The banker turned standup turned actor shares her preshow rituals, what’s behind her ‘very swanky hairstyle’ and her joke about Indian Santa ClausHow did you go from investment banker …
New Vic, Newcastle-under-LymeCacophonous and comedic staging sees an experienced, older duo engage in an enthusiastic liaison rather than a rebellious first romanceAs in any production of Sh…
The playwright’s daughter found Catch Me Who Can after her mother’s death. Now it has become a compelling audio drama with Toby Jones and Rita TushinghamWas Shelagh Delaney a one-hit won…
As the chancellor, John Healey, ponders options ahead of his first budget, the playwright’s new work offers lessons from the pastStill only 44, James Graham has become a formidable chronic…
The Yorkshire poet had a ‘magic touch’, Liz Hicklin recalls, felt by many women: ‘It was like I was blossoming’Liz Hicklin had missed the ferry that could change her life. Pelting ra…
Osipova plays the wife of formerly gay economist John Maynard Keynes in a new play. The ballerina talks about the allure of her Russian character, dismissed as a ‘frivolous, foghorn of a c…
National Theatre, LondonTiago Rodrigues’s play has incensed audiences abroad with one character’s hellfire rightwing invective. But its combination of boredom and shocks ultimately feels…
Hackney Empire, LondonThere is real skill in making us laugh about things that are depressing. And the gags come thick and fast in the ex-Mash Report host’s touring showNish Kumar is angry…
Arcola theatre, LondonThe slick production and sound design of Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and Nicky Allpress’s adaptation is hampered by its own clevernessHere is Henry James’s canonical ghost…
Minghella theatre, ReadingSoprano Claire Booth’s mouth is isolated against a black background to capture the racing brain of a desperate woman, with added operatic flairThere is a long pre…
Birmingham RepAlex Keenan perfectly captures protagonist Chris’s bewilderment and cheeriness in Ned Bennett’s ambitious new staging The most alarming moment in Mark Haddon’s young adul…
Byre theatre, St AndrewsWarm-up routines lead into a reverie about life on the stage in Company Chordelia’s funny, carefully calibrated showThe inevitable aches and sprains of an ageing bo…
Southwark Playhouse Borough, London The sequence of richly atmospheric novels about lonely souls in the capital is condensed into an engrossing play that could be more unsettlingPatrick Hami…
Theatre Royal BathThis heady mix of circus mayhem, cabaret sexiness, comedy antics and medieval tragedy is utterly irresistibleKneehigh’s take on this medieval legend was first staged in 2…
Royal Court, LiverpoolEllie Clayton and Angela Simms are superb in a funny, tender adaptation that hugs close to the 1985 filmBy some quirk of marketing, Letter to Brezhnev is always associa…
Stage and screen director behind landmark productions of Samuel Beckett, John Osborne and Edward AlbeeAnthony Page, who has died aged 90, was one of a group of talented and individual – so…
In first interview since starting job – and after visiting school where arts are central – Dawn Airey says she wants to fix ‘shocking’ lack of accessOnly half of children in England …
Perth Concert HallFaux truculent and palpably adorable, the standup is in her element exposing her supposed flaws and the unseen idiocies of her TV careerTall Tales is Susan Calman’s first…
The musician, who went from 90s alt-pop hits to Tony-winning Broadway success, died from cardiac arrestDuncan Sheik, the singer-songwriter behind the 90s alt-pop touchstone Barely Breathing …
Home, ManchesterRona Munro’s understated untangling of a fractured relationship is revived with Christine and Lois MackieYou can see why they cast real-life mother and daughter Christine a…
Writer and critic who became known for her sharp, composed appearances on TV shows such as Late Review and Question TimeThe writing and broadcasting of Bonnie Greer, who has died aged 77, we…
The Arts at Marble Arch, LondonElvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis’s 1956 get-together is respun with an unsubtle script but some vigorous performancesWith the Ar…
Bush theatre, LondonTitas Halder’s coming-of-age monologue is set against the 1984 Bhopal toxic gas leak – but the poetic script doesn’t quite capture the horrorOminousness permeates D…
Leeds PlayhouseDaniel Bailey’s dynamic production fizzes with jazz and moments of possibility amid taut scenes of thwarted ambition and harsh realities in 1950s AmericaFive years on from t…
Young Vic, LondonDespite a book by the original screenwriter, this stage adaptation doesn’t have the depth – or the songs – worthy of the era-defining feminist parable. And where’s t…