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Published: 14 May 2009
The Last Cigarette, the staged memoirs of writer Simon Gray, which stars Felicity Kendal, Jasper Britton and Nicholas Le Prevost, is to close earlier than expected on 23 May.The show,… Read More
English National Opera has collected the entire set of major opera awards available for its 2008 repertoire. Earlier this week it added the Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Music Award for… Read More
At a time when it might be easy to programme known crowd-pleasers, the Young Vic continues to push boundaries and test itself, resisting any urge to slip unnoticed into presenting… Read More
Published: 13 May 2009
Soho theatre has announced a two-week season of short plays exploring the effects of the current economic climate. Everything Must Go, which runs from 23 June to 4 July, is… Read More
Billy Elliot The Musical celebrated its fourth birthday in the West End on 11 May by welcoming 12-year-old Oliver Gardner into the cast. Gardner, from Bath, becomes the 32nd young… Read More
As Tara Fitzgerald prepares to return to the stage, she tells Caroline Bishop about revisiting Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and her renewed passion for her profession. Five years ago at… Read More
Following its Afghanistan festival, The Great Game, the Tricycle theatre embarks on another country-specific season this summer with the British premieres of work by South African playwrights Lara Foot Newton… Read More
Published: 12 May 2009
Spring Awakening, the hit new musical which received almost universal acclaim during its run at the Lyric Hammersmith and on its transfer to the West End, is to close earlier… Read More
The autumn season at Sadler’s Wells and its West End home the Peacock theatre boasts eight world premieres and five UK premieres in a schedule that includes a new two-week… Read More
Published: 11 May 2009
Mackenzie Crook has joined Mark Rylance in the cast of Jerusalem, Jez Butterworth’s new play which runs in the Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from 10 July to 15 August… Read More
Published: 8 May 2009
Steve Waters presents his terrifying view of the future in The Contingency Plan, a double bill of plays that, rather than choosing to scare the audience with visions of dystopian… Read More
Eileen Atkins, Michael Sheen, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman and Sheila Hancock are just some of the actors who will pay tribute to Harold Pinter at a celebration of his work… Read More
The Duchess theatre might just be the perfect West End venue for The Last 5 Years, its intimate auditorium drawing the audience into the heart of Jason Robert Brown’s two-handed… Read More
Published: 7 May 2009
Families can get a taste of Kids Week in the West End with a free special event at the Southbank Centre on 26 May. The casts of Hairspray and Thriller… Read More
Stage and screen star Adrian Lester has been confirmed as the first British performer to join James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad in the transfer of Broadway hit Cat On… Read More
The National Theatre has confirmed dates and casting for Hanif Kureishi’s forthcoming stage adaptation of his novel The Black Album, which plays through the summer alongside several productions which have… Read More
Beckett’s most famous play has a habit of splitting opinion, the theatrical equivalent of Marmite. There are those who find it pointless and obtuse, two tramps loitering while nothing much… Read More
Published: 6 May 2009
As he returns to the London stage opposite Patrick Stewart in Waiting For Godot, Ian McKellen talks to Matthew Amer about a production that could be the most eagerly awaited… Read More
Rupert Goold’s National Theatre debut comes in the form of JB Priestley’s three-act play which asks unanswerable questions about the extent of our ability to control our own future. Priestley’s… Read More
Published: 5 May 2009
The Scoop at More London turns to classical mythology for its summer season of free theatre this year, with a production of Greek revenge drama Medea and a family musical… Read More
Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, who was due to direct Così Fan Tutte for the English National Opera later this month, will be unable to direct the production in London due… Read More
The Broadway production of Billy Elliot The Musical has picked up a total of 15 nominations for this year’s Tony Awards, leading a British-dominated field which also includes the transfers… Read More
Biographer Sir Michael Holroyd has won this year’s Sheridan Morley Prize for his book A Strange Eventful History. The Sheridan Morley Prize for Best Theatre Biography, named after the critic… Read More
Theatre Tokens, the nationwide theatre voucher scheme, celebrates 25 years of supporting theatre in 2009 and is offering money off restaurants, shops and hotel deals to celebrate.The theatre vouchers, which… Read More
Published: 1 May 2009
Shakespeare’s Globe opens its aptly named Young Hearts season with the Bard’s tragedy about first love, Romeo And Juliet.In Ellie Kendrick, director Dominic Dromgoole has found a Juliet who actually… Read More
