All stories by Chris Wiegand on BroadwayStars

Monday, June 26, 2017

Brexit Shorts: The End by Abi Morgan, starring Penelope Wilton " video by Jess Gormley, Noah Payne-Frank, Liese Spencer and Chris Wiegand

'There's no coming back from this' … After 43 years together, Helen is shocked that her husband is leaving Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM[SHARE]

Brexit Shorts: The Pines by Gary Owen, starring Steffan Rhodri " video by Jess Gormley, Noah Payne-Frank, Liese Spencer and Chris Wiegand

'But if I don't do this, what else can I do?' … A Welsh dairy farmer reflects on the real cost of a flat white Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM[SHARE]

Brexit Shorts: Shattered by Maxine Peake, starring Nasser Memarzia " video by Jess Gormley, Noah Payne-Frank, Liese Spencer and Chris Wiegand

'People are petrified' … An immigration lawyer in Manchester sees fear " and hope " in his community Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12AM[SHARE]

Brexit Shorts: Burn by James Graham, starring Joanna Scanlan " video by Jess Gormley, Noah Payne-Frank, Liese Spencer and Chris Wiegand

'I'm a warrior who's been waiting for a war' … Internet troll Carol whips up Brexit fury in Mansfield Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12AM[SHARE]
Friday, June 23, 2017

Brexit Shorts: Giving voice to a divided Britain through new dramas by Chris Wiegand

The Guardian's pioneering dramatic collaboration inspired by last year's EU referendum offers characters who lay bare our complex national responses A year on from last summer's Brexit vote,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AM[SHARE]
Monday, June 19, 2017

Leading playwrights create Brexit dramas for the Guardian by Chris Wiegand

As the Guardian launches Brexit Shorts, a series of online films about the seismic effects of the EU referendum, playwrights David Hare and Abi Morgan assess the UK's political turmoilNine l…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:12AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Ruff ride: the everlasting battles and beauty of Shakespeare's Globe by Chris Wiegand

To mark the Globe's 20th birthday, we raid the Guardian archives to see how it has divided critics, sparked academic arguments, faced down political protests " and weathered the British summ…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:36AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 7, 2017

'We must take a stand': the vital election issues " picked by young British artists by Harriet Gibsone, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, Kate Hutchinson and Chris Wiegand

Lily Cole wants a green century, Girli wants a housing revolution, and Liam Williams wants to boot out the billionaire club … some of Britain's most talented young artists spell out the el…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:36AM[SHARE]

Derek Jarman's punk classic Jubilee to be reignited on stage by Chris Wiegand

Toyah Willcox plays the time-travelling Elizabeth I in the Royal Exchange's version of the film that caused outrage after 1977's silver jubileeDerek Jarman's anarchic punk film Jubilee is to…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:06AM[SHARE]
Friday, May 19, 2017

Martin Freeman and Sarah Lancashire to star in James Graham's Labour party comedy by Chris Wiegand

Labour of Love, to be staged in the West End, is the latest political play by the dramatist who has also written two short scripts about Brexit for the GuardianMartin Freeman and Sarah Lanca…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:12AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Theatre director Michael Bogdanov dies aged 78 by Chris Wiegand

Welsh director was best known for The Romans in Britain, which led to an obscenity trial, and for co-founding the English Shakespeare CompanyMichael Bogdanov, the bold theatre director who s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:06AM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 30, 2017

New cast announced for West End hit Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Chris Wiegand

Stage adventure of JK Rowling's grown-up wizard prepares to refresh its lineup, while Broadway production is in the worksThe new cast has been announced for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:31AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Peppa Pig's Surprise review " a squirting, snorting, exhausting show by Chris Wiegand

Duke of York's theatre, LondonA puppet Peppa and her family have fun around the house in a touring stage version that stays close to the TV series and gets the kids singing and giggling "Exc…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:42PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 21, 2017

So you want to be an artist? Then let the pros show you how it's done by Interviews By Chris Wiegand, Dave Simpson and Homa Khaleeli

DBC Pierre wrote in a fever, Frank Turner dabbled in thrash and Nikki Amuka-Bird jumped off a cliff. Artists reveal how they got to the top " and how you can tooThe actor: Nikki Amuka-Bird, …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54PM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 26, 2017

From Lisbon with love: Regina Advento on Pina Bausch's portrait of Portugal by Chris Wiegand

How do you capture the spirit of Lisbon? With a show featuring fado, sunbathing dancers and an enigmatic walrus. The Tanztheater Wuppertal star recalls making Masurca FogoIt's bitterly cold …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42AM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 8, 2017

Perfume seller wins Bruntwood prize for play about welfare cuts by Chris Wiegand

Katherine Soper awarded £16,000 and residency at Royal Exchange for 'first proper play' about mental health and changes to the benefits systemThe UK's biggest playwriting competition has …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:33AM[SHARE]
Friday, December 30, 2016

