Published: 4 July 2008
Contemporary issues should be the lifeblood of new writing, feeding playwrights with situations and themes to explore and examine. Yet the 7/7 bombings that hit central London have been relatively… Read More
Flamenco Flamen’ka, a dance show directed by Strictly Come Dancing judge and choreographer Craig Revel Horwood, comes to the Lyric theatre for an eight-week run from 18 September (press night… Read More
Published: 3 July 2008
Sanjeev Bhaskar’s nerves were rattled last night, not because of the press gathered for his official first night in Monty Python’s Spamalot, but because of the presence of former Python… Read More
Fairies’ Tale, a new production for 3-7-year-olds, plays at Chickenshed theatre from 24 July to 6 August. Using puppets, live music and physical theatre, the show is no ordinary fairy… Read More
Michael Gambon is to return to the West End stage in the Gate theatre Dublin’s production of Harold Pinter’s play No Man’s Land, which transfers to the Duke of York’s… Read More
Published: 2 July 2008
The Society of London Theatre 2007 Box Office Data Report is now available, and with last year breaking almost all box office records it makes for interesting reading.Underlining theatre’s popularity,… Read More
Andy Nyman’s name does not immediately bring a face to mind. Yet the talented actor has spent the last decade playing film leads and being the creative force behind Derren… Read More
If you’ve ever dreamed of moving to a cottage by the sea, living off the land in the company of your closest friends, eating, drinking and sharing ideas together, Hampstead’s… Read More
In Sabores, which translates as flavours, Sara Baras, her company of 10 dancers and two guest artists aim to give the audience a taster of the different styles and steps… Read More
Published: 1 July 2008
Josh Hartnett is the latest Hollywood actor to tread the boards in the West End as he teams up with British actor Adam Godley for a new stage adaptation of… Read More
2,000 Feet Away, the debut drama by Anthony Weigh, which stars Joseph Fiennes, Ian Hart and Phyllis Logan, has extended its run at the Bush until 19 July. The extra… Read More
Imagine This, a new musical set in Poland during the Second World War, is to have its West End premiere at the New London theatre on 19 November, after previews… Read More
Published: 30 June 2008
Alan Perrin and Nigel Betts will join the cast of Laurence Olivier Award-winning comedy The 39 Steps on 28 July, to play the character-juggling roles of Man 1 and Man… Read More
Published: 27 June 2008
Will Keen, Nancy Carroll, David Morrissey and Steven Mackintosh are to star in the Almeida’s autumn season, while Peter McDonald takes centre stage at the Islington venue’s Summer Festival.Keen and… Read More
Gillian Anderson returns to the UK stage to play Nora in A Doll’s House at the Donmar Warehouse in the spring of next year. Exact dates are yet to be… Read More
Shakespeare’s fairytale A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a staple of the season at the Open Air theatre, Regent’s Park. But this year we can expect a very different production of… Read More
Published: 26 June 2008
Brecht’s comic parable Turandot will kick off the autumn season at the Hampstead theatre, Artistic Director Anthony Clark announced today. The epic opener is one of three Hampstead commissions in… Read More
The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) has announced that Nica Burns will become the Society’s 29th President when Rosemary Squire steps down on 3 July. Burns, co-owner and Chief Executive… Read More
When Peter Schaufuss looked up the word ‘diva’ in the dictionary and saw it to mean a ‘very great female singer’, in his mind the three women undoubtedly most deserving… Read More
Published: 25 June 2008
It is not often that an interviewee takes on a metaphorical role for an interviewer. Even less often that the metaphor they become relates directly to the show in which… Read More
Audiences are invited to decide for themselves whether Britain’s immigration system is fair, in a new production at Southwark Playhouse based on the hard-hitting testimonials of those seeking refuge in… Read More
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have, in recent years, become rich veins for art to mine; the politics and the human stories are rife with emotion and reaction, writes… Read More
Published: 24 June 2008
Award-winning burlesque artists Miss Polly Rae and the Hurly Burly Girlys, and Mr Dusty Limits, will bring their blend of cabaret, variety and burlesque to the Arts theatre this autumn.The… Read More
Published: 23 June 2008
Theatre company Horla presents its version of the classic children’s tale Little Red Riding Hood at the Cannizaro Festival in Wimbledon for three performances this July. Suitable for anyone over… Read More
Fox Jackson-Keen will today become the first Londoner to play the title role in international hit musical Billy Elliot when he takes to the stage at the Victoria Palace.Jackson-Keen, a… Read More
