The Observer at Cottesloe, SE1 - Review by Benedict Nightingale (***)

A Doll's House at Donmar Warehouse, WC2<br> Review by Benedict Nightingale (***)

Actors discuss first folio of Shakespeare

Samuel West, Sara Kestelman, Jonathan Slinger and Henry Goodman get access to London's Guildhall Library copy of the Bard

Grasses of a Thousand Colours at the Royal Court, London SW1 by Benedict Nightingale (**)

Words from the wise: Sir Richard Eyre, 66 by Alan Jackson

Lessons in life from the over-sixties

Stephen Sondheim: 'My ideal collaborator is me' by Alan Franks

With A Little Night Music back in the West End, the master of music theatre gives a rare interview

Michael Frayn on his very current Alphabetical Order by Andrew Billen

As novelist, philosopher, playwright and translator, Michael Frayn's work has much to say about Britain now

Talking to . . . Diana Rigg on catching Hay Fever on stage<br> Interview by Lucy Powell

Colleen McCullough beneath her crown of Thorns by Valerie Grove

The massive success that came with her novel The Thorn Birds, now touring Britain as a musical, was a mixed blessing for its author

Comedians praise humour of Samuel Beckett by Stephen Armstrong

Phill Jupitus, Al Murray, Ricky Gervais, Mark Thomas, Stewart Lee, Omid Djalili and others on Waiting for Godot and more

Maureen Lipman, the merriest widow by Jane Wheatley

Peter Hall - my memories of Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett by Ginny Dougary

Dimetos at the Donmar, WC2 by Benedict Nightingale (***)

Fame and Toby Jones by Helen Rumbelow

Toby Jones usually plays Americans; now he's back in Blighty, in a Barratt home

Calendar Girls tackle the full Monty... almost by Hamish McColl

Bringing Calendar Girls to the stage posed one obvious problem - how to bare the flesh. The director reveals the naked truth

Jonathan Pryce, finding freedom by Benedict Nightingale

The actor insists that he has finished with musicals and has taken on his most difficult role in years

Trumbo at Jermyn Street Theatre, SW1 by Dominic Maxwell (**)

Before the start of the week, the talk about Corin Redgrave's return to the stage was how he would fare in only his second stage role since his heart attack of 2005. Now, the death of his ni…

Madame de Sade at Wyndham's by Benedict Nightingale (**)

Michael Grandage has proved he can turn just about any old play into gold, but Madame de Sade resisted even his director's alchemy

A blend of tenderness and fire by Ken Russell

A girl of golden beauty, Natasha was one of the few modern actresses who was as smart as she was pretty and as gentle as she was fierce. I loved her unashamedly

Dancing at Lughnasa at the Old Vic, SE1 by Christopher Hart (***)

Obama on my Mind at Hen and Chickens, N1 by Jeremy Kingston (**)

Any group of enthusiasts will contain the occasional freak, but in this collection anyone marginally rational is the oddity

Why plays can change during their run

A great production can alter radically in its run. The actor Jonathan Cake investigates and finds out why

Nicholas Hytner on his time at the National Theatre by Benedict Nightingale

After six years at the helm of the NT, Nicholas Hytner is still fired by a sense of mission to be part of the national conversation

Eddie Izzard: Hollywood to House of Commons? by Stephen Armstrong

Having worked in stand-up, TV, theatre and films, the "transvestite with a career" comedian is considering turning to politics

Homeless is where Simon Callow's heart is by Brian Logan

Simon Callow is giving voice to the homeless in a theatrical event based on true-life testimonies - and it's a lot more complex than he thought