Senior Savers, a new campaign running from 1 May to 12 June, is offering 50% off top price theatre tickets to anyone over the age of 60. Theatregoers who have… Read More
Published: 30 April 2009
The Unicorn theatre is to present a new piece by visionary performance artist Mark Storor that explores the experiences of children who undergo dialysis. For The Best, which runs at… Read More
Felicity Kendal, Nicholas Le Prevost and Jasper Britton were full of praise and admiration for writer Simon Gray following the press night of The Last Cigarette.“One does meet brave people,”… Read More
The Menier Chocolate Factory stage has become the interior of a wood-beamed country cottage, allowing all the door-slamming, hiding and eavesdropping necessary for this farce-by-numbers. For the uninitiated, Ben Travers… Read More
Sam Walton and Richard Linnell were yesterday revealed as the two boys to join Sir Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Simon Callow and Ronald Pickup in the cast of Waiting For… Read More
You know where you stand with Su Pollard. The fabulously eccentric performer is nothing if not energetic and exuberant, which is probably exactly the style needed in a catalogue musical… Read More
Published: 29 April 2009
If laughter is the best medicine, Jemima Rooper might well be impervious to disease, finds Matthew Amer.The actress, star of Lost In Austen on screen and Her Naked Skin on… Read More
Three actors – dressed the same, using the same mannerisms – playing one man, writer Simon Gray, recounting his life and struggle against lung cancer. On paper, it is an… Read More
Published: 28 April 2009
Thriller – Live, the Michael Jackson tribute show currently playing at the Lyric theatre, has extended its run by a further three months to 3 January 2010, taking it into… Read More
Helen Baxendale is to return to the London stage in the premiere of April De Angelis’s new play Amongst Friends, which opens at the Hampstead theatre on 26 May. The… Read More
Matthew Dunster’s one man coming-of-age drama returns to the Young Vic after its sell-out debut last year, with William Ash reprising the role of confused teenage Adam, attempting to forge… Read More
Published: 27 April 2009
After breaking two ribs on Sunday evening, Graham Norton will miss tonight’s performance of La Cage Aux Folles, but is expected to return in all his glamorous glory for Tuesday… Read More
Cast members from Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical took their outrageous makeup and colourful costumes to Covent Garden Piazza this morning to help London Mayor Boris Johnson launch… Read More
Inches Apart, the winner of the Old Vic New Voices Theatre503 Award 2009, will receive a fully staged production at Theatre503 next month.The devised piece, which focuses on the lives… Read More
As ambitious projects go, the Tricycle theatre’s The Great Game: Afghanistan season is up there with the Colossus of Rhodes, exploring two decades of the country’s turbulent history through 12… Read More
Published: 24 April 2009
Comedian Frank Skinner’s antidote to the recession, the Credit Crunch Cabaret, has announced a third round of Monday night shows at the Lyric theatre this autumn.The show, which offers audiences… Read More
Lenny Henry is to bring his performance as Othello to London when the Northern Broadsides production transfers to Trafalgar Studio 1 from 1 September to 12 December (press night 18… Read More
Published: 23 April 2009
The successful 2008 Broadway production of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, the first all-African-American production of the play to be approved by Tennessee Williams’s estate for performance on the… Read More
Dancers Erin Boag and Anton Du Beke have been waltzing Cheek To Cheek for over a decade, yet it is only since the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing began that… Read More
Arts Council England, the national development agency for the arts, yesterday saw its government funding for 2010/11 slashed by £4 million as part of Alistair Darling’s budget.Though ACE was prepared… Read More
Published: 22 April 2009
The Royal Ballet has revealed a season of productions balancing the past with the present and full length work with mixed bills for its 09/10 season.Among the season’s highlights are… Read More
Hattie Morahan talks to Caroline Bishop about following her mother into the National Theatre and the lure of roles that are something of a mystery. I am relieved to hear… Read More
Placido Domingo is to break new ground when he returns to the Royal Opera House in 2010 to sing both tenor and baritone roles in the same season. One third… Read More
Everybody loves Lucy in Hampstead theatre’s revival of Michael Frayn’s comedy Alphabetical Order. First performed at the theatre in 1975 and playing now as part of the theatre’s 50th birthday… Read More
Published: 21 April 2009
Brian Conley is to return to the London stage this summer when he replaces Michael Ball as the big mum with a big personality, Edna Turnblad, in Hairspray.Ball leaves the… Read More
