Published: 5 October 2010
The lights will be dimmed for 10 minutes at the London Palladium this evening in honour of entertainer Sir Norman Wisdom, who died yesterday. Wisdom, who died aged 95 at… Read More
The Donmar Warehouse has ventured out of its renowned Covent Garden lair for Donmar Trafalgar, a three year initiative promoting the work of the venue’s young directors. This year’s 12… Read More
“If that’s me over there, who am I?” asks a character in Caryl Churchill’s A Number. In this short play about cloning, it is a pertinent question. Jonathan Munby’s revival… Read More
Published: 4 October 2010
Icelandic company Vesturport created a depth-defying Metamorphosis at the Lyric Hammersmith, turned Romeo And Juliet into a Moulin Rouge-inspired circus in the West End and transformed Woyzeck into a nightmarish… Read More
Families paying a visit to Shakespeare’s Globe on 9 and 10 October will get the chance to take part in some special activities in the Globe Exhibition. The Globe’s Activity… Read More
The Donmar Warehouse is one of London’s most celebrated theatres, and under Artistic Director Michael Grandage it has become a champion of new directing talent. So it must be every… Read More
Performances of Passion at the Donmar Warehouse have been cancelled until Thursday evening after actor David Birrell sustained an injury during Saturday’s matinee show.Birrell, who plays Colonel Ricci in the… Read More
Published: 1 October 2010
Tracie Bennett will star in the West End premiere of Judy Garland biographical play End Of The Rainbow this November, directed by Laurence Olivier Award-winner Terry Johnson at the Trafalgar… Read More
Reece Shearsmith, best known for dark comedy show The League Of Gentlemen, is to replace Andy Nyman in West End thriller Ghost Stories at the Duke of York’s theatre from… Read More
Published: 30 September 2010
Michael Grandage, the multi-award-winning Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse, will step down from his post in late 2011 after nine years in the job.Grandage said today: “With the Donmar’s… Read More
Deborah Findlay will lead the cast of The Glass Menagerie at the Young Vic this November.Findlay will play the role of Amanda Wingfield in a cast that also includes Sinead… Read More
2010 marks the 40th anniversary of the Young Vic theatre, a landmark that in human terms might provoke a healthy dose of nostalgia, reflection on the last four decades and… Read More
Published: 29 September 2010
After years playing baddies, Jonathan Slinger has had to find his moral core for his role in new comedy Yes, Prime Minister, finds Caroline Bishop.Last time we saw Jonathan Slinger… Read More
Bruce Norris’s satire Clybourne Park, which is currently playing at the Royal Court until 2 October, is to transfer to the Wyndham’s theatre from 28 January (press night 8 February). … Read More
The masters of reduced silliness, Dan and Jeff, return to the West End this Christmas with their new show Potted Panto, which plays at the Vaudeville theatre from 10 December… Read More
It was always going to be a mammoth task to bring Sebastian Faulks’s epic 1993 novel Birdsong to the stage. Playwright Rachel Wagstaff and director Trevor Nunn have created a… Read More
Published: 28 September 2010
You may have thought you had seen the last of Prime Minister Jim Hacker. But, like many politicians, he has bounced back for a second bite of the cherry, with… Read More
Published: 27 September 2010
Globetrotting musical theatre star Caroline O’Connor has starred in shows in the West End, on Broadway and across the world. Now she is back in London with a special show… Read More
Playwright Richard Bean describes his new piece, The Big Fellah, as his 9/11 play, yet all the action takes place before the tragic date and focuses on a different terrorist… Read More
Published: 24 September 2010
The original Phantom Of The Opera, Michael Crawford, is to be the new Wizard Of Oz as he once again teams up with Andrew Lloyd Webber for his new production… Read More
Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles are to bring their performances in the Theatre Royal Bath production of The Rivals to the West End. The Peter Hall-directed production plays at the… Read More
When it premiered at the Barbican, way back in 1985, to decidedly mixed reviews, not even uber-producer Cameron Mackintosh could have predicted that a quarter of a century later, his… Read More
Published: 23 September 2010
The Menier Chocolate Factory production of Sweet Charity, which stars Tamzin Outhwaite in the title role, is to close at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 6 November, following a six-month… Read More
In 2009, more than three million theatre-loving foreign tourists spent £2.8 billion on visits to the UK that included a trip to the theatre, states a new report published by… Read More
Michael Gambon starring in a play by Beckett on the West End stage; Krapp’s Last Tape is one of the most anticipated productions of the autumn.The slowly built anticipation continues… Read More
