The Stage

Hot Topics

Curious about what the latest hot topics are affecting the theatre industry? Want to get involved in the conversation? The Stage brings you news, in-depth reports and opinion pieces on big issues from key opinion leaders and experts across the performing arts. Stay informed on the most important hot topics within theatre.

Oldham Coliseum’s reopening delayed again to 2027

News

Oldham Coliseum’s reopening has been delayed again, with the venue now set to begin performances in 2027

Frustrations grow at lack of clarity over plans for Forum in Cumbria

News by Hattie Fisk

Theatre’s greatest strength is that we must experience it together

Opinion by Lyn Gardner

Capital Theatres unveils associates scheme for mid-career theatremakers

News by Fergus Morgan

Black British Theatre Awards enters liquidation, documents reveal

News by Hattie Fisk

Oldham Coliseum’s reopening delayed again to 2027

Frustrations grow at lack of clarity over plans for Forum in Cumbria

Capital Theatres unveils associates scheme for mid-career theatremakers

Black British Theatre Awards enters liquidation, documents reveal

Venues built in 1970s and 1980s increasingly in danger of closure – Theatres Trust

Preston Guild Hall and the Forum in Cumbria added to Theatres at Risk list

News feature: how well is theatre tackling accessibility and where can it improve?

Lisa Nandy quits X citing ‘misinformation’

Orchard Theatre unveils reopening season following three-year closure

Avenue Q introduces hydration breaks for cast as theatres battle heatwave

Shaftesbury Theatre CEO: West End faces real accessibility challenge

NT head of access: Every theatre should have a dedicated accessibility role

Michèle Taylor: Reviewers need to be braver critiquing disabled artists’ work

Freelancers Make Theatre Work wins funding from Lloyd Webber and Mackintosh

David Tennant departs stage following Macbeth audience disruption

Drama school racism: Students call out top schools and reveal stories of abuse

Indoor live performance to resume from August 1

Breaking news: NPO funding decisions 2023-26

Coronavirus: Theatre workers being asked to pay back furlough contributions

Chris Goode arrested for possession of indecent images prior to death

Coronavirus: Theatres prepare for 2021 reopenings under worst-case scenario

Matthew Bourne ballet at Sadler's Wells interrupted by protest

Old Vic cancelled Into the Woods after staff unrest at Terry Gilliam's involvement

Coronavirus: Cameron Mackintosh staff facing redundancy as consultations begin

Exclusive: Royal Exchange director Stef O’Driscoll breaks silence on show cancellation

ArtsEd principal resigns after damning report into school’s ‘sexualised environment’

Coronavirus: Roadmap revealed for reopening of theatres

YouTuber Alex Belfield handed five-and-a-half-year prison sentence

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Jobs

Executive Assistant

City: Central London (Charing Cross Road) Salary: Competitive

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Wigs, Hair and Make-up Assis...

City: 5th Floor, 65 Chandos Place Salary: In line wit...

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Deputy Head of Visitor Opera...

City: ABBA Arena, 1 Pudding Mill Lane, LONDON, E15 2RU Salary: circa £52,000

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Head of Learning & Participa...

Salary: Up to £50,000 per annum

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Flys Technician

City: London Coliseum Salary: £832.04 per...

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Scenic Metalworker, Producti...

City: London WC2E 9DD

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Head of Stage

Salary: Competitive

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Senior Technician (Sound)

City: Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road... Salary: £39,424 - £...

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Company Manager

City: 99 Upper Ground, London SE1 9PP Salary: £45,000 pa

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Production Assistant

Salary: £25k-£30k

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Senior Technician (Stage), C...

Salary: Competitive

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Stage LX

City: Phoenix Theatre, 110 Charing Cross Road Salary: In line wit...

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Deputy Head of Electrics

Salary: Competitive

Apply

Lighting Programmer

City: London Coliseum Salary: £882.79 per...

Apply

Running Props Technician

City: London Coliseum & other locations as required Salary: £831.16 per...

Apply

Jobs

Executive Assistant

City: Central London (Charing Cross Road) Salary: Competitive

Apply

Wigs, Hair and Make-up Assis...

City: 5th Floor, 65 Chandos Place Salary: In line wit...

Apply

Deputy Head of Visitor Opera...

City: ABBA Arena, 1 Pudding Mill Lane, LONDON, E15 2RU Salary: circa £52,000

Apply

Head of Learning & Participa...

Salary: Up to £50,000 per annum

Apply

Flys Technician

City: London Coliseum Salary: £832.04 per...

Apply

Scenic Metalworker, Producti...

City: London WC2E 9DD

Apply

Head of Stage

Salary: Competitive

Apply

Senior Technician (Sound)

City: Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road... Salary: £39,424 - £...

