All stories by Interview By Andrew Dickson on BroadwayStars

Monday, August 22, 2016

Patrick Stewart: 'I should have been arrested for overacting' by Interview By Andrew Dickson

Our How We Staged Shakespeare series ends with the celebrated actor explaining why he keeps coming back to the much-misunderstood role of Shylock in The Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of Ven…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18AM
Sunday, August 14, 2016

Death, pain, humiliation and hilarity … Tim Crouch on the joy of Twelfth Night by Interview By Andrew Dickson

The actor and theatre-maker had such a good time playing Malvolio in Shakespeare’s comedy that he wrote a whole show for himIn the mid-90s, I acted in a production of Tom Stoppard’s Rose…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:32AM
Monday, August 8, 2016

'It's like a Clark Gable movie': Fiona Buffini on The Two Gentlemen of Verona by Interview By Andrew Dickson

One of the hardest things about doing Shakespeare? Making sure the comedy is actually funny, says the director who transported his early play to the jazz ageYou see some Shakespeares so ofte…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:56AM
Monday, August 1, 2016

'Tom Hiddleston was pure clown – he sang a boyband number' by Interview By Andrew Dickson

Designer Nick Ormerod on how he brought Shakespeare’s ancient Britons into the 20th century for Cheek by Jowl’s production of CymbelineDesigning for Cheek by Jowl is very pragmatic. We�…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Monday, July 25, 2016

Derek Jacobi: 'Much Ado saved me from stage fright' by Interview By Andrew Dickson

After touring Hamlet in 1980, the actor succumbed to the ‘worm of doubt’ – but a job playing Shakespeare’s quick-witted hero forced him to face his anxietyI’d been on a world tour …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:13AM
Sunday, July 17, 2016

Rupert Goold: 'It was pretty intense, living with my Lady Macbeth' by Interview By Andrew Dickson

Goold’s wife Kate Fleetwood was cast alongside Patrick Stewart in his Soviet-styled 2007 production – the ‘luckiest’ show the director has worked onI was in Stratford-upon-Avon in 20…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:08PM
Monday, July 11, 2016

Willard White on playing Othello: 'I broke down – I considered walking away' by Interview By Andrew Dickson

The opera singer played the jealous general opposite Imogen Stubbs and Ian McKellen in a 1989 RSC version. He remembers the play as a crushing experienceOver the years, people have asked me …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:22AM
Monday, July 4, 2016

Timothy West on Ian McKellen's Richard II: 'You couldn't take your eyes off him' by Interview By Andrew Dickson

When he played Bolingbroke in a 1960s Prospect production, West discovered a play divided between his character and the king – and learned that McKellen is a white-wine actor while he’s …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:20AM
Monday, June 20, 2016

Shakespeare's 'Brexit play': Josie Rourke on King John by Interview By Andrew Dickson

The Donmar Warehouse chief on directing a darkly witty drama about our destiny as a nation – and why it reminds her of The West WingIn 2006 and 2007, the RSC decided to do a Complete Works…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:09AM
Monday, June 13, 2016

Conductor Daniele Gatti on Falstaff: 'It's as if Verdi was saying farewell' by Interview By Andrew Dickson

Verdi was 80 when he finished turning Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor into a comic opera. Gatti’s 2012 production aimed to draw out its tendernessGiuseppe Verdi was in his late 70s …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:28AM
Monday, May 30, 2016

Bob Crowley: 'I’m not sure you can set Shakespeare anywhere, or at any time' by Interview By Andrew Dickson

Lesley Manville as a post-punk shepherdess, Juliet Stevenson in pinstripes and a forest of silk … the designer behind the RSC’s As You Like It in 1985 explains his approach to the playsW…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:20AM
Sunday, May 29, 2016

Mark Wallinger, artist – why I love ballet by Interview By Andrew Dickson

From Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev to the opium hallucination scene in La Bayadère, artist Mark Wallinger talks about how ballet had him hooked from an early ageI first saw Margot Fonte…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:40AM
Monday, May 9, 2016

