The writer has turned a Greek tragedy about a marooned soldier into an all-women play for the Covid era. They reveal how its creation mirrored their own journey‘These stories can be intimidating for so many reasons,” Kae Tempest says of the classical G…
West End producer David Pugh: ‘My guiding principle was always: will mum like it?’
He turned Art and The Play What I Wrote into smashes. Now he’s handing out flyers for Charlie and Stan. But will pandemic-shy audiences come and see it? Reports of the death of the stereotypical West End producer have been exaggerated. I’m in Bath, sat…
Gagging order: is it ever OK to heckle a comedian?
A set-ruining act of boorishness, or a vital rite of passage for standups? Often it depends on who’s doing the hecklingIn the Guide’s weekly Solved! column, we look into a crucial pop-culture question you’ve been burning to know the answer to – and set…
Composer-pianist Max Richter: ‘Creativity is activism’
The German-British composer explains why his new album, Exiles, addresses the refugee crisis – and is played by an orchestra who break all the rules When Max Richter sat down to compose a new ballet score in 2015 he knew what he wanted to say. In April…
Changing Destiny review – Ben Okri’s sketchy foray into ancient Egypt
Young Vic, LondonKwame Kwei-Armah’s adaptation of a 4,000-year-old Egyptian poem is ambitious and visually stunning, but Ben Okri’s script is too broadbrushTwo towering pyramids dominate the auditorium, which is arranged in the round. The top structure…
Adrian Lester: ‘I’ll never leave the stage’
As he prepares to return to live theatre – in his wife’s acclaimed play about male friendship – the actor reflects on a tumultuous 18 months, and on why he needs an audienceIn the short and possibly quite nerve-racking break between an afternoon rehear…
Lily Allen: from chart-topping handbag kid to the heart of London’s West End
The singer is back in front of a live audience this week, playing ‘a woman with a real point of view’ in a spooky new play, 2:22 – A Ghost StoryThere, in the background, wearing drop pearl earrings, is 13-year-old Lily Allen dressed up as a little lady…
‘I’m double-vaxxed and won’t spit on you!’ Six standups on returning to live comedy
Andrew Maxwell, Olga Koch, Sadia Azmat and more reflect on the return of audiences after a year away – plus offer up some new jokes!Modern Toss on comedy at the fringethe best of fringe, in person and onlineIt’s a feeling of pure joy. Over the last yea…
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat review – firing on all cylinders
London PalladiumAlexandra Burke, Jason Donovan and Technicolor coat-wearer Jac Yarrow are among a cast whose performances ooze personality and mischiefWhile Andrew Lloyd Webber bumpily steers his latest £6m production into being, there is this smooth o…