Monday, December 22, 2025

A Christmas Fair review – site-specific heartwarmer is bathed in goodwill-to-all sentiment by Mark Fisher

Chadderton Town Hall, OldhamSet over the course of local village hall fundraiser, Jim Cartwright’s play is charmingly performed and has a built-in sense of community Yesterday it was the s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:06AM
Sunday, December 21, 2025

When We Are Married review – JB Priestley playfully upends gender roles by Kate Wyver

Donmar Warehouse, LondonIn Priestley’s shenanigan-filled 1934 comedy, three couples discover they are not married after all – meaning the men lose authority and the women gain freedoms …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:32AM

A Boy Called Christmas review – Santa’s origin story should have more wonder than this by Arifa Akbar

Chichester Festival theatreA musical adaptation of Matt Haig’s children’s book is visually delightful and heroically performed by Chichester Festival Youth Theatre but the songs are humd…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:32AM
Saturday, December 20, 2025

Unseen Tennessee Williams radio play published in literary magazine by Richard Luscombe

The Strangers, a horror tale written during the playwright’s college days, appeared in the Strand magazine this week As one of the 20th century’s most successful playwrights, Tennessee W…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:00AM
Friday, December 19, 2025

New English Ballet Theatre: The Nutcracker review – Christmas favourite delivers magic in miniature by Lyndsey Winship

Sainsbury theatre, London Academy of Music and Dramatic ArtBoutique staging with just 12 dancers makes up for its small scale with inventive choreography by Valentino Zucchetti and a spirite…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AM
Thursday, December 18, 2025

Kennedy Center board votes to add Trump’s name to DC arts institution by Edward Helmore

Joe Kennedy III, JFK’s grandnephew, said he doubted the Trump-Kennedy Center name change was legal The board of the Kennedy Center in Washington DC is moving ahead with a proposal to renam…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24PM

Oh, Mary! review – US history lewdly revised as American Pie-grade comedy by Arifa Akbar

Trafalgar theatre, London Arriving from Broadway with much fanfare, Cole Escola’s play about Mary Todd Lincoln is loaded with obvious jokes and squanders the talents of its cast Oh, my! M…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24PM

‘Collusion does not require a dictatorship’: István Szabó on his Nazi actor masterpiece Mephisto by Fergal Kinney

As his 1981 film is rereleased, the director talks about his Oscar-winning fable about an actor’s Faustian pact with the Nazi party – and its new relevance At the 54th Academy Awards, in…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:32AM

When panto goes horribly, painfully wrong: ‘it was the worst chafing of my life’ by Georgie Wyatt

Panto season is upon us, and for the performers, anything could happen. Actors recall their most excruciating moments – from a panic attack while dressed as a cow, to dripping blood while …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Wednesday, December 17, 2025

The Nutcracker ballet in Kenya – in pictures by Yasuyoshi Chiba / Afp / Getty Images

Dance Centre Kenya, one of the leading performing arts schools in east Africa providing opportunities for talented young dancers from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, has staged The Nutcr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:36AM

The best theatre, comedy and dance of 2025 by Arifa Akbar, Brian Logan and Lyndsey Winship

A meet-cute between Humanity and Earth, a mod ballet and Nick Mohammed’s career-best standup set – our critics pick the best stage shows of the year 10. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:36AM

Christmas Day review – Sam Grabiner serves up gripping dinner-table debate by Arifa Akbar

Almeida theatre, London A north London Jewish family share a meal – and heated arguments – in this complex and courageous drama Stella Adler, the renowned actor and teacher of Yiddish o…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:36AM
Tuesday, December 16, 2025

The Hodge report into Arts Council England: ‘Not exactly a ringing endorsement’ by Charlotte Higgins

While the former arts minister’s call for tax breaks and a bonfire of red tape will be welcomed, we seem to be going round in circles. And why hasn’t the single most calamitous cause of …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:06PM

Arts funding in England must be protected from politics, Hodge report urges by Lanre Bakare and Nadia Khomami

Arts Council England must remain free from interference to ensure artistic freedom, says report by Labour peer Arts Council England needs to scrap its flagship strategy, ensure that arts fun…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:42PM

Prashasti Singh: Divine Feminine review – an arresting hour of silly-smart standup by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonThe comedian’s compelling show explores gender politics in modern India, singledom and self-improvement Modesty: “I don’t speak for all women …” Swagger: “……

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:42PM

The Nutcracker review – cheeky, wild and warm-hearted spin on Christmas classic by Miriam Gillinson

