Podcast The comic actor's exuberant 10-part history unpicks the nuts-and-bolts of what makes sketches funny, from overlooked past acts to SNL, and British favourites including the Two Ronnie…
My father, David Saire, who has died aged 89, was an actor and director whose work included The Andromeda Breakthrough (1962), Mickey Dunne (1967) and BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950). David …
Available online Denied live performance, creators slip its boundaries to explore screen trickery in this stimulating festival of storytelling, puppetry and animation If there's one festival…
Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, live streamPlaying multiple roles " and all the music " four young actors dazzle in Eline Arbo's superb staging of Édouard Louis's brutal coming-of-age …
Available onlineBanter and live laughter help NextUp's show " featuring a grumpy Jen Brister, a lovable Sarah Keyworth and more " replicate in-person comedy "What is this? What are we doing?…
Showman and entrepreneur whose circus travelled to all parts of Britain and was a hit on television For half a century from 1970 onwards, the circus impresario and showman Gerry Cottle, who…
Tyson, who has died aged 96, was the talk of Broadway in 2013 when she was in The Trip to Bountiful. Her co-star pays tribute to a calming mentor with an uproarious sense of humour I grew up…
Available onlineAkram Khan and Natalia Osipova's poetic duet and Shobana Jeyasingh's Contagion are highlights in a festival from BBC Arts The most tantalising prospect of this three-hour dan…
The comedian, musician and Mash Report star on the things that make her laugh the most The funniest standup I've ever seen …John Mulaney's Kid Gorgeous made me howl. It's on Netflix and th…
The star of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Sounder has died after an illustrious career Cicely Tyson, the pioneering black actor who gained an Oscar nomination for her role in S…
In the first of a series exploring the stage origins of hit comedies, the actor remembers creating the delusional letting agent at Bristol University "For a lot of series one, I don't like S…
Available online Viewers collaborate to chase clues and solve a deadly mystery in the follow-up to last year's Jury Duty Online adventure and puzzle games " the socially distanced cousin of …
The actor is in 'doggy and musical heaven' " hosting a primetime grooming show on TV and returning to the stage for a showtune extravaganza. So who's got the best topknot: her or the shih tz…
Continuing our series on the best films about theatre, a 200-year-old Japanese ghost story takes centre stage in a movie merging reality and fantasy The prolific Japanese director Takashi Mi…
Available onlineSofa-bound audiences help the team behind The Play That Goes Wrong to create spontaneous and funny stories on screen They cornered the West End comedy market. They made it on…
During the Great Depression, FDR set up the Federal Theater Program to save our industry. We need similar help today
The idea that the artform skews left is widespread, but the prevalence of comedians punching down suggests otherwise "Three-quarters of BBC comedians are liberals," scream the headlines; or …
Available onlineJoseph Potter summons enough characters to fill the stage in Philip Ridley's dark comedy of manners about family dysfunction and wasted talent Philip Ridley's interest in the…
Available onlineGeorge Balanchine's take on Shakespearean comedy may be more geometric than romantic, but the most delicate moments of this performance are truly enchanting Now that all arts…
Available onlineAs this year's event goes virtual, five newly commissioned videos showcase the diversity of its artists My heart went out to Jonathan Agnew, having to commentate on England's…
Songs from the composer's doomed show about the Israeli stateswoman will make their debut online The self-taught musical genius Lionel Bart was the Londoner who first successfully challenge…
The director and choreographer, whose credits include A Chorus Line and Dreamgirls, has died after a cardiac arrest in Florida Bob Avian, the Tony award-winning Broadway mainstay both on sta…
Adjoa Andoh, who plays Lady Danbury in the show, admires the creativity, zest and collective spirit of tribute songs Bridgerton, the Regency-era TV smash that sparked a virtual water-cooler …
At 86 and in lockdown, the actor finds herself in the rare position of not working. Instead, she talks about theatrical ghosts, her friendship with Harvey Weinstein and definitely not being …
Available onlineThe easygoing reminiscences of three women reveal depths of turmoil and heartache in Mark O'Rowe's deftly written triumph Three friends meet around a table to catch up on eac…