stage
-
A career on stageVanessa Redgrave has captivated audiences since her early days at the RSC. She has starred alongside her father, siblings and children, enthralled Broadway and is still commanding the stage today
-
Classic plays ruined by concept directorsPlaywright speaks out in new book against ‘distortion’ of plays and move away from tradition -
Dancing Bear, Dancing Bear review – gyration of the gender rolesStarting naked, and narrated by a female voice, two men physically dominate and surrender to each other – raising questions of coercion between the sexes -
In the Depths of Dead Love review – pale and uninterestingOnly the row over an all-white cast, in a tale set in ancient China, quickens the pulse of this arduous play
-
Les Enfants Terribles by the Royal BalletThe Barbican in London is staging a new production of Philip Glass’s dance-opera based on Jean Cocteau’s sensational novel Les Enfants Terribles. Step inside the surreal world of two siblings’ deadly games
-
Les Enfants Terribles review – Javier De Frutos teases out sex-games siblings' inner damageWith eight Royal Ballet dancers enacting the claustrophobic world of an incestuous couple, De Frutos weaves intricate physical poetry around Jean Cocteau’s text and Philip Glass’s limiting score
talking points
-
First cast members revealed for West End productionInitial names announced ahead of London opening of the record-breaking Broadway musical – but no word on the lead role
-
Bryan Cranston to star in National Theatre production of NetworkBreaking Bad actor to make UK stage debut in media satire, as NT also announces productions of Pinocchio and Macbeth
-
-
Regina Advento on Pina Bausch's portrait of PortugalHow 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 Fogo
-
What is it that makes Scottish comedians so funny?As suppers are held for Robert Burns’ birthday, here’s a toast to the standups of Scotland whose attitudes and accents are perfectly suited to comedy
-
John Shuttleworth webchat – your questions answered on Eurovision, pease pudding and Robbie Williams
John Shuttleworth webchat – your questions answered on Eurovision, pease pudding and Robbie Williams
The comedic Sheffield organist joined us to answer your questions in a live webchat, covering everything from his favourite organs to the best way to wear a cardigan -
Rising stars of 2017: comedian Lolly AdefopeThe English graduate from south London has gone from open-mic contender to national award-winner thanks to her one-woman cast of sharply drawn characters
-
Shappi Khorsandi: ‘I had a dream Donald Trump got a lead role in Hamilton’The standup and president of the British Humanist Association on what makes her laugh the most
-
How the pop sensation became Broadway's leading manThe singer with 20m album sales to his name has realized a dream by making his Broadway debut starring in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812
-
'Theatre can be incredibly real – it’s dangerous'He brought sex dolls to Measure for Measure and a food fight to The Changeling. As his Midsummer Night’s Dream looms at the Young Vic, the director discusses the dark truth to fairy stories
-
Vicky McClure webchat – your questions answered on fry ups, Motown and Shane MeadowsThe Line of Duty star discusses improvisation, Notts County and mucking about with the cast of This Is England
-
Kathryn Hunter rules the roost as Bernarda Alba makes a bold returnGraeae and the Royal Exchange are staging Lorca’s classic in a show that creatively incorporates BSL, captioning and audio description and takes a great play to another level
from the archive
-
Shakespeare's characters fight it out in our interactive gameCould Richard III handle Hamlet in a punch-up? Is Falstaff craftier than Cleopatra? Celebrate Shakespeare’s 450th birthday by pitting his characters against each other
series
-
The funniest thingThe funniest thingNick Mohammed: ‘I secretly write down my wife’s jokes’The Drifters star on the things that make him laugh the most
-
Shakespeare's plays – as you like themShakespeare's plays – as you like themBest Shakespeare productions: what's your favourite Henry VIII?The play that burned down the Globe theatre in 1613, after a stage cannon ignited the thatch, is a potent farewell to this series, writes Michael Billington
