stage
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Shedding his clothes and seducing the audience, Lars Eidinger’s Gloucester is the classic charming narcissist – but why soften the play’s political bite at such a crucial time?We're in crisis – so why strip Richard III of politics?
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The shocking life of theatre's greatest skullIt’s been licked, kissed and caressed. It’s been played by a beige sweater and the real remains of a Hamlet-loving horse thief. As Andrew Scott gets ready to be or not to be, we look at the history of Yorick’s cranium -
Evening at the Talk House review – Wallace Shawn's dark comedy plays it safeDespite a strong performance from a perfectly cast Matthew Broderick, this play about a play doesn’t cut as deep as it should -
Heartbreaking plays take on new meaning as everything changes in AmericaAudience reaction to Richard Nelson’s eye-opening drama about the US election campaign has shifted through time and in performances on a different continent
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Dance studios tap into the La La Land phenomenonRyan Gosling and Emma Stone’s multi-awardwinning film has got people queuing up to tap dance their way to happiness
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Israel Galván: FLA.CO.MEN review – 'It's an evening that screams avant garde!'Galván’s wild flamenco reinventions show mesmerising prowess – though not when he’s being pelted by paper balls
talking points
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Miranda Hart to make West End debut in Annie musicalCall the Midwife actor to play ‘dream role’ as orphanage owner Miss Hannigan at Piccadilly Theatre in London later this year
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Who Wants to Be a Millionaire fraud to be subject of James Graham's new playJames Graham has written work based on case of ‘coughing major’ Charles Ingram who was found guilty of cheating TV quiz
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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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Sue Perkins Live: Spectacles – comic comfort food from a good eggThe ex-Bake Off presenter’s show is a droll self-portrait full of nostalgia and juicy tidbits about Paul and Mary. But it’s less standup than love-in with fans
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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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Whoopi Goldberg review – standup or glorified chat show?London Palladium, London
US comic’s first UK standup show got personal with segments about ageing and resenting her child-friendly reputation -
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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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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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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Arinzé Kene on tackling the UK riotsHe’s played Sam Cooke, an EastEnders bad boy and a closeted footballer in The Pass. Now, Arinzé Kene has returned to writing plays – and to the violent summer of 2011 – with a searing account of escalating tension in London
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A surprising call to arms in the age of TrumpThe filmed staging of the hit Broadway musical comes thrillingly close to replicating the live show – and its message is more relevant than ever
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 thingJon Richardson: ‘The first series of The League Of Gentlemen blew my mind’The standup and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown team captain on what makes him laugh the most
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Dancers' diariesDancers' diariesFlamenco superstar Sara Baras: 'If you don’t feel it, you can’t do it'In the last of our dancers’ diaries, the flamenco legend says the genre is not about technique but emotion – above all, it must come from the heart
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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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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
pictures & video
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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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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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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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'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
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'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
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Lost classics of Greek tragedyIn his new book, Matthew Wright analyses the remaining evidence of hundreds of Athenian texts that, packed with sex, magic and happy endings, would give a radically different impression of the genre
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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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Joanna Vanderham as Juliet: ‘The mask of night is on my face’Joanna Vanderham performs Juliet’s speech from the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet
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David Morrissey as Richard III: ‘Now is the winter of our discontent’David Morrissey speaks the opening lines from Richard III in which the scheming Richard lays out his plan to turn his brothers, Clarence and the newly enthroned King Edward IV, against each other
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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
John Cleese Fawlty, Feydeau and the perfect farce