boasting hands-on games and evocative design touches Michael Bond's…
As the music genre's popularity rises, dance classes are springing up. The Guardian goes along to give it a try When Xingxi Wang started running K-pop dance classes in Birmingham, she rented…
As a theatre production of the Nobel prize-winning writer's acclaimed autobiography The Years opens in the UK, the actors playing her at different ages " including Deborah Findlay, Gina McKe…
Fashion and music from the 90s are with us again - not to mention a Labour landslide. Next month's Edinburgh fringe will capture the mood As Labour swept to a landslide win on 4 July to the …
The actor on being the first in her family to go to university, the 'divine' Ncuti Gatwa, and the perils of looking at your phone on the stairs Born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, in 199…
Noël Coward; Donmar Warehouse; Almeida, LondonJeremy O Harris's gloves-off Broadway hit is overladen yet thought-provoking; sound design speaks loudest in a wordy Detroit story; and a las…
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonSheridan's comedy of manners is given an all too knowing makeover in Tinuke Craig's fitfully amusing new production Richard Brinsley Sheridan's …
Ahead of next month's festival, the city's performing arts economy faces uncertain future amid funding cuts, wage stagnation and lack of business acumen The Edinburgh festival fringe has alw…