He stood down as boss of the NT – and threw himself into kayaking, writing and DIY. The veteran director talks about his new start aged 60, mourning his mother – and directing Death of a…
The Glaswegian standup on joining the ego-less Saturday Night Live, smiling at himself in the mirror and why he’s not slept in his new houseBehind the scenes, is SNL UK a tightly controlle…
Storyhouse, ChesterKit Green takes on all the characters in an imaginative interpretation of the 1925 day-in-the-life novelAs Clarissa Dalloway wafts about the stage, welcoming her audience …
The Fall frontman’s play about a papal plot appalled critics when first staged in 1986, with Leigh Bowery starring as a cardinal. Now Hey! Luciani is back – but does it make any more sen…
Theatre503, LondonHope still resides against horror in this collection of short plays from Palestinian playwrights, poets and artistsWhat are the basic requirements of theatre-making? Actors…
Susanna Kaysen’s cult memoir sparked a wave of 90s novels about young women in crisis. After 10 years in the making, stars Juliana Canfield and King Princess are bringing it to the stageGi…
Artist Robert Rauschenberg was known for his painting-sculpture hybrids – and a 1963 dance piece called Pelican that was almost lost to timeVisual artists and dancers have long taken cues …
There’s a rare chance to catch a Tony-nominated hit live from New York, plus blasts from the past including Rent, The Audience and Hugh Jackman as a singing cowboyLivestreams of current Br…
She had a passion for butterflies and would seek out rare ones, yet this was used against her by violent, money-grabbing husband. Now this pioneering naturalist’s story has been translated…
The former Mash Report star’s latest show takes aim at his manosphere-courting, Saudi comedy festival-attending peers. Could he be the angry progressive standup we need right now?Nish Kuma…
Pitlochry festival theatreThis stripped-down show with a maudlin set of songs makes for the most reluctant of musicals, but this is a production that has the confidence to be silent or state…
Prince Edward theatre, LondonThere are drop-dead gorgeous designs and the performances are full of life but this off-kilter escapade has scattershot gags and unmemorable songsHalloween has a…
Hit Iranian horror Under the Shadow conjured scares from the aftermath of the 1979 revolution. With Tehran once again under siege, a new theatrical version makes that story feel more relevan…
Orange Tree theatre, RichmondA stealing sculptor struggles to keep his visitors in the dark, while they lope and grope with the lights out, in Shaffer’s escalating slapstick showA regular …
Southwark Playhouse Borough, London Writer-performer Jordan Luke Gage delivers a charming, funny and devastating story of two gay men in 18th-century BristolQueer history is made up of bad n…
The smutty hockey show gets the Off-Broadway treatment with shirtless scenes, hilarious one-liners and a Liza Minnelli send-upWalking into the Culture Club in West Chelsea, New York, for a p…
Charing Cross theatre, LondonThe power and personality of its singers and music lift this Twilight-esque story into the realms of enjoyably ridiculousThe origins of this supernatural musical…
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonProspero is reimagined as a conductor in this superbly orchestrated version of Shakespeare’s tragicomedyKenneth Branagh is said to have played…
Sadler’s Wells, LondonThe late choreographer heightens Ophelia and Gertrude’s stories yet squanders some speeches in an intense hourWords, words, words. Can Hamlet retain its tragic forc…
Leicester Square theatre, LondonThe comic delivers gags about her life and neighbourhood with choice descriptions and brutal punchlines‘What comes out of here,” says Fatiha El-Ghorri, in…
Mercury theatre, ColchesterThis musical from the company behind The Play That Goes Wrong unearths the invention of acting in ancient Greece – and finds little has changedThe Mischief theat…
Tim Burton’s hit 1988 comedy horror is enjoying an all-singing, all-dancing afterlife on stage. After recent productions in the US and Australia, the musical opens in London this month. We…
The unsettling performance artist, who has made some electrifying stage shows in his time, is taking a leap into literature with an eye-opening book, In Pursuit of a Wonderful Nothing. A har…
From Drag Race to Eurovision to Strictly, La Voix is going stratospheric. And Chris Dennis, the man behind the crimson coiffure, is thrilled. He talks about his cruise ship highs, doing pant…
Leeds PlayhouseDash Arts’ community-inspired production finds warmth and urgency in the local pub – even if its theatrical elements don’t always cohereThe English pub is the perfect cr…