Griffiths, who has died aged 88, explored the conflict between reform and revolution in plays and scripts from the film Reds to dramas such as Occupations, The Party and Comedians Of all the…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AMOne of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century, Bond – who has died aged 89 – confronted audiences with ‘the crisis in the human species’ Edward Bond, who has died aged 89, was a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06AMLondon Tide at the National Theatre is the latest in a flood of Dickensian adaptations. Few have captured the novelist’s surreal imagination – are solo shows the most successful? Dickens…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:32PMEugene O’Neill’s mighty drama, returning to the West End with Brian Cox and Patricia Clarkson, has drawn generations of stage greats and casts its spell with a story we can all recognise…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:02PMSean Mathias has reimagined his 2021 production of the tragedy as a movie, inventively using Windsor’s Theatre Royal and capturing McKellen’s subtle performance How best to film a stage …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:12AMIan McKellen follows in the footsteps of David Warner and Antony Sher as he takes on a character who has been played as wittily jovial and cruelly cunning When asked why he had never played …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:18AMParty punch-ups, brides in disguise, simmering family rancour … playwrights have cordially invited audiences to some nightmarish nuptials There are myriad plays about marriage. Far fewer a…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06AMBest known for writing Tom and Viv, Hastings made his debut as a teenage dramatist in the 1950s. Now, his vivid ‘young man’s play’ Don’t Destroy Me is back We watch old movies. We re…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AMOne of the great postwar theatre directors, Blakemore – who has died aged 95 – had a vast range and was a formidable writer It is sadly ironic that the death of Michael Blakemore, at the…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24PMA superb, starry cast in the West End paid homage to the musical duo behind Carousel, Oklahoma! and South Pacific. If only the concert had also addressed their shows’ contradictions The st…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AMKatie Mitchell has compared her experiences of hierarchies in British and German theatre. Our strength has always lain in honouring the text Katie Mitchell this week gave the annual lecture …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:02PMFrom a sportive Falstaff for the RSC to a powerful Juan Perón in Evita, Ackland – who has died aged 95 – rarely had the star role but was a reassuring presence Joss Ackland, who has die…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:36PMDespite being panned as ‘a dirty act done publicly’ on its London premiere, the tragedy is now regarded as a classic – here are three productions that radically shifted our perspective…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24PMA pilot scheme means some performances will now begin at 6.30pm. That means more time for eating, travelling and – most importantly – discussing the show ‘The drama’s laws the drama�…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:25AMThe NT has a civic duty to revive woefully neglected plays from the world repertory. Doing so will make modern drama stronger Writing about the National Theatre on its 50th anniversary, I sa…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:43AMVersatile actor with a magnificent presence who starred in The Singing Detective and the Harry Potter filmsThe word “great” is somewhat promiscuously applied to actors. But it was undoub…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:33PMPaul Scofield, Ian McKellen and Glenda Jackson have all redefined Shakespeare’s unpredictable ruler – a role in which actors usually succeed Kenneth Branagh is set to play, and direct, K…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:07AMOliver Cotton’s The Score, a new drama about Bach’s confrontation with Frederick II, continues a rich tradition of plays about great composers You wait decades for a play about Johann Se…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:13AMThe Royal Shakespeare Company’s former artistic director was a great theatrical leader whose legacy includes proving the history cycle is at the centre of our national story News of the de…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:04AMNot all buildings are created equal. From sightlines to acoustics to the alchemy of actor-audience rapport, the physical facts of a dramatic space are fundamental What makes a good theatre? …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:37PMStephen Wood, who has died aged 73 after a stroke, was a press officer, administrator and former stage manager who worked closely with Alan Ayckbourn at Scarborough. He was at the National T…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:25PMReturn of Dario Fo and Franca Rame’s political farce begs a question: can theatre ever be as potent as documentary? There is a fascinating role reversal going on in London theatre. Behind …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:13AMAn all-star cast arrived in Westminster on Monday with a potted Julius Caesar, partly in hopes of elevating public discourse. It’s good to have a dream … A murder took place in the speak…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:55PMThe director, who has announced he is stepping down, should be credited for opening up the organisation and steering it through the Covid crisis. Now, who’s next for the NT job? Every dire…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:43AMThe actor and former MP, who has died aged 87, displayed courage and a sharp mind, on stage and in politics Glenda Jackson, who has died aged 87, had a career unmatched by any of her contemp…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:19AMPlaying in the vast ancient amphitheatre, imaginative new productions of Euripides and Aeschylus find fresh nuance even in this huge space How best to stage the great Greek classics? The fas…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AMA blend of pageantry, procession, music and mystery, with many private moments to savour A coronation is pure theatre. But how does one review it when there is so little to compare it with? …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:02PMA new revival of The Circle is a reminder of a dramatist who smuggled vital messages into broad crowdpleasers Never trust what dramatists say about themselves. Noël Coward spent decades dis…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06AMActor, archivist of the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, and director, with a long career in theatre, film and televisionThe actor and director Murray Melvin, who has died aged 90, had a rich …
SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:02AMThirty directors from all over Europe converged on Greece for a showcase of its fizzing new talent that even included a play about the Nazis by Tony Kushner. What did they learn on this five…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:24AMThere are invigorating versions of Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma! and Cabaret in London – and some enticing new dramas coming – yet theatre risks being cut off from its past David Hare has ar…
SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:12PM