St Martin’s theatre, London Little Bulb’s ingenious show for children features sword fights, crooning mice and some cheesy gags Think of this joyful show as a cheeky nod to The Nutcracke…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:32AM

Most Favoured review – David Ireland’s brief encounter asks big questions by Chris Wiegand

Soho theatre, London Lauren Lyle and Alexander Arnold make a compelling pair in a surprising drama about a one night stand It is set on a summer morning in Edinburgh during the festival but …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:32AM

Now that’s a callback! Could old jokes become the new trend for comedy? by Brian Logan

Surprise is a key ingredient of standup but Jack Rooke and Joseph Morpurgo explore the potential of dusting down their hit 2015 shows for rare revivals Bands tour classic albums in their ent…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12AM

Indian Ink review – Felicity Kendal is formidable in emotional epitaph for Tom Stoppard by Mark Lawson

Hampstead theatre, LondonThe actor gives a skilful performance in the late playwright’s 1995 meditation on love and literary posterity, directed by Jonathan Kent A fortnight after West End…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06AM
Monday, December 15, 2025

Paranormal Activity review – this fright night leaves you spellbound and spooked by Kate Wyver

Ambassadors theatre, LondonWith expert direction and eye-catching stagecraft, the tension is ramped up in a play inspired by the film franchise Darkness holds us long enough for the dread to…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:48PM

Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center should serve as a warning to UK arts institutions | Charlotte Higgins by Charlotte Higgins

Culture is not immune from the advances of the hard right – but it isn’t too late for resistance Into the pale stone wall of the Kennedy Center, above its elegant terrace on the edge of …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AM

Christmas Carol Goes Wrong review – a Dickensian disaster to savour by Chris Wiegand

Apollo theatre, LondonMischief Theatre return to the am-dram battlefield, turning the Victorian tale into a blizzard of bruised egos and expertly timed farce In the interval, I hear a newcom…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12AM

Is it a Greek epic? A state-of-the-nation drama? No – it’s Shaun the Sheep! by Lyndsey Winship

Who’s that daring young farmyard animal on the flying trapeze? The creatures of Mossy Bottom have been put on stage by ‘edgy’ circus stars Circa – but the burlesque shearing had to g…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:06AM

‘We wrote it living on Tesco sandwiches and anxiety attacks!’ How Operation Mincemeat conquered the world by Tim Jonze

It started out as a fringe musical about an outlandish war plan – and became a West End and Broadway smash. As the show hits China, Australia and Mexico, its ‘nerd’ creators explain ho…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AM
Sunday, December 14, 2025

Anna Christie review – Michelle Williams is miscast in Eugene O’Neill misfire by Richard Lawson

St Ann’s Warehouse, New York Oscar-nominated actor struggles to convince in an emotionally inert attempt to resurrect one of the playwright’s lesser-known works Though it won a Pulitzer …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42PM

Protein Dance: The Magic Flute review – charming family show conjured out of Mozart opera by Lyndsey Winship

DanceEast, Ipswich This colourful quest story is stylishly simplified for a young audience and an energetic cast of just four, choreographed by Luca Silvestrini to a melodious Frank Moon sco…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:06PM

Bah, hungry! Our theatre critic tucks into immersive banquets inspired by Charles Dickens and The Nutcracker by Arifa Akbar

Festive theatrical feasts serve audiences a slap-up dinner with their entertainment. But is what’s on stage as appetising as what’s on your plate? In west London, a line of smartly dress…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24AM
Saturday, December 13, 2025

Amadeus returns: can Sky’s miniseries attract a new generation to Mozart? by Imogen Tilden

A reboot of Peter Shaffer’s play hopes to repeat the 1984 film’s magic and lure a fresh audience to classical music Forty years ago, Amadeus won eight Oscars, four Baftas and four Golden…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:18AM

My cultural awakening: The Lehman Trilogy helped me to live with my sight loss by Ann Griffin; As Told To Olivia Ladanyi

My reduced vision badly affected my ability to appreciate films and art, but the stripped-back staging and immediacy of the play gave me back my sense of self I began to notice my sight dete…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:18AM

‘A master of complications’: Felicity Kendal returns to Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink after three decades by David Jays

The writer’s former partner and her co-star Ruby Ashbourne Serkis describe the bittersweet nature of remounting his 90s play so soon after his death • ‘We were swimming in the mind poo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:02AM
Friday, December 12, 2025

Barbican to close its doors for a year for multimillion-pound renovation by Lanre Bakare Arts and Culture Correspondent

London site’s theatre, music venue and galleries to close in June 2028, in first stage of upgrades before 50th anniversary The Barbican will close its doors for 12 months from June 2028 as…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12PM

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