Monday, March 18, 2024

Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon review – Bridgerton’s Charithra Chandran glows and rages by Kate Wyver

Garrick theatre, LondonChandran is brilliantly bratty in Rosie Day’s one-woman story of vulnerability masked by sarcasm and bravado Rosie Day’s one-woman play takes teen pain seriously. …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:02AM

Arlene Phillips at 80: on Strictly, scandal, survival – and still being a sizzling hot choreographer by Emine Saner

She outraged Mary Whitehouse, worked with Tina Turner, Elton John and Freddie Mercury, and is up for an Olivier for choreographing a smash hit production of Guys & Dolls. Will she ever s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:36AM

Lorna Rose Treen: ‘Someone shouted along to one of my jokes, like I was a band’ by Interview By Liam Pape

The character comic on gigging with chickens, harnessing the power of embarrassment and her spoof Radio 4 current affairs show What first drew you to character comedy?As a kid I loved televi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:36AM
Sunday, March 17, 2024

‘Laced with fear and a lot of fun’: Punchdrunk announce new ‘slumber party’ show by Chris Wiegand

Company founder Felix Barrett says Viola’s Room, written by Daisy Johnson, will be an audio-driven production perfect for date nights Punchdrunk’s last immersive production, The Burnt Ci…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06PM

Pip Simmons obituary by Michael Coveney

Experimental British theatre director whose confrontational style often featured loud rock music, nudity, blasphemy and free dance There was a short period in the British theatre – 1968 to…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AM

Richard, My Richard review – like a medieval version of The Crown by Clare Brennan

Shakespeare North Playhouse, PrescotHistorical novelist Philippa Gregory has fun reframing the notorious Richard III and the women in his life in her first play From a hole in the stage, a v…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06AM

The week in dance: Company Wayne McGregor: Autobiography (v95 and v96); New York City Ballet – review by Sarah Crompton

Sadler’s Wells, LondonWayne McGregor’s DNA-themed work is an evolving delight. And back in the UK for the first time since 2008, the New Yorkers exude classy athleticism in works by Bala…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM

The week in theatre: Starter for Ten; Uncle Vanya review – fingers on buzzers, and samovars by Susannah Clapp

Bristol Old Vic; Orange Tree theatre, RichmondBamber goes to Bristol in a buoyant musical of David Nicholls’s University Challenge romcom, while Trevor Nunn’s impeccably traditional Chek…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM
Friday, March 15, 2024

‘No theatre on a dead planet’: climate activists disrupt Jeremy Strong Broadway show by Benjamin Lee

Production of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People halted when protesters warned the audience about environmental damage Climate change protesters disrupted a preview showing of Jeremy St…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:02PM

‘Maybe everybody feels socially awkward’: the standups turning being autistic into a comedy superpower by Rachel Aroesti

From Fern Brady to Hannah Gadsby, a host of comedians have discovered that they are autistic. What is it about standup that lends itself so well to neurodivergent people? In 2020, Pierre Nov…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:32AM

Vincent Dance Theatre: Play review – rare choreography retrospective is both ominous and hopeful by Lyndsey Winship

Corn Exchange, BrightonCharlotte Vincent revisits her 30-year back catalogue with a focus on young performers, offering fascinating glimpes into the world she’s created Unlike painters, sa…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:24AM

The School for Scandal review – an overblown attempt at wit by Mark Fisher

Theatre by the Lake, KeswickSeán Aydon’s laboured attempts to shriek the play into life with overstated and almost unintelligible clowning only serves to flatten Richard Brinsley Sheridan…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:24AM
Thursday, March 14, 2024

The Notebook review – hit romance lands on Broadway a little underwritten by Gloria Oladipo

Schoenfeld Theatre, New York The much-loved romantic drama, made into a hit movie in 2004, reaches Broadway with some parts intact but with others sorely missing For diehard fans of romantic…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:00PM

Richard, My Richard review – less naked villainy, more realpolitik by Mark Fisher

Shakespeare North Playhouse, Prescot In novelist Philippa Gregory’s telling, the much maligned king reveals a more human side amid rather too much exposition If you wanted to invent a fun…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24AM

Steve Paxton obituary by Lyndsey Winship

A pivotal figure in contemporary dance, known for stripping the artform of its classical and modern techniques In the early 1970s a rangy Arizonan arrived in Devon as a guest teacher at Dart…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Harry Clarke review – Billy Crudup dives into ‘the deep end of sexy’ in tricksy tale by Chris Wiegand