-
Play timePlay timeSnowflakes review – CBeebies' Cerrie Burnell delivers a festive treatBurnell has adapted her own book for a show for under-sevens featuring songs, audience participation and some charming puppets
-
The Funny SideThe Funny SideBeth Vyse: A breast cancer appointment is like Deal or No Deal – videoWhat happens when you’re faced with a breast cancer diagnosis at 28? Beth Vyse was whisked off to Alicante and offered a chocolate box full of fake nipples
pictures & video
-
Inside Kenya's slum ballet schoolThe Kibera ballet school is part of Anno’s Africa project, working in slum areas in Kenya. Weekly ballet classes are held in the Spurgeons academy school, with teacher and former dancer Mike Wamaya
-
Isy Suttie's six tips for meeting The Actual OneHow should you act when you come face-to-face with a potential partner? Make sure you’re brutally honest. Isy Suttie and Stephen Wight demonstrate six ways to check your compatibility
-
Andrew Scott's stage performancesAs he begins rehearsals for Hamlet at the Almeida, take a look at the theatrical career of Andrew Scott
-
The art of movementIn the book The Art of Movement, Ken Browar and Deborah Ory of NYC Dance Project capture some of the most accomplished dancers in the world in a series of striking poses
-
My love-hate relationship with OthelloPhoebe Boswell riffs on her conflicted attitudes towards Othello in Dear Mr Shakespeare, which co-stars Ashley Thomas aka Bashy
-
Tim Yip's stunning designsThe Oscar-winning artist Tim Yip talks through five of his creations, including Ang Lee’s martial arts epic and Akram Khan’s Giselle
you may have missed
-
Siobhan Davies' dance show connects mind and bodyThe choreographer’s latest project explores the ‘intelligent body’, as her audience follow their own path through the Barbican’s Curve gallery
-
'I love winding people up'The firebrand writer is a vociferous critic of the establishment but his new work is an RSC commission about Caravaggio. He talks about challenging audiences’ prejudices – and his own
-
'If you're not obsessed, you'll never survive'Don’t expect to be in control, never stop looking for the next role: Siân Phillips, Timothy West and Janet Henfrey on how they turned acting into a life’s work
-
'The whole of democracy looks fragile and farcical'How do you top a hit play about global politics? By tackling the end of the world – from nuclear meltdown to Brexit and Trump. The writer talks eavesdropping and honesty
-
My onstage breakdown at the RSCIn 1995, Mark Lockyer was appearing in Romeo and Juliet when he was overcome with anxiety, fear and paranoia, beginning a bipolar rollercoaster. Now he’s turned those dark days into a solo show – with tea and biscuits
-
'The fear of stereotyping is crippling'Recent graduate Leah Harvey shares her experiences of being the only black female student in her year at drama school
-
Sacha Dhawan as Parolles: 'Are you meditating on virginity?'In a speech taken from the first scene of All’s Well That Ends Well, Sacha Dhawan’s Parolles stresses the importance of losing one’s virginity
-
Zawe Ashton as Jaques in As You Like It: ‘All the world’s a stage’ – videoJaques’s speech about the seven ages of man from As You Like It is performed by Zawe Ashton
-
Paterson Joseph as Shylock: 'You call me misbeliever'Paterson Joseph speaks Shylock’s lines from The Merchant of Venice, in which the moneylender reminds Antonio of the times he has insulted him
-
Ayesha Dharker as Titania: ‘The forgeries of jealousy’Ayesha Dharker plays Titania, the queen of the fairies, in a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
-
Joanna Lumley as Viola: 'I left no ring with her'Joanna Lumley speaks Viola’s soliloquy from Twelfth Night in which, disguised as a page boy, she wonders whether Olivia has fallen in love with her
-
Riz Ahmed as Edmund: 'Now, gods, stand up for bastards'Riz Ahmed speaks Edmund’s soliloquy from King Lear, in which Edmund reflects upon being an illegitimate son and plots against his half-brother, Edgar
John Hurt, 1940-2017 A master at portraying misfits
Sir John Hurt obituary