Saturday, April 1, 2023

Rita Wilson: ‘I was in a play, and on opening night my agent told me she was no longer going to represent me’ by Rosanna Greenstreet

The actor, producer and singer on sleeping in, surviving breast cancer and saying the wrong thing to a makeup artist Born in California, Rita Wilson, 66, starred in The Brady Bunch TV show a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AM

Last night at Oldham Coliseum: a joyful, funny and furious farewell by Nick Ahad

Maxine Peake and Christopher Eccleston among performers as venue put on final show after losing Arts Council funding In the end, if indeed it is the end (many on stage would have you believe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:06AM

The best theatre to stream this month: Emilia Clarke in The Seagull, the RSC’s Tartuffe and more by Chris Wiegand

Our roundup of drama to watch at home includes a Big Night of Musicals, You Bury Me and James Earl Jones in King Lear Game of Thrones stars Emilia Clarke and Indira Varma reunited for Jamie …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:42AM
Friday, March 31, 2023

The Lost Spells review – enchanting musical has an abundance of magic by Arifa Akbar

Watford Palace theatreA cockney fox and a preening jackdaw open our eyes to the wonders of nature in this charming show based on Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris’s book In this new musi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:02PM

Oldham Coliseum brings down curtain for final time with star-studded show by Josh Halliday North Of England Correspondent

Venue that helped launch careers of many actors forced to close after losing £1.8m Arts Council England grant One of Britain’s oldest theatres, the Oldham Coliseum, will close “on its o…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AM

Bat Out of Hell musical stopped due to disruptive audience member by Chris Wiegand

Incident at Peacock theatre in London comes amid growing concerns about antisocial audience behaviour A performance of the musical Bat Out of Hell in London’s West End was halted for sever…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AM

Of All the Beautiful Things in the World review – Lorca moves to Moss Side by Mark Fisher

Home, ManchesterWriter-director Yusra Warsama relocates The House of Bernarda Alba from Andalucía to Manchester What imprisons the characters of Federico García Lorca’s The House of Bern…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AM

TV-to-stage plays like Stranger Things are turning theatre upside down. They could make it or break it | Kate Wyver by Kate Wyver

Adaptations of existing media get new fans in the building, but they also rob new plays of space Pay attention to the posters lining the walls of Tube stations, and at least half of the stag…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:06AM

‘We used to chat as we walked our dogs. He was lovely!’ Readers on the Paul O’Grady they knew and adored by Guardian Readers

Friendly and fiery, compassionate and uncompromising, O’Grady and his alter ego Lily Savage made friends wherever they went. Readers remember the groundbreaking, down-to-earth comedian Whe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:03AM
Thursday, March 30, 2023

Keith Johnstone obituary by Theresa Robbins Dudeck

Pioneer of stage improvisation who freed drama from scripts in London and built on this approach in CanadaIn 1967 Keith Johnstone, who has died aged 90, formed an improvisation troupe, Theat…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:12PM

London’s Riverside Studios to enter administration by Chris Wiegand

The Hammersmith arts centre, which faces soaring energy bills and debt from its redevelopment, said it has struggled to rebuild revenue streams after the pandemic London’s Riverside Studio…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:02PM

Michael Rudman obituary by Michael Coveney

Theatre director best known for his three major productions of Death of a Salesman, written by his hero Arthur MillerAs the elder son of a Texan oil millionaire, a graduate of Oberlin Colleg…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AM

Berlusconi: A New Musical review – bunga bunga banality by Arifa Akbar

Southwark Playhouse Elephant, LondonIt’s a nice idea but this disconnected show about the former Italian PM makes some bizarre choices and lacks satirical bite This satire about Italy’s …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AM

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof review – Succession-style scheming in the deep south by Mark Fisher

Royal Exchange, ManchesterModern-day version casts Tennessee Williams’s steamy melodrama in a new light, with a focus on the corruptibility of wealth Roy Alexander Weise does not overtly c…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM

Michael Akadiri: No Scrubs review – medical comedy is upbeat and politically punchy by Brian Logan

Pleasance theatre, LondonA doctor himself, the standup delivers breezy tales along with on-the-nose points on how black medics are viewed All standups operating in the space between medicine…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM

