Columns
No sooner have I returned from New York late last night, after a madcap whirl of 8 shows in five days, there’s a crazy week ahead in London with multiple openings on the same nights,…
Hemley’s BAFTA etiquette – a guide for Sheridan Smith and others
The red carpet has been rolled away for another year, and the winners of last weekend’s BAFTAs will now be wondering where to place their trophies. In Olivia Colman’s case, she will be wondering what…
Should student shows be marketed better to the public?
The Director of Performance at Mountview, Stephen Jamieson, told me last week that it isn’t always easy to persuade the general public to come to student shows. “They don’t seem to know that they can simply…
Crowd funding on the Fringe
Is it ok to ask friends and fans to fund your art? In the wake of criticism unleashed upon Zach Braff for financing his new film through Kickstarter it seems that for the very rich…
The drama school bubble
There is a familiar sight in zombie films: ruthless, inhuman creatures scrambling to feed on destruction, a mindless follower mentality drawn by the promise of brains/food/life. Let’s relocate that image, make the carnage less visible…
Choreography to make you Scarlett with envy
The Royal Ballet’s Artist in Residence, Liam Scarlett is yet again a hot topic around town. His first full-length narrative ballet received mixed reviews during its four day run at the Linbury Studio Theatre at…
Short Shorts 85: An actor bites back and clowning around
I’m in New York this week, and though I wasn’t here in time to see The Testament of Mary that closed the weekend before last with Fiona Shaw, I just made it into town in…
Once is definitely not enough
I try not to be what a friend of mine in New York calls a “quotes whore” – someone who writes reviews so that they get emblazoned on the marquees outside theatres. But I also…
When the drearies do attack/ and a siege of the sads begins…
I guess we just have to get used to it: life can frequently be depressing. But I never get used to suffering from depression, which is a different (though sometimes related) thing entirely. Just the…
Show about DJ scandal could be hit and miss
It was only going to be a matter of time before the Jimmy Savile scandal made its way to the stage in some shape or form. But where would such a show find a home…
The (mis)information highway and the online haters
It’s a fact of life that there’s now an unstoppable tide of information (and in turn misinformation) about, thanks to Twitter and the speed at which it can disseminate information. I am implicated and complicit…
When musicals go bad
Why is it that musicals frequently get treated without the proper respect they deserve? No other art form suffers from the stigma musicals often have directed towards them and frequently this is from the arts…
Did Forbes fall foul of the Scottish play’s curse?
Not surprisingly, recent tributes to director Bryan Forbes have focused on his distinguished film career, only mentioning in passing the contribution he made to one of the great theatrical disasters of all time – namely,…
A lasting Olympic legacy for the arts?
There were plenty of us deeply cynical when, six years ago, James Purnell (remember him? now not only an ex-culture secretary, but an ex-politician who is one of Tony Hall’s new brains at the Beeb)…
Tackling mental health discrimination
Education and training in this industry takes many forms, as I often point out. And it often – inclusivity being what theatre is so good at – supports vulnerable sections of the community really well….
The week ahead in London, May 13-19
Theatre is usually more feast than famine, as regular readers of this weekly column will know from the variety and choice of what’s routinely on offer to see in London and beyond. But this week,…
The Yin and yang of comedy crowd control
Billy Connolly let rip at an official venue photographer last week in Killarney, for apparently impeding his line of vision. The incident was condemned by some of the Scot’s own fans and, by all accounts,…
Short Shorts 84: Twitter connections and Let It Be
I’m sad that no sooner did I highlight the wonderful Twitter account of Sir Little David Hare (@LittleDavidH) yesterday than I’ve found the profile ‘suspended’. I hope that this important “gift to the nation”, as it…
You should come out whistling the set (lights, sound) …
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…
ITV’s Vicious – the sitcom even Ian McKellen can’t save
When ITV’s new sitcom Vicious premiered last week, I quipped on Twitter that the only way it could be any worse was if Miranda Hart suddenly popped up in it. I’d like to take that…
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