The much-rumoured London production of hit American show Legally Blonde The Musical has been confirmed, with Sheridan Smith and Duncan James leading the cast. The production, which also stars Alex… Read More
It was a stroke of genius that propelled a group of WI women to international fame: having their photographs taken in the buff for a cheeky calendar has not only… Read More
Published: 20 April 2009
Samantha Spiro, Sean Campion and Joseph Mydell are among the performers who will be spending the summer months in the leafy surroundings of the Regent’s Park Open Air theatre.Spiro and… Read More
Following the success of last year’s summer festival at the Almeida theatre, Tiata Fahodzi returns to the Islington venue for this year’s festival, held from 8 July to 1 August,… Read More
Actress Naomi Frederick is to be joined by a cast with a wealth of London stage experience in the Thea Sharrock-directed production of As You Like It at Shakespeare’s Globe… Read More
The full cast has been confirmed for the site-specific production of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens this summer. Ciaran Kellgren and Abby Ford lead the cast as Peter and Wendy,… Read More
Published: 17 April 2009
Long-running New York satirical revue Forbidden Broadway returns to London for the first time in a decade with a summer season at the Menier Chocolate Factory, from 25 June to… Read More
Dominic West, Alfred Molina and Eddie Redmayne are among the actors joining the new season at the Donmar Warehouse, which features a new version of Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s… Read More
Several new features at Official London Theatre are now available, including seating plans, new access photo maps, archived Official London Theatre Guides and a new Access London Theatre brochure.Official London… Read More
Following last year’s collaborative productions Lost Highway and Punch And Judy, English National Opera and the Young Vic come together once more to create After Dido, a multi-media production inspired… Read More
Published: 16 April 2009
A stage adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s film Saraband is to receive its UK premiere at the Jermyn Street theatre on 28 April (press night 30 April). Saraband is adapted and… Read More
Published: 15 April 2009
Polka theatre presents a brand new play for children this summer, The Monster Under The Bed, which runs from 6 June to 25 July. The Monster Under The Bed, written… Read More
Annette Badland has been forced to withdraw from the cast of Alphabetical Order at Hampstead theatre after breaking a bone in her foot. She has been replaced in the role… Read More
It may have taken slightly longer than she had hoped, but I’d Do Anything’s Jessie Buckley has just made her West End debut. Matthew Amer found out exactly how excited… Read More
Ray Quinn, who dons the leather jacket of Danny Zuko in Grease on 11 May, will be partnering his real-life girlfriend Emma Stephens on stage as the actress, who already… Read More
Published: 14 April 2009
Breakin’ Convention, the annual hip hop festival, returns to Sadler’s Wells for its sixth year from 2 to 4 May, featuring performances from major international hip hop artists including Compagnie… Read More
Published: 9 April 2009
Craig Revel Horwood’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Sunset Boulevard has extended its booking period at the Comedy theatre until 26 September. The show, which received four nominations at… Read More
Based on real events that took place in Nigeria in 1946, Wole Soyinka’s Death And The King’s Horseman is set three years earlier in a hot, dusty market place, where… Read More
Published: 8 April 2009
Andrew Lincoln tells Caroline Bishop about his passion for new writing and his love of the stage – even if it has been a while since we last saw him… Read More
Maureen Lipman has compared the work of multi-award-winning American composer Stephen Sondheim to the divisive breakfast spread Marmite. “You love it or you don’t. I happen to love it. I… Read More
Published: 7 April 2009
ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus took to the stage at the Prince of Wales theatre last night to help celebrate the 10th birthday of Mamma Mia!, the hit musical… Read More
A bare stage can be a frightening proposition. No elaborate set to enhance and distract, no costume to indicate the period of time, just an actress and some carefully placed… Read More
Published: 6 April 2009
Mathew Horne and Imelda Staunton will return to the cast of Entertaining Mr Sloane today following their illness-induced absence.The pair has not performed in the show since Horne collapsed during… Read More
Former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo has heaped praise on the National Theatre’s stage adaptation of his novel War Horse, which opened at the New London theatre last week.Speaking at the… Read More
Samuel West has been cast in Lucy Prebble’s new play Enron, which opens at Chichester Festival Theatre in July before transferring to London’s Royal Court from 17 September. West, who… Read More