Is it a paradox that sound in theatre is something we rarely shout about – unless it’s the inappropriate noise emanating from one or other end of whoever’s in the next seat? Thanks to the…
A tale of two Nicks
There’s a phenomenon that afflicts entertainment double acts. For want of a proper name let us dub it ‘Ernie Wise syndrome’. It’s not a condition limited to comics or even performers and it is probably…
Sylvia Young winners – and your opportunity
Getting a place at the Sylvia Young Stage School is an achievement in itself – not least when you consider the roll call of famous faces that went there before you. There’s Rita Ora, Nicholas…
Why My Theatre Matters! matters…
It is something of a timely coincidence that the launch of the My Theatre Matters! campaign comes little more than a week after two rather contrasting arts funding announcements from councils in Belfast and Westminster….
Oscars – it’s the way you pick ‘em, Ben
Casting, as A Chorus Line reminds us, is to the acting world what death and taxes are to everyday existence – an immutable fact of life from which none may escape. Except of course when…
Apols, ENO, ENB and Westminster
As with the sort of over-reliance on their Satnav that leads unhappy motorists to attempt to traverse a river in their cars, it doesn’t pay to take the predictive texting on one’s laptop too much…
My audition hell – Sinden, West, Scales AND Cryer
Another year, another Stage New Year Party. Incredibly for an event that’s become such a hot ticket, I can recall our nail-biting concern on the first occasion we held the event many years ago: is…
Make that audition value for money
I doubt that I’m the only one surprised to see what a large proportion in our weekly poll didn’t think drama schools should be expected to cover the cost of auditions. It wasn’t a majority…
Meeting tomorrow’s young stars of stage and backstage
Normally I treat exclamations and excessive capitalisation with as much affection as a bad dose of impetigo but let me set prejudice aside to admit… I LOVE Theatrecraft! Like a shot of Lagavulin, it’s a…
Theatrical full circle for Spice Girls
Next to his repurposed Soviet-epoch Czech motorbike, extensive facial jewellery and Tom of Finland coffee table books, my former neighbour in London took the greatest pride in his complete collection of Spice Girls dolls. Until…
Howard’s way can make for extra-special theatre
Pantomimes are normally an onslaught of the senses – so making them autism-friendly brings additional challenges
Drawing the line on unpaid internships
Working unpaid isn’t always the right decision, but at some point it is a rite of passage that almost nobody getting into performance or media can avoid
Shameful pleasures of not-so-easy listening
If I confessed I was spending Saturday next week at the Rubber Fetish Ball, I suspect it would have earned me fewer quizzical glances than my actual choice of activity. Truthfully, I am attending a…
There’s a write way to win that award
If you’re proposing yourself or your organisation for an award, what can you do to improve your chances?
Back to the future
It’s the dawn of a new media era and two entrepreneurs – one in his twenties, the other just past thirty – suss that showbusiness too is changing. Remarkably quickly, the way in which people…


Jobs & Auditions