Connie Fisher returns to the stage alongside Alistair McGowan in the musical romance They’re Playing Our Song at the Menier Chocolate Factory from 25 July (press night 4 August). Written… Read More
Published: 20 June 2008
The National Theatre’s outdoor summer festival, Watch This Space, returns to the Southbank venue for its 10th year on Friday 4 July. Offering more than 100 free shows and events… Read More
Michael Grandage has assembled a weighty cast of youth and experience to join Kenneth Branagh in Ivanov, the first production in the Donmar West End season at the Wyndham’s, which… Read More
Published: 19 June 2008
The National Theatre has confirmed that August: Osage County, the Oklahoma-set drama which won five Tony Awards last weekend, will come to the South Bank in late November.Official dates are… Read More
Oval House theatre’s fifth annual summer school is inviting young people aged 11 to 16 to help create a production of The Grimms’ Tales, to be performed in the open-air… Read More
The Lyric Hammersmith’s free Summer Party returns this year with a host of interactive events and shows for families, taking place in and around the West London theatre on Saturday… Read More
This most comic of tales is exploited to the hilt in a Monty Python-esque production at Shakespeare’s Globe, writes Caroline Bishop. A Frenchman who could easily have been plucked from… Read More
Published: 18 June 2008
Adam Long gives Caroline Bishop a glimpse into the offbeat world of Dickens Unplugged… “It’s very difficult to play an accordion and wear a Victorian wedding dress at the same time,”… Read More
Plays by Mark Ravenhill, Nicholas Wright and Frantic Assembly are included in the National Theatre’s New Connections festival this year, which runs from 3 to 8 July.New Connections, which was… Read More
A selection of Mamma Mia!’s Dancing Queens will take their talents to the Arts theatre for a special one-off Macmillan Cancer Support fundraising concert on Sunday.Linzi Hateley, Joanna Monro, Katie… Read More
Fact, fiction, acting or real life? Caroline Bishop went to see actor David Bradley’s portrayal of an actor acting, in The Quiz.Will he finally die on stage like Tommy Cooper… Read More
Published: 17 June 2008
Fans of Victorian literary powerhouse Charles Dickens will have to be quick to catch the comic adaptation of his life and works, as Dickens Unplugged has announced it will close… Read More
Former Phantom Earl Carpenter and Avenue Q’s Jon Robyns are to star in Les Misérables as part of a major cast change in the 22-year-old musical. The new cast –… Read More
Plays concerning paedophilia are never comfortable viewing. In the intimate environment of the Bush, Anthony Weigh’s 2,000 Feet Away can feel positively claustrophobic, writes Matthew Amer.Gone is the proscenium arch… Read More
Published: 16 June 2008
A chill breeze swept through the Open Air theatre during Friday’s press night; not quite the shipwreck-inducing howling gale of Twelfth Night’s opening, but enough to encourage tightening of coats,… Read More
Champagne corks were popping across London yesterday, when British transfers to Broadway collected five prestigious Tony Awards between them.Boeing Boeing won Best Revival of a Play, with leading man Mark… Read More
Actors Janet McTeer and Chiwetel Ejiofor and playwrights Roy Williams and Tanika Gupta are among those named in the Queen’s birthday honours.Laurence Olivier Award-winning actors McTeer and Ejiofor both receive… Read More
Published: 13 June 2008
The lure of the Tricycle theatre has drawn five original cast members back to reprise their roles in upcoming productions of Moonlight And Magnolias and Let There Be Love.Andy Nyman… Read More
Anna Chancellor, Owen Teale and Tom Burke have been confirmed in the cast of the Donmar Warehouse’s autumn production of Creditors.The experienced trio will be directed by Alan Rickman in… Read More
Kids Week is back! Booking for the annual free theatre tickets extravaganza opens on 15 July 2008, with an array of London’s top shows already lined up to participate in… Read More
Published: 12 June 2008
The casts of High School Musical, The 39 Steps, Brief Encounter, Betwixt! and All Bob’s Women have joined the already seam-bulging line up for West End Live, which takes place… Read More
Dominic Cooke today unveiled the autumn/winter season for new writing hotbed the Royal Court.The US figures strongly in the programming with a presidential election drama from Christopher Shinn and a… Read More
If all good stories are based on truth, then Enid Bagnold’s The Chalk Garden is a prime example. So eccentric are the characters and so obscure the situation that this… Read More
Published: 11 June 2008
“It’s pretty idyllic at the moment.” This is how actor Jo Stone-Fewings describes his life, and it is hard to disagree with him, writes Matthew Amer.Stone-Fewings is currently starring in… Read More
Former Pop Idol finalist and chart-topping singer Gareth Gates is to make his West End debut in gala show A Spoonful Of Stiles & Drewe. Gates joins a cast of… Read More