Apply

Company Manager

City: 99 Upper Ground, London SE1 9PP Salary: £45,000 pa

Apply

Production Assistant

Salary: £25k-£30k

Apply

Senior Technician (Stage), C...

Salary: Competitive

Apply

Stage LX

City: Phoenix Theatre, 110 Charing Cross Road Salary: In line wit...

Apply

Deputy Head of Electrics

Salary: Competitive

Apply

Lighting Programmer

City: London Coliseum Salary: £882.79 per...

Apply

Running Props Technician

City: London Coliseum & other locations as required Salary: £831.16 per...

Apply

Opinion

by Lyn Gardner

Theatre’s greatest strength is that we must experience it together

One of theatre’s supreme attributes is that it provides a collective experience, suggests Lyn Gardner – the opportunity to feel something together

by Amanda Parker

Would it be a crime to kill a sacred cow to free up a West End theatre?

The Mousetrap has been a guaranteed seat-filler for nearly 75 years, but is it time to reassess its right to a prime theatre spot in perpetuity? asks Amanda Parker

Editor's View

Andrew Lloyd Webber is right about Broadway – but the West End could be next

Andrew Lloyd Webber is right to worry that Broadway is now financially unviable for producers, says The Stage editor Matthew Hemley, but this has implications for UK producers too

Hamlet, July 2026

by Harry Venning

Your Views

Making Your Views easier to read – this month in Your Views

Plea to the industry from a returning theatreworker – this month in Your Views

Seven Dials Playhouse warnings ignored – this month in Your Views

Arts education needs investment, not ‘ruthless’ funding – this month in Your Views

Hamlet, July 2026

by Harry Venning

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The Stage Interview

The Stage talks in depth to movers and shakers from across the industry

Sutton Foster

Performer

Akram Khan

Choreographer

Michael Pennington

Actor, director and writer

Lynette Linton

Director and writer

Michael Sheen

Actor and artistic director

Annilese Miskimmon

Artistic director

Michael Sheen

Actor and artistic director

Annilese Miskimmon

Artistic director

Lynette Linton

Director and writer

Akram Khan

Choreographer

Sutton Foster

Performer

Michael Pennington

Actor, director and writer

Elizabeth McGovern

Actor

Sutton Foster

Performer

Carrie Hope Fletcher

Actor

Julian Bird

Chief executive, Society of London Theatre/UK Theatre

Jane Asher

Actor

Nancy Carroll

Actor

“Theatre is not a game for people who need to pay the mortgage”

Bryony Kimmings

Theatremaker

Bryony Kimmings tells Lyn Gardner about her love-hate relationship with theatre, moving to the country and her new show, Bog Witch, at Soho Theatre Walthamstow

“Running a theatre is tougher than ever”

Chris Stafford

Chief executive

“Stratford East has always been revolutionary”

Nadia Fall

artistic director

“We were riding a moment in theatre”

Ben Power

Writer

“Our industry is at breaking point”

Brigid Larmour

Artistic director

Sutton Foster

Performer

Akram Khan

Choreographer

Michael Pennington

Actor, director and writer

Lynette Linton

Director and writer

Michael Sheen

Actor and artistic director

Annilese Miskimmon

Artistic director

Michael Sheen

Actor and artistic director

Annilese Miskimmon

Artistic director

Lynette Linton

Director and writer

Akram Khan

Choreographer

Sutton Foster

Performer

Michael Pennington

Actor, director and writer

Elizabeth McGovern

Actor

Sutton Foster

Performer

Carrie Hope Fletcher

Actor

Julian Bird

Chief executive, Society of London Theatre/UK Theatre

Jane Asher

Actor

Nancy Carroll

Actor

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Long Reads

Operating theatre: how the arts are transforming health care

by Lyn Gardner

Disabled dance sector: How access barriers are threatening innovation

by Kate Wyver

Women in tech: what’s blocking the path to equality?

by Holly O'Mahony

The gender imbalance backstage is a long way from fixed, but women who have smashed the glass ceiling tell Holly O’Mahony that they are optimistic for the sector’s future

7,500 issues: Leafing through the remarkable history of The Stage

by Giverny Masso

AI: will it be the next big technical revolution in theatre?

by Theo Bosanquet

Operating theatre: how the arts are transforming health care

by Lyn Gardner

Disabled dance sector: How access barriers are threatening innovation

by Kate Wyver

7,500 issues: Leafing through the remarkable history of The Stage

by Giverny Masso

AI: will it be the next big technical revolution in theatre?

by Theo Bosanquet

VIEW ALL

Features

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News feature: how well is theatre tackling accessibility and where can it improve?

by Giverny Masso

Giverny Masso reports from last month’s Constellations of Change symposium to hear the latest thinking from industry figures on where it is making progress with accessibility for disabled artists – and where it can make further advances