A new production of classic fairytale Beauty And The Beast will be staged by the National Theatre this Christmas, suitable for children aged eight and older. Beauty And The Beast,… Read More
Published: 22 September 2010
Unlike his character in new play The Aliens, actor Ralf Little knows what he wants out of life, finds Caroline Bishop.It wasn’t a hard choice for Ralf Little to decide… Read More
Future productions at London’s Arts theatre have been placed in jeopardy after the venue’s tenants Brasrat Ltd were served notice by landlords Consolidated St Giles LLP.Christmas family production Puss In… Read More
Elena Roger is making a habit of playing doomed heroines. After Evita and Edith Piaf, the Argentinean actress plays Fosca, another character – albeit it a fictional one this time… Read More
Published: 21 September 2010
Rarely does the crunch of gravel under foot greet the audience as they enter an auditorium. But at the Bush theatre you are never sure exactly which auditorium you will… Read More
Published: 20 September 2010
A search for the UK’s best Glee club will be just one of the activities in the fifth annual Wicked Day, to be held at St Pancras International on 31… Read More
I am tempted to write nothing about the Menier Chocolate Factory’s latest venture. I went along knowing next to nothing and came away thoroughly delighted that I didn’t, and that,… Read More
Welder by day, dancer by night, the character of Alex in 1983 film Flashdance leads something of a double life. It is appropriate then, that the actress who is playing… Read More
Donmar Warehouse Executive Producer James Bierman is to leave the Covent Garden venue to become Executive Director at Islington’s Almeida theatre. He will take up the position in early 2011.Speaking… Read More
London’s King’s Head theatre is to re-launch as London’s Little Opera House later this autumn, under the Artistic Directorship of Adam Spreadbury-Maher.Playwright Mark Ravenhill has been appointed Associate Director and… Read More
Published: 17 September 2010
Musical comedian Bill Bailey is to return to the West End this autumn to present his latest stand-up show Dandelion Mind at the Wyndham’s theatre.The new show, which has already… Read More
Fairytales are in high demand on London’s South Bank. While summer saw Into The Hoods staged at the Southbank Centre, this winter Kneehigh’s Hansel And Gretel will bring a touch… Read More
A schoolboy who appeared in an amateur production of Billy Elliot The Musical has landed a role in the West End production of the show. Shotton Hall Theatre School’s Connor… Read More
Multi-award-winning pop duo the Pet Shop Boys are to compose an original score for David Almond’s children’s show My Dad’s A Birdman, which plays at the Young Vic this Christmas.… Read More
Here is the scam: there is a psychiatrist. Her patient owes a life-threatening amount of money to a card player, so she pays a visit to the House Of Games… Read More
West End regular Sharon D Clarke will star as a phoney psychic in the new stage musical adaptation of the 1990 blockbuster film Ghost, which has confirmed it will open… Read More
Published: 16 September 2010
Matthew Goodgame is to replace Noel Sullivan as iconic high school stud Danny Zuko for the final six months of Grease’s run at London’s Piccadilly theatre. The former Musicality contestant… Read More
Actress Lisa Dillon has a natural innocence that suggests you could leave her alone with an open box of the most tempting chocolates and return later to find that not… Read More
Simon Thomas, who spent his summer strutting around Regents Park Open Air theatre as Rapunzel’s Prince in Into The Woods, will move to a theatre with a roof this autumn… Read More
Full casting has been announced for the Gemma Arterton and Stephen Dillane led production of Ibsen’s The Master Builder, which opens at the Almeida theatre in November.Joining the Tamara Drewe… Read More
Published: 15 September 2010
He has two shows opening in London this month, has been commissioned by West End producer Sonia Friedman, has had his worked performed in the National’s Olivier theatre, yet is… Read More
A whole new generation of children will come to love the sleepy pink-and-white cat Bagpuss this Christmas as Soho theatre and Birmingham Stage Company team up for a stage production… Read More
JT Rogers has expanded the short play first seen in the Tricycle theatre’s Afghanistan season into this full length drama which explores the power struggle between two superpowers using the… Read More
Published: 14 September 2010
The Young Vic has a history of staging productions with the help of the local community. The Human Comedy continues that tradition by employing the singing talents of around 100… Read More
Published: 13 September 2010
Shoes, choreographer Stephen Mear’s colourful homage to footwear, will be moving to the West End in February next year after the success of its short run at Sadler’s Wells this… Read More
