Tuesday, April 15, 2014
From Ben Kingsley's Ford to Bill Alexander's 50s-era staging, Shakespeare's only purely English comedy perfectly captures middle-class mores. Let us know the best versions you've seenI've al…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:13AM[SHARE]Young Vic, LondonAncestral memory and a labyrinthine quest intertwine in this extraordinary piece set in Paris and the Middle EastHow do you present the situation in Syria on stage? The answ…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:30AM[SHARE]Monday, April 14, 2014
Stylishly presented, but why Trevor Nunn chose to lavish such loving care on this rancid relic from Noël Coward is a mysteryI can't imagine Noël Coward's 1951 light comedy being much…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:30PM[SHARE]Halesworth, SuffolkThe premiere of Nick Payne's ingenious play Incognito leads an exceptional festival devoted to new worksIt's a sign of the growing prestige of this exemplary festival for …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM[SHARE]Michael Billington recalls a feast of Falstaffs including Joss Ackland, David Warner and Orson Welles. Tell us your favourite versions of these state-of-the-nation playsKenneth Tynan called …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32AM[SHARE]Sunday, April 13, 2014
Lucy Kirkwood's Chimerica deserves all the praise heaped upon it but I'm sad to see The Scottsboro Boys coming away empty-handed Almeida theatre defeats West End giants Video: Watch scenes …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:30PM[SHARE]Young Vic, LondonArthur Miller's 1955 Brooklyn drama is stripped right back to showcase rich behavioural accuracy and high-quality performances Interview: Ivo van Hove Interview: Mark Strong…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:51AM[SHARE]Peter O'Toole, Patrick Stewart and Antony Sher have all made stunning Shylocks which versions of this problematic play have you been sold on?Obviously, The Merchant of Venice poses a proble…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:00AM[SHARE]Friday, April 11, 2014
On stage, the diary-writing teenager Adrian Mole was a joy because Townsend was serious about her single-parent hero and funny about everything elseI first came across Sue Townsend in 1979. …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:57AM[SHARE]Thursday, April 10, 2014
Almeida theatre, LondonMike Bartlett has written a speculative play about the future of the monarchy that has the courage to ask serious questionsMike Bartlett has written a speculative play…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:28PM[SHARE]This enchanting comedy has been revived many times yet the play gives constant pleasure. Peter Brook and Michael Boyd's versions both had a magical sensualityI sometimes feel sorry for direc…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:08AM[SHARE]Mega-fame and limitless cash can turn a man into a monster, and Simon Stephens's new play excellently evokes its hero's spiritually shrunken worldNo one will be surprised to learn, from Simo…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:05AM[SHARE]Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Shakespeare's poorly plotted tragedy turns on the shortcomings of the Veronese postal service and is eclipsed by West Side Story yet the best productions overcome these defectsI once anger…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:33AM[SHARE]Olivier, LondonNigel Lindsay hits the right note, but this production lacks the farce that unlocks the pain within Alan Ayckbourn's fable Ayckbourn: 'I've never been a political writer: I'm …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:23AM[SHARE]Tuesday, April 8, 2014
David Tennant, Samuel West and Ian Richardson have all excelled in the role but Ben Whishaw's king was extraordinary part Jesus Christ and part Michael JacksonKenneth Tynan once referred to…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:23AM[SHARE]Monday, April 7, 2014
Park theatre, LondonWilliam Ivory's tribute to the men of RAF Bomber Command is a highly accomplished look at faith and wartime memories if overly contrivedThere's a patent sincerity to Wil…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:35AM[SHARE]Some take this story of the wavering king more seriously than others. Do you have a grudging affection for this unloved play?King John is an unloved play. Yet I have to admit to a grudging a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:47AM[SHARE]Mickey Rooney, who has died aged 93, had a long stage career on both sides of the Atlantic. In this archive piece, originally published on 22 September 1988, Michael Billington can't help bu…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:28AM[SHARE]Saturday, April 5, 2014
One of Shakespeare's most sublime comedies took Bernard Levin to the heights of ecstasy, apparently. How was it for you?Bernard Levin once said of a production of this play in Regent's Park …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:59AM[SHARE]Friday, April 4, 2014
Productions of Shakespeare's early play on love and rivalry should be commonplace: in practice, Crab the dog is the best thing in it. Help Michael Billington find the best productionsI reall…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM[SHARE]Thursday, April 3, 2014
Roy Williams has returned to the theatre where he started his career and produced a compelling dramaRoy Williams, who has written many fine plays, including Fallout and Sucker Punch, has ret…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:00PM[SHARE]It's the 'barbaric, disgusting play' that Michael Billington once demanded never be performed again. But, as well as its characters, is there a chance of redemption for the play itself?I onc…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM[SHARE]Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Theatre Royal HaymarketThe actors do all they can within the script's limits, but a film that was at least a brutally effective psychological thriller has become a modern morality playThere …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:19PM[SHARE]Old Vic, LondonJon Robin Baitz's Christmas-set drama uses fractured nuclear families to examine the broken American psycheI was arguing with a friend the other day about whether plays should…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:37AM[SHARE]Friday, March 21, 2014
The Print Room, LondonJon Fosse's tale of one man's grief over the loss of his dog is well-acted, yet the play lacks dramatic tensionIn the past, I've eagerly championed the work of the Norw…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AM[SHARE]Thursday, March 20, 2014
Menier Chocolate Factory, London Ray Cooney's production achieves the correct delirious momentum and gets good performances from everyone, including the playwrightWhen I first saw Ray Cooney…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:59AM[SHARE]Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Gielgud, LondonAngela Lansbury is back on a London stage after nearly 40 years, but her presence has a faintly distorting effectGood as it is to see Angela Lansbury back on a London stage af…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:00PM[SHARE]Sunday, March 16, 2014
Orange Tree, RichmondThis abrasive comedy about the UK's recent economic belt-tightening suggests writer Torben Betts should be a bigger nameClass is the engine driving much British drama. I…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:21AM[SHARE]Friday, March 14, 2014
Ustinov Studio, BathAll of life's big dramas take place around the dining table in Dan LeFranc's madcap look at love and marriageMichael Boyd, after a decade with the Royal Shakespeare Compa…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:27AM[SHARE]Stratford East's musical will be broadcast tonight, proving radio is still doing more for the stage than TVTonight Oh What a Lovely War could be said to be coming home. The current Theatre R…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:34AM[SHARE]Thursday, March 13, 2014
Everyman, Liverpool The reborn theatre's first production boasts a superb Malvolio in Nicholas Woodeson and Matthew Kelly as Sir Toby Belch, but could do with speeding up a bit"We want to cr…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:23AM[SHARE]Loading more stories…
