Playwright and novelist Frayn wrote for the Guardian since 1957. Here's a selection of his writing from the past 65 years, covering everything from the arrival of saunas to the Lady Chatterl…
Minerva Theatre, ChichesterWhile its characters can't quite hold the full weight of the culture wars commentary, Deborah Frances-White's frothy comedy is eminently watchable Money and friend…
Soho Theatre, LondonAs they craft their extended sketches off the cuff, TJ Jagodowski and Dave Pasquesi deliver laughs with a surprisingly moving emotional twist Nothing in comedy defines ex…
Shakespeare North Playhouse, PrescotHorror-movie witches haunt the unhappy couple throughout this touring co-production. It's one of many interesting ideas that are dropped too soon There is…
Set in a psychiatric hospital in Aberdeenshire, new National Theatre production puts Mina Murray at centre of action The first major staging of Dracula with an all-woman and non-binary cast …
Seymour Centre, SydneyNarrated by Norman Gunston, this musical about the former prime minister and the events of 1975 is often funny " but it's messy and overstuffed Get our weekend culture …
Soho theatre, LondonThe electrifying Berlant recounts her fictional life in this sharp and silly show directed by Bo Burnham Comedies don't come hipper than this New York transfer from Kate …
Will Birmingham Royal Ballet's near-sold-out spectacular get audiences air guitaring? Our writer dons his denim and leather tutu to meet choreographer Carlos Acosta and Sabbath legend Tony I…
Soho theatre, LondonThe Smiths' songs are transplanted on to the gothic horror of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein " and it works A lifelong fan of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the New York cabar…
'I wanted to write a play about two boys falling in love and give it a happy ending. During the Aids crisis, it was unusual for a gay character to be alive at the end of a drama' I wrote Bea…
The actor and singer, aged 52, on what she learned by singing at weddings, her childhood dream coming true and battling vanityI think I was born singing. I was always singing around the hous…
As her play about toxic secrets and old friends hits the stage, the host of The Guilty Feminist podcast explains how studying Wilde and Shaw showed her the subversive power of laughter I'm a…
The comedian grew up on the Righteous Brothers and Shaggy, and loves energy-supplier hold music. But what does he think is the song of the century? The song I do at karaokeAs a teen, I took …
His play Spitting Image about a gay partnership broke new ground in the West End, says Colin Chambers Also among the many activities in the protean Colin Spencer's impressive array of achiev…
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon; Olivier, LondonThe Macbeths have time on their hands in the RSC's overloaded production, while the National's laudable countrywide Odyssey ret…
Fresh from this year's jubilant festival, I'm not the only one hoping that it has given up its addiction to growth "Ticket sales still 19% down on 2019." "Can the Edinburgh fringe survive?" …
As he gears up for his new tour, the cult US standup muses on parenthood, 'offensive' comedy, and the biggest regret of his career Most people aren't exactly delighted when their precious of…
Ustinov Studio, BathThe English-language premiere of Jean-Philippe Daguerre's award-winning play hampers its seasoned cast with a complicated plot " bordering on farcical " about a Jewish je…
Pitlochry festival theatreIsla Cowan's quietly intelligent new drama goes inside a three-way relationship and each person's different attachments to their rural cottage retreat On the face o…
Great fun from the NT's warped fairytale Hex, plus Neil LaBute's dark relationship comedy and a classic Gilbert & Sullivan romp in our roundup of drama to watch at home Hex is director R…
Pitlochry festival theatreAt a dinner party attended by a child ghost and a goading TV pundit warning of apocalypse, a middle-class literati find themselves on the brink of social upheaval P…
Globe theatre, LondonEllen McDougall's inclusive production is wonderfully warm and flirty " especially in the scenes between Rosalind and Celia " but uneven and confusing as a whole Directo…
RSC, Stratford-upon-AvonBenefitting from a Scottish cast and a rewritten Porter's speech by Lee, Wils Wilson's production gets at the demonic drive of people desperate for power but hopeless…
For the first time ever, both the 'Oscars of comedy' have gone to standups with South Asian heritage. So what do the two performers who set the fringe alight have planned? Lots of boasting, …
Choreographer Drew McOnie's version of the festive sweet-treat ballet will have a male hero and aims to 'represent those who felt it wasn't for them' It is a sweet treat of a ballet that enc…