Ambassadors theatre, LondonA timid midwesterner adopts a geezerish British persona in David Cale’s often shrewdly observed yet meandering monologue Harry Clark is the former lance corporal…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12PM

‘We are devastated’: London’s Vault festival to close after funding falls through by Chris Wiegand Stage Editor

Launchpad for theatre and comedy talent, which had planned to open its new longterm home this year, announces its closure London’s Vault festival, which has kickstarted countless theatre a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM

Robby Hoffman review – New Yorker unleashes her nerd-jock shtick by Brian Logan

Soho theatre, LondonSnarling at the audience and cracking cynical jokes, Hoffman’s intriguing faux-boorish persona wears thin, undermining her subversively funny riffs Robby Hoffman recent…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM

Janey review – behind-the-scenes doc shows standup at her hilarious and heartfelt best by Cath Clarke

On tour with her daughter after her cancer diagnosis the Scottish national treasure opens up about her life and finds big laughs in the face of death Here’s a documentary following the Gla…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM

Ladies Down Under review – sisters redrawing life for themselves by Mark Fisher

New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme Amanda Whittington’s sequel to Ladies’ Day sends her characters off to Australia for an enjoyable range of epiphanies It is 2007 and the four women who stru…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM

Michael Culver obituary by Michael Coveney

Stage and screen actor known for his political campaigning, both in his choice of roles and his personal life You might say of the actor Michael Culver that, in Harold Wilson’s great phras…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM
Tuesday, March 12, 2024

‘The outrageousness of what Louis CK did is totally lost’: the film about the backlash faced by his accusers by Rachael Healy

Sorry/Not Sorry tells the story of the comedian’s sexual misconduct through the eyes of the women who spoke out – and endured a vicious backlash from fans, podcasters and fellow standups…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:48PM

Sarah Jessica Parker and David Tennant among 2024 Olivier nominees by Nadia Khomami Arts and Culture Correspondent

Football drama Dear England receives nine nominations in a year that featured a string of celebrity castings• Complete list of nominations James Norton, Andrew Scott, Sarah Jessica Parker,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:32AM

Olivier awards 2024: complete list of nominations by Guardian Staff

Sunset Boulevard and Dear England have the most nominations at this year’s awards – see who else is in the running Noël Coward award for best new entertainment or comedy playAccidental…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AM

The monster mash: Frankenstein is reanimated for dance, stitched together with Greek myths by Sanjoy Roy

A decade after his award-winning Dracula, Mark Bruce has pared down Mary Shelley’s gothic classic and taken a cue from its subtitle ‘The Modern Prometheus’ ‘The idea of a creature ma…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18AM

‘It was hard – but there was lots of laughter’: women’s stories of the miners’ strike told on tour by Aneesa Ahmed

Forty years on from the battle to save Britain’s pits, a revival of Boff Whalley’s drama We’re Not Going Back honours women’s contribution Ten years ago, Boff Whalley created a play …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:12AM

Romeo and Juliet review – beatboxing lovers in full flow by Chris Wiegand

Polka theatre, LondonA hip-hop take on the tragedy finds the feud blowing up on social media and the balcony scene remixed for FaceTime but it lacks pathos Two hours’ stage traffic becomes…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:03AM
Monday, March 11, 2024

Ava Pickett’s drama of female friendship in Tudor England wins Susan Smith Blackburn prize by Chris Wiegand

Pickett’s ‘very funny and very angry’ play 1536 follows three women as they discuss the arrest of Anne Boleyn The British playwright Ava Pickett has won this year’s Susan Smith Black…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24PM

‘Unbelievably relevant’: what can the explosive 1958 play A Taste of Honey tell us today? by Helen Pidd

It was a time when the pill was unavailable and homosexuality was illegal. As Shelagh Delaney’s sparky story of a Salford single mother and her pregnant teenage daughter returns, can it re…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:18AM

‘I was cancelled’: Beverley Knight on gay rights, race and her West End renaissance by Coco Khan

As a chart-topping singer in the ultra-controlled pop landscape of the 00s, she refused to be sexy, spoke out about Aids and was staunchly pro-Labour. Now, she’s one of theatre’s biggest…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12AM

Leigh Francis: My First Time review – cacophonously unfunny with the emphasis on cack by Brian Logan

London PalladiumThe comic revives Avid Merrion, Keith Lemon and others in a scatological set of unimaginative jokes Is he funny, or is his comedy the nadir of western civilisation? Not being…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:12AM

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