Columns
Speaking ill of the dead
In a showbiz career lasting decades, my old friend Charles Vance never managed a date in the West End – until this month when he achieved a celebrity packed house. It’s unfortunate the great man…
Editors' Blog
The Stage's editor Brian Attwood and deputy editor Alistair Smith give their thoughts on the latest theatre news.
ATG, Brits on Broadway and an advert for subsidy
Ambassador Theatre Group’s increasing dominance of the UK industry can be a divisive subject in theatre circles, but news this week that the group has made its first big strides into the US market should be…
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…
Olivier Awards – a view from the stalls
Not that you could tell it from the ITV highlights, but the 37th Laurence Olivier Awards were dominated by two things: public funding and the looming spectre of its removal. From Society of London Theatre…
How should we solve the funding problem, Maria?
I find it hard to believe that anyone can have been particularly surprised by the line taken by culture secretary Maria Miller in her speech at the British Museum this week. The economy has been…
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…
How much? The Stage’s annual West End ticket survey
Welcome to West End ticketing: the sequel. After its inaugural outing in 2012, The Stage’s annual survey has returned and this year there are a few changes. Not in our methodology – which remains precisely…
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….
Do drama schools prepare performers for the world of work?
I’ve been reading Julius Green’s excellent book – How to produce a West End show – over my journeys in and out of the office over the last couple of weeks. It really is a…
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…
Would Labour be any better for the arts?
Shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman delivered an excellent, rabble-rousing speech at the Soho Theatre this week, in which she took aim at the coalition government and its “brazen” abandonment of arts funding, while encouraging the…
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…
Forgan conclusion for local theatres?
It’s an interesting coincidence that in the same week that Liz Forgan gave her valedictory speech as Arts Council England chairwoman, English National Opera posted accounts recording a £2 million deficit for its most recent…
The Stage 100: who did we miss?
The new year always starts with a bang at The Stage with the joint announcement of The Stage 100. I often get asked by what criteria we judge our annual power list. We agonise for long…
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…
Theatre vs football
I’ve been thinking about ticket prices quite a lot recently. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been to see two football matches at (Tottenham Hotspur’s ground) White Hart Lane and sat in (essentially) the…
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…
Winning arts and minds
There’s been much talk of arts funding cuts over the last few weeks. Some have already happened (as in the Arts Council England cuts), some are planned (as in Newcastle City Council’s proposed 100% cut…
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…
Jobs & Auditions
