stage
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The Same review – Enda Walsh's psychodrama thrills in old Cork prisonTwo women meet in a psychiatric institution and realise they are the same person in a riveting, superbly realised production
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A play for our post-truth timesIn the 50s, Arthur Miller used 17th-century Salem to comment on the ‘red scare’. His drama is chillingly pertinent in the first weeks of Trump’s presidency -
Celia Imrie on Victoria Wood, writing novels – and being caught in the Nice terror attackThe star talks about her novels for neglected women, missing her ‘dear pal’ Victoria Wood – and how it was a miracle she survived the lorry attack in Nice -
New play satirises white privileged gay lifeAn upcoming piece of queer theatre by Declan Greene reflects uncomfortable truths for those it skewers
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Plan your week’s theatreTamsin Greig is Malvolia in a gender-shifting Twelfth Night at the National Theatre, while the Traverse’s brilliant Black Beauty does a final lap and Sherlock’s Andrew Scott stars as Hamlet
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Everybody's Talking About Jamie review – drag musical from the Feeling frontmanDan Gillespie Sells has a lot to offer musical theatre, but this Billy Elliot-style story about a northern teen drag queen lacks drama
talking points
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Brexit is too big for the stageAs Rosencrantz and Guildenstern returns, Tom Stoppard remembers the dandy who wrote it 50 years ago, picks his favourite play – and says he wants to make audiences cry
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May Morris's love letter to George Bernard ShawCard whose receipt Bernard Shaw noted in his diary is identified in uncatalogued album and will go on display
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Masurca Fogo review – a hot collage of anguish and joyIn Pina Bausch’s impressionistic travelogue of Portugal and Brazil, the dancers confess intimate memories, put their bodies on parade and enjoy larky games
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Often people just Asian assume Asian that Asian everything you Asian talk about Asian is just the Asian fact that you’re AsianAll standups have angles. But my jokes about being Asian just seem to upset @BritFIrstPete7
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We need a rebirth of political comedy: preaching to the converted about Trump and Brexit isn’t going to be enoughA new satire must emerge – one that breaks out of the liberal bubble
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Is comedy infectious to doctors?A white coat is often a sign of funny bones, as periodic outbreaks of medically trained comedians demonstrate
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How Bridget Christie found the funny side of BrexitAfter the EU referendum result, Bridget Christie ripped up her Edinburgh show and created a new one in just a few weeks. This is an anatomy of a standup set that has changed with the headlines
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Bristol's In Between Time makes a mark with personal, political showsIn Between Time reveals a readiness to respond to the times with shows about refugees, race and togetherness, posing vital questions about an anxious world
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How Hollywood faux pas inspired Beau Brummell hit in West EndRevival of play about the Regency dandy reminds its creator of its unusual birth
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Alec McCowen obituaryActor who played the sleuth in the Hitchcock film Frenzy and took his one-man performance of St Mark’s Gospel to the West End and Broadway
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45 Bristolians stage a silent act of resistanceCult US theatre group 600 Highwaymen are putting on their first UK show with a gang of strangers who have rehearsed individually and never met each other
from the archive
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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
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The funniest thingThe funniest thingSusan Calman: ‘When I’m feeling down I watch clips of cats jumping on children’The Glaswegian standup and Radio 4 regular on the things that make her laugh the most
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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
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Play timePlay timeThe Iron Man review – Ted Hughes classic clangs on to stageA talented team throw everything from shadow puppetry to live fire at the well-loved tale, but it’s hard to make out the story
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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
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Macbeth retold by schoolchildren from around the worldThe witches are Colombian, Banquo’s Ghost appears in Mexico and Macbeth’s castle is Croatian in this crowd-sourced version of Shakespeare’s tragedy, performed by schoolchildren from around the world
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Andrew Scott's stage performancesAs he begins rehearsals for Hamlet at the Almeida, take a look at the theatrical career of Andrew Scott
you may have missed
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Chase Johnsey's bold and beautiful victory for balletThe US prodigy, celebrated for his speed, grace and spectacularly witty performances, is among the winners at the National Dance awards
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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
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Secret female playwright's liberating look at sexThe author of a hit show about desire explains why she’s staying anonymous – and why her play is only performed by male comedians
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What art critics make of the hit play ArtWhat is art and how do we judge its value? As Yasmina Reza’s play is revived at the Old Vic in London, Stephen Moss asks Guardian critics Adrian Searle and Skye Sherwin if the price is right
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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
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Cocteau's scandalous siblings dance on the edgeAhead of the Royal Ballet’s new production of Philip Glass’s dance opera, based on the poetic French novel, choreographer Javier De Frutos and his principal dancers talk incest, jealousy and revenge
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
The Winter's Tale review – Scots-tinged Shakespeare is rich and raucous