Pope-ally wired! Why Mark E Smith’s maligned Catholic play is getting a reboot
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…
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Tomorrow Will Be a Palestinian Day review – work that finds a way out of Gaza’s ruins
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, writers, resource and rehearsal space,…
‘All the girls were in there for shit that is pretty normal’: the show reinventing Girl, Interrupted for a new generation
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…
Rosamund Pike criticises audience member for texting during West End play
Actor tells theatregoers she hoped message was ‘very important’ after final bows of Inter Alia performanceRosamund Pike has criticised an audience member for texting during the climax of her West…
Stage
Gaslit, shamed and swindled: the play about Eleanor Glanville, persecuted for her love of butterflies
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…
Think dance classes terrify you? Try taking four in a weekend
Most of us loved dancing when we were kids. I dip my toe in at Melbourne’s Rising festival and rediscover that simple, pure joyAs I wait for my first Cuban…
Dance
Roller skates! Pointe shoes! Parachutes! A mythic dance takes flight again at a Brooklyn rink
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…
Hugh Skinner: ‘My most embarrassing moment? Walking on set naked when I wasn’t supposed to be’
The actor on his fear of pigeons, his dashed boyband hopes, and having a crush on the entire male cast of NeighboursBorn in London, Hugh Skinner, 41, trained at Lamda…
Stage
Once review – slick romance skips showstoppers and defies razzmatazz
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…
Theatre
Beetlejuice review – Tim Burton’s super creep reanimated as a shock jock in ghoulish musical
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 arrived early as yet…
Books
‘True trailblazer’: British author and activist Maureen Duffy dies aged 92
Duffy wrote novels, plays and poetry, campaigned for gay rights, and was a ‘tireless advocate’ for authors’ rightsMaureen Duffy, author of more than 60 works and a pioneering activist for…
Stage
Black Comedy review – Peter Shaffer’s relentless farce provokes helpless laughter
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 complaint…
Theatre
‘Impossible, exhausting, horrifying’: how a chilling supernatural play explains the terror of life in Iran
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…
Theatre
Redcliffe review – beautiful musical gets straight to the heart of forbidden love
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 news. The…
Theatre
Dark of the Moon review – bluegrass girl meets emo witch boy and their songs soar
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 are in ancient…
Stage
Dada Masilo’s Hamlet review – dance remix gives the tragedy some potent tweaks
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 force without using most of…
Stage
Fatiha El-Ghorri: Cockney Stacking Doll review – Taskmaster star’s endearing, earthy tour of the East End
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, indicating her mouth, “and this”…
Kim Noble
‘I want to bury it under a roundabout!’ Kim Noble on his unusual approach to promoting his graphic novel
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.…
Stage
‘My first drag turn? As Karen Carpenter in hotpants!’ La Voix on swinger cruises, Strictly – and blazing into musicals
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,…
Stage
Our Public House review – a heartfelt portrait of divided Britain set behind the bar
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 crucible for Dash…
Stage
Isabelle review – a sprawling debut driven by big ideas and family conflict
69 Humber Street, HullMarc Graham’s debut stretches from festival short to full-length play, tackling inheritance, class and familial resentment with plenty of theatrical confidenceThere are many reasons to admire Hull’s…
Life and style
Tom Burke: ‘The worst job I’ve done? A movie. Does it have a name? It might do’
The actor on his Lauren Laverne crush, missing jury service, and shoving chocolate mousse in his agent’s faceBorn in London, Tom Burke, 44, trained at Rada. In 2008, he won…
Film
‘I want to hit 100’: Derek Jacobi on Aids, ageing and failing to boil an egg
The giant of stage and screen is 87 and still hates looking in the mirror. At home with his husband, he talks about weeping, sleeping with Daniel Craig, terrifying directors…
Biography books
Stephen Sondheim by Daniel Okrent review – a superb biography of the musical master
Packed with gossip and incident, this book is also a fascinating study in the gestation of geniusAmong the many great pleasures of Daniel Okrent’s new biography of Stephen Sondheim –…
Theatre
Care review – this searing portrayal of dementia raises urgent questions for us all
Young Vic, LondonAlexander Zeldin’s devastating play depicts the gruelling loneliness and confusion of life in a care homeAlexander Zeldin’s characters often inhabit the margins, from zero-hours workers to apparently unremarkable…
Dance
Uncaged+ review – elegant sketches of Lee Krasner and her life with Jackson Pollock
The Mount Without, Bristol Fame’s Antonia Franceschi delivers a double portrait of Krasner, with music by Claire van Kampen, plus there’s a superb solo from Edward WatsonTwo notable women are…
Theatre
Astell and Woolf review – feminist writers unite and share a sherry in the afterlife
Live theatre, NewcastleIn Shelagh Stephenson’s spiky comedy, Virginia Woolf and Mary Astell become celestial companions, discussing religion, science and independenceMary Astell is not known for her knitting. If she is…
Stage
Churchill’s Urinal review – Rosie Holt’s pisstake chancellor turns it up to No 11
King’s Head theatre, London An office toilet once used by the wartime PM sparks a culture war in this frenzied show about politics and patriarchyWhen Rachel Reeves became chancellor in…
Comedy
John Kearns: Tilting at Windmills review – a handful of dust (and prawn cocktail crisps) in riff on TS Eliot
The Crescent, YorkThe comedian addresses a relationship breakup via The Waste Land, Aldi and a dimwit estate agentHow has it come to this? That’s what new show Tilting at Windmills…
West End
Some West End shows could ‘go dark’ as Equity members back possible strikes
London’s biggest productions could be hit if industrial action over pay and conditions goes ahead, says unionSome of the biggest West End shows could be forced to temporarily close during…
Stage
Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo to make West End debut in Rent revival
A ‘thrillingly fresh’ 30th-anniversary production of Jonathan Larson’s musical will open at the Duke of York’s theatre in London, directed by Luke SheppardThe Pulitzer prize-winning musical Rent will return to…
Stage
Grayson Perry’s life story to be told in ‘outrageous’ musical
Grayson the Musical will explore ‘identity, creativity and self-acceptance … with life coaching from a six-foot teddy bear named Alan’Grayson Perry’s life story is to be told in an “outrageous”…
Stage
Equus review – desire and desperation in Peter Shaffer’s tale of sex, gods and horses
Menier Chocolate Factory, LondonLindsay Posner’s precise revival flies highest in its most intense moments of beastliness as a psychiatrist sets about ridding a teenage boy of his demons Desperation seeps…
Theatre
I’m Not Being Funny review – there’s laughter through tears in emotional dark comedy
Bush theatre, LondonMarried aspiring standups confront on stage what they’re concealing in real life, in Piers Black’s compelling two-handerStandup is performance in extremis, self-projection in the raw – and has…
Theatre
Farm Fatale review – freaky scarecrows make hay out of climate crisis
Southbank Centre, LondonBetween a sci-fi concert for eggs and an interview with a bee, the scarecrow broadcasters in Philippe Quesne’s oddball performance piece make the case for art as salvation…
Stage
Tulsa Ballet: Made in America review – fantastically flexible Oklahoman squad are A-OK!
Linbury theatre, Royal Opera House, LondonThe first UK visit for the company showcases the dancers’ elegance and versatility across three pieces of varying impactThis small Oklahoman dance company, making its…