The cut and thrust of Shakespeare: a fight director's view by Interview By Andrew Dickson

Henry V is a play about war yet we only see two conflicts – and the way the characters do combat tells us plenty about them, says fight director Terry KingIt’s one of the simplest stage …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:27AM
Monday, May 2, 2016

Richard Eyre on the Hollow Crown's Henry IV: from the pub to the battlefield by Interview By Andrew Dickson

For the BBC series, Eyre took Shakespeare’s histories out into the country they portrayed, shooting on location to give a broad vision of EnglandShakespeare’s history plays are all about…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:56AM
Monday, April 18, 2016

Voodoo child: Jonathan Pryce on channelling his father's death for Hamlet by Interview By Andrew Dickson

Jonathan Pryce had never seen Hamlet on stage – and thought Olivier’s film version was mannered. But the violent death of his father prompted him to take on the Dane, and radically rethi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Monday, April 11, 2016

Speak, master: a text coach on Shakespeare's way with words by Interview By Andrew Dickson

Text adviser Giles Block on how the Bard made everything from pauses to awkward phrases sound as natural and intensely theatrical as possibleIf I had to describe what I do in a sentence, I w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:31AM
Monday, April 4, 2016

'He's a total monster, but society needs him': power and politics in Coriolanus by Interview By Andrew Dickson

Director Ivo van Hove describes how he turned Shakespeare’s Roman plays into a six-hour study of murder, mistrust and the modern-day mediaMy interest in Shakespeare’s Roman plays was the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:15AM
Monday, March 28, 2016

Finding a twin for Lenny Henry: a casting director's take on Shakespeare by Interview By Andrew Dickson

The Comedy of Errors features not one but two sets of identical twins who, if they don’t look alike, must at least act the part. The National Theatre’s Wendy Spon explains the challenge …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:28AM
Monday, March 14, 2016

Dressed for excess: Russell Brand's louche look suited Measure for Measure by Interview By Andrew Dickson

Designer Jonathan Fensom explains why the costumes have to work overtime at the Globe – and asks how much Shakespeare himself thought about designWhen Dominic Dromgoole said that he wanted…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:26AM
Monday, February 15, 2016

Sounds and sweet airs: The Tempest's seductive musical sorcery by Interview By Andrew Dickson

Composer Claire van Kampen on staging Shakespeare’s late play with her husband Mark Rylance – and how music is his thumbprint as a playwrightThe first time I was involved with a producti…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:27AM
Monday, February 8, 2016

The gory details of Titus Andronicus: 'Blood gets everywhere, actors slip on it' by Interview By Andrew Dickson

Sandra Smith, the head of the RSC’s wigs and makeup department, on how to stage Shakespeare’s grisliest play – and how to get the stains outThe first thing you think when you’re aske…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:15AM
Monday, January 18, 2016

Rae Smith on All’s Well That Ends Well: Shakespeare dares you to imagine with him by Interview By Andrew Dickson

In our series to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, stage designer Rae Smith explains how she conjured up some fairytale magic for a landmark productionIt’s a fascinating…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:04AM
Monday, January 4, 2016

Harriet Walter on Antony and Cleopatra: 'You have to play it fast or it falls apart' by Interview By Andrew Dickson

In a new series to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, leading actors, directors, designers and others offer their own guides to his plays. Harriet Walter starts off with a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:10AM
Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Mark Wallinger, artist why I love ballet by Interview By Andrew Dickson

From Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev to the opium hallucination scene in La Bayadère, artist Mark Wallinger talks about how ballet had him hooked from an early ageI first saw Margot Fonte…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:00AM
Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, dancer: why I love Kate Bush by Interview By Andrew Dickson

'She can sound like a seductress, a mother, a man, or Elvis.'Wuthering Heights was the first Kate Bush song I ever heard. It was the early 1990s and I was 14, watching her on Dutch TV. I was…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:40PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards