stage
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Can Kenneth Branagh succeed where Olivier failed?He has always been compared to Laurence Olivier. But, as his star-laden season opens at the Garrick, can he now outdo him as actor-manager – and save the West End?
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How much do you know about the revolutionary musical?Thirty years ago today, Les Misérables had its official London opening. Test your knowledge of the show -
Step into Rambert's rehearsals with our live-streamOn Wednesday 14 October, Rambert will throw open its doors: watch a morning class and rehearsals for Rooster and Transfigured Night, plus a debate on female choreographers -
Guardian Live | My favourite plays of all time with Michael Billington and John Lahr, chaired by Josie RourkeJoin two titans of theatre criticism as they go head to head to reveal their 5 favourite plays to grace the stage. …
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Teddy Ferrara – fierce tale of homophobia on campusDirected with flair by Dominic Cooke, Christopher Shinn’s polemical play demolishes the myth that we live in a cosy world of sexual tolerance
talking points
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Eddie Izzard to bring epic Force Majeure tour to LondonThe comic arrives in the West End in January with ‘reloaded’ version of his four-language show for a three-week residency
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Trev and Simon are backThe groovy Going Live! duo, who spent Saturday mornings mucking around with Sting and Kylie, are embarking on a sci-fi adventure with Sophie Aldred. It’s a journey into space, time and daftness
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At Arts Council England’s No Boundaries conference, the idea that big is beautiful seemed to be gaining traction. But in theatre, one size doesn’t fit allThe bigger the better? Sizing up the Arts Council's intentions
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Royal Ballet: Raven Girl/Connectome – Wayne McGregor in fine featherMcGregor’s adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger’s novel takes flight, but Alastair Marriott’s Connectome is left exposed in this mixed programme
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A year of watching standups die on stageThere’s nothing like a comedian bombing so hard that the audience is left confused and angry. To create my new show I sought out comics’ catastrophes – and endured my own baptism of fire at the mic
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A New York Times article suggests that ‘public truth-telling has become the responsibility of comedians’. For evidence, look to Tig Notaro, Bridget Christie and Shazia MirzaIs this the age of the serious standup?
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Des O'Connor and Jimmy Tarbuck at the PalladiumThe jokes were dated and non-PC, the delivery perfectly timed: for one night only, the showbiz survivors teamed up to create a piece of theatre history
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Michael McIntyre – comedy monarch of middle EnglandThe comedian delivers a decidedly unadventurous set, but manages to fashion unpromising raw material into killer lines and vivid comic images
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'My legacy? Some good parts for actors'In this extract from Mel Gussow’s book Conversations with Miller, the great American playwright talks in 1986 about what he thought he’d leave behind, the egotism of actors … and carpentry
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Isabelle Huppert to stage London theatre return in PhaedraCelebrated French actor to take lead role in production by Krzysztof Warlikowski at the Barbican in June
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The Father – echoes of Lear in Alzheimer’s dramaKenneth Cranham and Claire Skinner are superb in Florian Zeller’s moving play that takes you inside the mind of a man with dementia
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Friel, whose death has been announced, was never a writer to be pigeonholed. He leaves a vast variety of personal and political plays, as well as beautiful translationsBrian Friel: Ireland's great theatrical explorer
polls & quizzes
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Can you rhyme like Sondheim?
Sondheim's lyrics are some of the best we've heard. How well do you know them? Add the missing word …
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How much do you know about Arthur Miller?
On the 10th anniversary of his death, test your knowledge of the man behind Death of a Salesman, All My Sons and A View from the Bridge
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Trivia, she wrote: how well do you know Angela Lansbury?Broadway sensation, TV detective and three-time Oscar nominee Angela Lansbury turns 90 in October. See if you can detect the correct answers in our quiz
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Playwrights describe their characters: can you identify them?
Sometimes the description of a character in the stage directions says as much as lines of dialogue. Do you recognise these eight figures as described by the playwrights who created them?
from the archive
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Connection: a short film starring Jude Law
Two actors with very different concerns meet at an airport and find that they have more in common than it at first seems. Starring Nicolai Khalezin and Jude Law
pictures & video
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50 years of star-crossed dancersIt’s half a century since the premiere of Kenneth MacMillan’s ballet. Here are some of the dancers who have been paired as the doomed lovers, from Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev to Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae
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Lupita, Keira and King Charles III: New York's essential theatreClive Owen does Pinter’s Old Times, Sam Rockwell does Shepard’s Fool for Love and Arthur Miller’s centenary is celebrated with the arrival of Ivo van Hove’s sensational View from the Bridge. Plus: Lupita Nyong’o, James Earl Jones and Keira Knightley are treading the boards
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The designs of Jan VersweyveldThe Flemish designer talks to David Jays about his groundbreaking set designs for works by Euripides, Arthur Miller, Ayn Rand and Ingmar Bergman
you may have missed
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Shaking up ShakespeareAre all theatre companies, no matter how experimental, drawn to the Bard? Emma Rice, Simon McBurney, Tim Crouch and others reflect on their alternative approaches
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Moira Buffini 'For many playwrights, money never comes at all'