The region has long been a national punchline. Funny, then, that it's where you'll find some of the country's sharpest wits If ever, on a weekend, I get the train out of London and up throug…
Barbican, LondonTimothy Sheader brings his Regent's Park rock concert indoors for a show that celebrates lung power over tenderness Ah, the exuberance of youth! Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim R…
She unleashed Phoebe Waller-Bridge on the Edinburgh fringe. The former actor with the Midas touch tells us her recipe for a hit show 'We had wine. It was late." Producer Francesca Moody shru…
Olivier, LondonHare updates Ibsen's 1867 dramatic poem with wit and ingenuity, resulting in a sharp satire on contemporary mores This play is credited as "by David Hare after Henrik Ibsen".…
How do you re-enact a homicide for a theatre performance " and should you? Director Milo Rau invited people who knew the victim to take part On 22 April, 2012, Ihsane Jarfi left a gay bar i…
Crucible, SheffieldTransformative puppetry, design and direction, and a great human lead, make this adaptation of Yann Martel's book unmissable A tip for playwrights: when you want to field …
Royal Court, LondonJasmine Lee-Jones's play follows an online battle about the Instagram star and tackles racism, misogyny and colourism The lights are still dead when this play opens. A wra…
'I wanted to write a Shakespearean scene with someone in disguise, so I went into a lesbian chatroom pretending to be a gay woman' I was in Atlanta in 1996 with a tour of my play Dealer's Ch…
The Palais des Papes' cat prowls through Pascal Rambert's show, Christiane Jatahy sensationally channels Homer and the former French president makes a surprise appearance 'We are entering a …
The sun shines on the revels at Shakespeare's Globe, while cruelty and creepiness rule at Regent's Park Open Air theatre The modern-dress mechanicals look ready to rave in Sean Holmes' over-…
Standups Alexandra Haddow and Jamie Allerton offer their tips and tricks for speaking in public Almost every time we tell someone we perform standup comedy, we get the same response: "Oh yo…
Various venues, ManchesterIrish company Anu's site-specific modern stories of struggle bring the radical spirit of 19th-century protesters to life This production is billed as a response to …
Roy Alexander Weise and Bryony Shanahan unite to 'make work with and for' the city's people Two acclaimed young directors are to jointly run Manchester's Royal Exchange, one of the UK's most…
Soho theatre, LondonA young man plans to privatise the estate where he grew up in Gabriel Bisset-Smith's quick-witted drama about identity and belonging Mary is mixed-race; her son Lysander …
The actor and comedian has been a fixture on British TV for more than two decades. Now, in her first one-woman show, she unpicks the difficult maternal relationship that shaped herEven close…
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonGregory Doran's assured production offers a perfectly judged portrait of public hypocrisy and seething sexuality Gregory Doran is not the first …
Dancers, actors and digital animation combine for a spectacle in an old railway depot, while Alphabus flexes its muscles at Manchester international festival The dance strand of the Manchest…
Donmar Warehouse; Royal Court, London; Curve, LeicesterDavid Greig's play on continental movement still resonates, while the makers of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child can't summon the magi…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterThe Hodgkiss award winner by 154 Collective finds complexity in a simple encounter between two people Wrestling the Walrus is the winner of the latest Hodgkiss awar…
Broad stage theatre comedy full of plot twists, puns and frantic action is finding a new audienceThe stage is set like a hotel bedroom where a scantily clad woman is hiding inside a wardrobe…
Women claim staff did not 'like the T-shirts we are wearing' but NT says the action was 'a result of a series of disturbances' The National Theatre has become embroiled in a bitter war of wo…
The actor, writer and standup on the things that make her laugh the most It changes constantly, but she's always a she. Josie Long singing baby songs. Suzi Ruffell doing a bit on doctors. De…
From Midsommar to Olafur Eliasson, here's our pick of the best films, concerts, exhibitions, theatre and dance over the next seven days Continue reading...
A 'girl power' stage show, a BBC drama and new, more diverse short stories ... will Blyton's classic school series capture a new generation? A station in London: excited children gather for …
Family and politics collide as a British man sets out to unearth his South African roots " and get the audience off their seats This show has the aura of a big event. It helps kickstart the …