At the National Theatre, Michael Frayn has reunited the team behind Democracy – long-time Frayn director Michael Blakemore and leading actor Roger Allam – for a new historical play, Afterlife.Rather… Read More
Iraqi writer Hassan Abdulrazzak has won the 2008 George Devine Award for new writing for his debut play, Baghdad Wedding, the Royal Court has announced. Baghdad Wedding opened at the… Read More
Published: 10 June 2008
With the run of costume dramas and the rise of I’d Do Anything, Charles Dickens is back in vogue, writes Matthew Amer.The Victorian writer even has his own theme park… Read More
Based on the 1970s hit crime film responsible for launching Jimmy Cliff to fame, reggae musical The Harder They Come comes to the Playhouse. Opening on one of the hottest… Read More
Published: 9 June 2008
English National Opera is offering families the chance to experience a day in the life of an opera singer with a workshop on 22 June. During the session, which lasts… Read More
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has announced it will return to the Novello later this year to play a winter season, transferring productions of Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and… Read More
Published: 6 June 2008
A busy week for the Young Vic has seen the Waterloo theatre launch a new wing – The Jerwood Pod – announce its programme until the new year and reveal… Read More
Published: 5 June 2008
Cabaret has become the third musical in the space of a week to announce that it will close in the West End. The dark Kander and Ebb drama finishes its… Read More
The Royal Festival Hall has announced a principal cast for The Wizard Of Oz which is packed with musical experience. Adam Cooper, Gary Wilmot, Roy Hudd, Julie Legrand, Hilton McRae… Read More
The National Theatre Of Scotland and Wee Stories bring their musical production of The Emperor’s New Kilt to Richmond theatre later this month.Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s classic The Emperor’s… Read More
Mike Bartlett’s black comedy Contractions causes the audience to squirm on the edge of their seats as the boundaries between work and play are brought under the spotlight and become… Read More
The plot includes rape, incest and countless murders, and yet The Revenger’s Tragedy is a surprisingly funny affair, found Caroline Bishop when she attended the first night at the National’s… Read More
Published: 4 June 2008
Ron Hutchinson, the playwright behind Tricycle hits Topless Mum and Moonlight And Magnolias, is a very busy man, writes Matthew Amer.He is currently balancing his writing commitments – in addition… Read More
Steve Waters often tackles subjects in areas where other playwrights fear to tread and his latest play is no exception. Immigration and exploitation are set to the soundtrack of Led… Read More
In London, we are used to Icelandic company Vesturport creating athletically challenging pieces such as Metamorphosis and its acrobatic Romeo And Juliet. Love is something quite different.Set in a retirement… Read More
Following last week’s announcement that War Horse is to be the first show at the National Theatre to give performances on a Sunday, the venue’s Director Nicholas Hytner has confirmed… Read More
All Bob’s Women, a new musical running at the Arts theatre this summer, launched yesterday with a parade of lingerie-wearing ladies.The models were sporting sexy underwear designed by model and… Read More
Children’s playwright David Wood and Guardian theatre critic Lyn Gardner will be among those discussing the participation of primary school children in theatre at a conference held at Soho theatre… Read More
Published: 3 June 2008
Eileen Atkins and Anna Maxwell Martin are to reunite with director Roger Michell for Joanna Murray-Smith’s play The Female Of The Species, which opens at the Vaudeville on 16 July… Read More
Published: 2 June 2008
The search for a Nancy may be over, the title role may already have been cast, but there is still a chance for young hopefuls to gain a part in… Read More
The Peter Hall-directed production of Pygmalion, which is currently playing at the Old Vic, has extended its London engagement and will now close on 9 August.The show had previously been… Read More
Sanjeev Bhaskar, star of television comedies including The Kumars At No. 42 and Goodness Gracious Me, is the fifth performer to be crowned King Arthur in the London production of… Read More
The much-anticipated musical adaptation of Gone With The Wind has announced that it will close at the New London on 14 June after just 79 performances.The production, which stars Darius… Read More
Jodie Prenger has won the chance to play Nancy in Cameron Macktintosh’s production of Oliver! after triumphing in the BBC television competition I’d Do Anything on Saturday night. The 28-year-old… Read More
Published: 30 May 2008
Sinead Cusack and Ethan Hawke are among those joining Simon Russell Beale in The Cherry Orchard and The Winter’s Tale, the first double bill in director Sam Mendes’s transatlantic venture… Read More