Columns
It’s business as (un)usual at the Royal Court at the moment, where on the one hand they’re putting on lots of new plays and events, but unusually are ones that have been chosen and suggested…
Edinburgh venture of the red-headed league
Ginger-haired members of society, listen up. If you have ever felt outcast due to your fiery locks, through the power of theatre you can now come together to explore the possibility of “repopulating the earth…
A crib sheet for this season’s dance
I thought it was about time I plan my summer dance viewing in the Big Smoke before I start to wade through Edinburgh press releases and get all hyped up, psyched up and ready for…
Is politics a laughing matter?
Al Murray’s recent remark that comedians should lampoon every political persuasion but not advance one of their own has ruffled a few feathers. The comment arose during an interview between the Pub Landord creator and…
Moved by learning – again and again
When I am moved three times in 24 hours by three completely different experiences, I realise just what a privileged life I lead and how very lucky I am to do the job I do….
Maria Miller: thank you and goodbye?
Peter Bazalgette, the Arts Council chairman, has duly given Maria Miller credit for the settlement she has made with the Treasury for the cut the Department for Culture Media and Sport will get in the…
Has Mackintosh got a tricolour up his sleeve?
Following the commission of a piece of Les Miserables wall art on the side of the Queen’s Theatre in London, the question must be asked – is there no medium that this tale cannot infiltrate?…
Different forms of theatrical madness and wiggery
Reviewing the opening of Sweet Bird of Youth at the Old Vic last week, the Daily Telegraph’s Charles Spencer awarded it five stars, and declared: “I seem to be gaily scattering five star reviews like…
The week ahead June 17-23 in London and beyond
This week brings new plays by Conor McPherson and David Edgar, as well as Daniel Radcliffe back to the West End in the third production of Michael Grandage’s West End season at the Coward, and…
Theatrical trivia, fun and quotes of the week
Twitter is, of course, a fatal time waster; but it can also be the source of endless fun, too. A hashtag game played out earlier this week was for #tubemusicals; and amongst the suggestions put…
Should the Tonys be on British TV? Let’s focus on the Oliviers first…
On Sunday, the day of the Tony Awards in the US, theatre fans from the UK were turning to Twitter to ask if there was anyway they could watch the American awards on TV here….
Combat, courses and operatic Alice
Yes, yet another of those disparate columns because there’s so much going on. Last Friday, for instance I was at The Tower of London along with hundreds of children in school parties and crowds of…
New musicals bearing fruit
I spend a lot of time flying the flag for new musicals, and particularly British ones, both in print and here on this blog, as well as in my roles on various judging panels –…
Art for the man on the Clapham omnibus
It hasn’t taken long, but we’re kind of used to our performing arts spilling onto the streets. London 2012 Festival was almost 12 weeks of pure street theatre, with some music and even dance thrown…
Our session with Michael Grandage: to pretend or not to pretend?
You’d think that with all the successful productions Michael Grandage has directed, there must be some sort of secret? But, in our directing masterclass with him, Grandage demonstrates the one thing which in my experience…
How can we have a fringe without exploitation?
Where do you stand on the whole ‘low pay/no pay’ issue? For some, a new minimum wage ruling has marked the death of the fringe and it’s certainly worrying terrain. But while arguments around the…
The joys of SE1
Last night I was at the opening of The Amen Corner at the National, a production that not only brings James Baldwin’s historic play back to London for the first time since the Tricycle produced…
In the world of dance, we are all digital now
I missed out on review tickets for a show that I had really wanted to see last week. I was disappointed, but then the reviews came in. And I felt better. And then I searched…
Gambling venue puts the ‘no’ into hypnosis
Derren Brown, one imagines, is the kind of guy useful only in certain scenarios. In social situations he must be a nightmare. If you were Derren’s friend, there would be no point trying to disguise…
Authenticity and ethnicity – the theatre casting debate
I recently attended a debate in Chicago entitled “Building a theater of inclusion” with an eminent panel of Asian-American artists, including playwright David Henry Hwang whose play Yellow Face is playing at London’s Park Theatre….
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