Julia Scotti: Funny That Way review – transgender comedian is cracking company

Uplifting documentary allows its funny, flawed and likable subject to tell the poignant story of how she came to realise who she was In 2016, the comedian Julia Scotti auditioned for America…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:18AM
Wednesday, March 29, 2023

My Neighbour Totoro to return to the Barbican by Chris Wiegand

The Studio Ghibli adaptation, which is up for nine Olivier awards this weekend, will open in November The Barbican in London is to bring back the furry woodland spirits, mischievous soot spr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24PM

‘I’m Lily Savage, the blonde bombsite’ – the genius of Paul O’Grady, by Suzy Eddie Izzard, Russell T Davies and more by Guardian Writers

A boundary-busting standup, a radio sensation, a knockout on TV, a champion for LGBTQ rights, and a pet-lover extraordinaire … stars and writers pay tribute to the many lives of Paul O’G…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:54PM

Paul O’Grady faced down Tory austerity, homophobia and shame – he was a true hero | Matt Cain by Matt Cain

As Lily Savage and as himself, he confronted prejudice and celebrated gay culture. His stories must not die with him Matt Cain was formerly editor-in-chief of Attitude Paul O’Grady may hav…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AM

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead review – a magnificent Complicité creation by Arifa Akbar

Barbican, LondonSimon McBurney directs a toweringly innovative adaptation of the eco-thriller by Nobel-winner Olga Tokarczuk The opening night of this Complicité production was aborted at t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AM

Julius Caesar review – timeless account of the flimsiness of power by Mark Lawson

Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonAtri Banerjee’s RSC production stresses the remarkable universality of the play’s examination of leaders and the led Early in the Trump admi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AM

‘How do you laugh about death?’: the comedians tackling climate change by Katharine Gammon

Comedians and comedy programs have started to find ways to speak to the climate crisis in their work but how can something so heavy create laughter? When David Perdue applied to be part of a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AM

Enter stage right: the new wave of musicals taking on the West End adaptations by Kate Wyver

With everything from Bake Off to Pretty Woman putting bums on seats in Theatreland, launching an original homegrown production is harder than ever. But might salvation be at hand in the unli…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AM

Gone Too Far! review – Bola Agbaje’s drama pumped with vitality by young cast by Anya Ryan

Theatre Royal Stratford East, LondonCrackling humour and punchy direction energise the story of two brothers battling over whose way is the right way on their Peckham estate The streets of P…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AM

Paul O’Grady, TV presenter and comedian, dies aged 67 by Sian Cain and Agencies

Partner announces ‘unexpected but peaceful’ death of personality who fronted Blind Date, Blankety Blank and was known for his drag persona Lily Savage Paul O’Grady, the beloved TV pres…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:06AM
Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Feelgood factor: Mae Martin’s Sap on Netflix is comedic open-heart surgery by Brian Logan

In the standup’s first solo set since the huge success of their queer romcom Feel Good, we are taken on an emotional rollercoaster with confidence and charm It’s always interesting to se…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:48AM

Cinderella review – Royal Ballet fairytale is a shiny sugar-rush by Lyndsey Winship

Royal Opera House, LondonAshton’s three-act ballet combines escapism, clever classicism and panto, and this new version gets better as it goes along A newly designed production celebrates …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42AM

‘I’ve been spat at’: half of UK theatre staff consider quitting over audience behaviour by Tom Ambrose

Bectu launches safer theatres charter as survey reveals 45% of workers may quit due to shocking levels of antisocial behaviour by drunken theatregoers UK theatre staff have been attacked, se…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:32AM

Novelist Rebecca Watson: ‘I can leave a show or book unmoved, but with football I always feel’ by Rebecca Watson

As the adaptation of her novel, little scratch, returns to the London stage, the author and Nottingham Forest fan traces the links between theatre, fiction and the beautiful game When I was …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18AM

London’s County Hall to host immersive Paddington Bear theatre show by Chris Wiegand

The Paddington Bear Experience, a family-friendly show based on Michael Bond’s character, will be at the ex-GLC building on the South Bank The world of Michael Bond’s irrepressible, marm…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18AM
Monday, March 27, 2023

In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot: play about ‘queer ageing and capitalism’ wins prize by Chris Wiegand

Sarah Mantell’s script awarded Susan Smith Blackburn prize, beating plays by Zadie Smith, Kimber Lee and Ruby Thomas The American playwright Sarah Mantell has won this year’s Susan Smith…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42PM

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