Ghost Stories, the West End’s latest evening of frightening fun, has proved such a hit with fans of things that go bump in the night that it has extended its… Read More
As the Young Vic prepares to open its 40th birthday season, Charlotte Marshall looks back at the history of this radical venue south of the river.In 1970, a butcher’s shop… Read More
Published: 10 September 2010
Nell Leyshon, the first woman playwright to have a play staged at Shakespeare’s Globe, takes as her subject matter the Bethleham hospital, otherwise known as Bedlam, in the mid-18th century.… Read More
Are you a theatre-lover? Do you know your Shakespeare from your Stoppard? Are you on first name terms with the capital’s ushers? If so, you could see an entire year… Read More
Published: 9 September 2010
League Of Gentlemen star and Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss will be wintering at the National Theatre, where he joins the previously announced Catherine Tate and a stellar cast in a… Read More
Kids Week in the West End proved more popular in 2010 than ever before, selling more tickets, running longer and offering more children a chance to experience London theatre.The annual… Read More
Talented performers who think they can emulate some of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll stars of the 20th century are being asked to audition for a new West End production… Read More
Published: 8 September 2010
Whoopi Goldberg, who was forced to curtail her run in musical Sister Act at the London Palladium due to family illness, will return to the show for five performances only… Read More
Jamie Lloyd, currently directing the Donmar Warehouse’s revival of Sondheim’s Passion, tells Caroline Bishop why he is an actor’s director. Some people just make you wonder what you have done… Read More
There is something that just feels right about indulging in a thriller at the start of autumn. The encroaching darkness, the gathering storms and the chill creeping into the air… Read More
Who knew you could tap dance in platform shoes? Apparently you can. This rather impressive sight is just one of many scenes in dance revue Shoes which pay loving homage… Read More
Published: 7 September 2010
Following yesterday’s announcement of cabaret show La Soirée, another star of La Clique will return to London this Christmas. Magician Carl-Einar Häckner will stage his show Big In Sweden at… Read More
Published: 6 September 2010
Some of the stars of the Laurence Olivier Award-winning cabaret show La Clique will return to London this Christmas to present La Soirée, a new show held in a specially… Read More
Fans of hit West End show The Lion King can see exactly how the characters from the Disney story were created on stage thanks to a new exhibition at the… Read More
With Simon Russell Beale in Deathtrap, Rory Kinnear taking on Hamlet and Derek Jacobi’s King Lear, not to mention Matt Willis in Flashdance, this autumn is shaping up to be… Read More
Published: 3 September 2010
The witches of Wicked will defy gravity to soar into their fifth year in the West End; the Laurence Olivier Award-winning musical extends its booking period today to 29 October… Read More
The Tony Award-winning musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will receive its UK premiere at the Donmar Warehouse next spring as part of a season that also includes… Read More
Following his dissection of middle class guilt in The Pain And The Itch, American playwright Bruce Norris turns his biting wit onto the subject of prejudice across a period of… Read More
The new Access London Theatre brochure is now available and contains details of over 120 assisted performances taking place across London’s Theatreland this autumn. The brochure, which is published three… Read More
Women’s theatre company Clean Break will bring together six of Britain’s finest contemporary female playwrights at the Soho theatre this autumn for a cycle of shows entitled Charged.EV Crowe, Sam… Read More
Nigel Lindsay will have to get used to feeling a little green at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane next year as he takes on the role of Shrek in the… Read More
Published: 1 September 2010
Julie Graham and Daisy Beaumont will star in Shelagh Stephenson’s Enlightenment at the Hampstead theatre from 30 September to 30 October (press night 6 October). A psychological thriller, Enlightenment focuses… Read More
As Sophie Thompson prepares to return to the London stage, she chats to Matthew Amer not about her famous family, but about being voted a bitch, Fruit Pastilles and unemployment.Actress… Read More
The Royal Shakespeare Company is to premiere three new plays at Hampstead theatre from April to June 2011 as the final chapter in the work of the company’s current long… Read More
Published: 31 August 2010
Kacey Ainsworth and Ben James-Ellis are to star in a new production of Puss In Boots at the Arts theatre this Christmas from 18 November to 9 January (press night… Read More