The Guardian's Shakespeare Solos series continues with six new films by Chris Wiegand

Joanna Lumley plays Viola, David Threlfall is Prospero and Daniel Mays sees a dagger before him in our latest set of videos to mark the 400th anniversary of the playwright's deathSix more fi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48PM[SHARE]
Saturday, December 10, 2016

Queen musical We Will Rock You to close in London after 12-year run by Chris Wiegand

Critically panned but hugely popular jukebox musical to close doors after 4,600 performances at Dominion theatreTwelve years after it opened, the Queen and Ben Elton musical We Will Rock You…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24PM[SHARE]
Friday, December 2, 2016

Simon Russell Beale webchat " full Q&A by Chris Wiegand

The great Shakespearean answered your questions on his extraordinary careerSimon Russell Beale joined us to talk about tackling King Lear " a mountain of a role, as Peter Brook once called i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:42AM[SHARE]
Saturday, October 22, 2016

Flick Colby obituary by Chris Wiegand

Choreographer behind Pan's People, the dance troupe loved by Top of the Pops fansWhen 15 million viewers tuned into Top of the Pops each week during the show's 1970s heyday, the appeal exten…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:09PM[SHARE]
Friday, October 21, 2016

Shakespeare's Globe appoints Emma Rice as new artistic director by Chris Wiegand

Rice will follow Mark Rylance and Dominic Dromgoole in top job at the theatre when she takes over in April 2016The job description demanded "visionary and charismatic leadership", the abilit…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:55PM[SHARE]
Friday, October 14, 2016

Damian Lewis returns to West End for revival of Edward Albee play by Chris Wiegand

Homeland and Wolf Hall star will appear in The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? at Theatre Royal Haymarket in spring 2017Damian Lewis is to star in the second West End revival of an Edward Albee play…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48AM[SHARE]
Friday, October 7, 2016

Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag to return to Soho theatre by Chris Wiegand

The filthy comedy " a hit for the BBC this summer " will be staged at the venue where it first started out as a monologueFleabag, this year's breakout TV anti-heroine, is returning to the th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:46AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Let's Fly review " featherlight adventure for kids by Chris Wiegand

Little Angel theatre, London A companion piece to the puppet theatre's autumn show Emily Rising delivers some escapist fun for the under-sixes Shakera Ahad is one of the busiest puppeteers w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:08AM[SHARE]
Saturday, September 24, 2016

Morrissey or Shelagh Delaney? " quiz by Chris Wiegand

Hull Truck's A Taste of Honey, starring Shameless's Rebecca Ryan, is the second major revival this year of Shelagh Delaney's hugely influential debut. As Morrissey once observed, "At least 5…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:25PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Harry Enfield to make theatre debut as movie mogul in Hollywood satire by Chris Wiegand

Once in a Lifetime leads Young Vic season that includes a 'grownup' Midsummer Night's Dream and a new show devised by sex workersHarry Enfield is to make his theatrical debut in a revival of…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:44PM[SHARE]
Saturday, September 10, 2016

John Malkovich to make London debut as a theatre director by Maev Kennedy and Chris Wiegand

Actor will return to the UK in order to stage Zach Helm's play Good Canary at Kingston's Rose theatreThe American actor John Malkovich is heading to the UK " not to the West End stage, but t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24PM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 8, 2016

Paul Auster's meta-thriller City of Glass coming to the stage in 2017 by Chris Wiegand

Duncan Macmillan and 59 Productions' adaptation of Auster's innovative detective novel will have its world premiere in ManchesterCity of Glass, Paul Auster's meta-detective novel about a thr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:28AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 7, 2016

The Railway Children review " Justin Fletcher boards first-class crowdpleaser by Chris Wiegand

King's Cross theatre, LondonThe CBeebies favourite has been cast as Mr Perks in this imaginative adaptation of E Nesbit's classic " but the real star of the show pulls in later"Dad?" Six-yea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:58AM[SHARE]
Monday, August 22, 2016

Edinburgh comedy awards 2014: the nominees in full by Chris Wiegand

Former nominees James Acaster and Sam Simmons, and last year's best newcomer, John Kearns, are on the seven-strong shortlist for the main prize at the Edinburgh comedy awardsEdinburgh comedy…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:34AM[SHARE]
Monday, August 1, 2016

'Booed off in 17 seconds' " comedians recall their first gigs by Chris Wiegand and Anna Menin

Shappi Khorsandi felt as if she'd walked on the moon. Isy Suttie watched a man change a dressing on a wound as she spoke. Omid Djalili fell off the stage. So how did the first gigs of Paul M…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:55AM[SHARE]

All that Chat