Theatre
The dramatic evolution of ‘actor’
‘That chap in Line of Duty. That’s what I’d call a bad actor,’ said my husband with vague certainty. He…
Sinatra, Bacon and a YouTube star: Edinburgh Fringe Festival round-up
Sinatra: Raw (Pleasance, until 15 August) takes us inside the mind of the 20th century’s greatest crooner. The performer, Richard…
Ian McKellen is riveting: Hamlet, at Theatre Royal Windsor, reviewed
Ian McKellen in his early eighties plays the Dane in his mid-twenties. A production with such a strange innovation should…
The history of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane is the theatrical history of England
The newly renovated Theatre Royal Drury Lane has seen it all and staged it all, says Robert Gore-Langton
One for hardcore Tennessee Williams fans only: The Two Character Play reviewed
It can be difficult to remember that Tennessee Williams, the great songster of the Deep South during the 1950s, was…
What a comic treat: The Game of Love and Chance at the Arcola reviewed
Lady Sylvia is a gorgeous aristocrat whose hand is sought by the charming Dorante whom she has never met. To…
The best theatre podcasts
All the world’s on stage again so where to go to for insight into what to see and why? Podcasts,…
A shrill, ugly, tasteless muddle: Romeo & Juliet reviewed
What shall we destroy next? Romeo & Julietseems a promising target and the Globe has set out to vandalise Shakespeare’s…
Wallace Shawn's Designated Mourner feels like watching the news
Pity the aesthete, the flâneur and the opera-goer. Those who find the contents of their own heads so dull and…
Staged: a handful of VIP events is no substitute for normality
Uncertainty is crippling our cultural life
The true cost of theatre closures
It turns out that if there’s one thing more expensive than making theatre, it’s not making it. Empty buildings haemorrhage…
Enjoyable in spite of the National's best efforts: Under Milk Wood reviewed
Before the National Theatre produced Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood they had to make a decision. How could they stuff…
This interactive Doctor Who show is as bombastic, fey and tedious as the TV series
Death of a Black Man is a little-known script from the 1970s written by Alfred Fagon who suffered a fatal…
Godot Is a Woman will have you laughing all evening and arguing all night
Godot Is a Woman opens with three tramps standing on a bare stage beneath a solitary upright. This isn’t Samuel…
Two hours of kitsch tomfoolery: Amélie at the Criterion reviewed
The latest movie to turn into a musical is Amélie, from 2001, about a Parisian do-gooder or ‘godmother of the…
Anthony Hopkins's portrayal of dementia will undo you: The Father reviewed
The Father is an immensely powerful film about dementia starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, who was asleep in his bed in…
Remembering David Storey, giant of postwar English culture
Jasper Rees remembers David Storey, giant of postwar English culture and wry teller of tales, whose newly published memoir is perhaps his most remarkable work
A Shakespeare play at the Globe whose best features have nothing to do with Shakespeare
Back to the Globe after more than a year. The theatre has zealously maintained its pre–Covid staffing levels. On press…
A brilliant, tense, ragged slice of drama: Waiting for Lefty reviewed
A Russian Doll is a monologue about Putin’s campaign to swing the Brexit vote in his favour. It stars Rachel…
A last hurrah for the Zoom play
Lockdown is about to end but some theatres are gripped by cabin fever and want to explore the two new…
Clever, funny and fearless: Good Girl at Soho Theatre online reviewed
A new work by Alan Bennett features in Still Life, a medley of five ‘untold stories’ from Nottingham Playhouse. The…
Do theatres actually read scripts before agreeing to stage them?
Money is a new internet play about financial corruption starring Mel Giedroyc. She appears on-screen for less time than it…
The problem with Equity’s anti-racism guidelines
‘Rouse tempers, goad and lacerate, raise whirlwinds.’ Those were the words that Kenneth Tynan, the most celebrated drama critic of…
Xenophobic twaddle: Bush Theatre's 2036 reviewed
The Bush Theatre’s new strand, 2036, opens with a monologue, Pawn, which takes its name from the most downtrodden piece…
Why do theatres think audiences want Covid-related drama?
Hats off to the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond. They’ve discovered a new form of racism. Some people say we…
