Old Joint Stock, BirminghamOne millennial’s lifelong infatuation with the star could have been interesting but this spirited solo performance fails to engageOops she did it again. Britney mania has got another millennial teenager obsessed. Still, Jean …
Folk review – a beautifully brooding tale of song and sisterhood
Hampstead theatre, LondonThe songs that unite two grieving sisters are collected and ‘tidied up’ by Cecil Sharp in this historical dramaThis beautifully brooding slice of English pastoral places Cecil Sharp, the godfather of folk music who collected th…
Beyond Poirot: David Suchet on stage – in pictures
As his autobiographical show Poirot and More: A Retrospective comes to the West End, look back at the star’s celebrated theatre career Continue reading…
New year arts: Observer critics pick the culture to get us through to spring
From live music to glass sculpture, game-changing performances to fitness podcasts… our writers on cultural treats to light up the months aheadKathryn Hunter appears in The Chairs, Eugène Ionesco’s absurdist apocalypse drama, translated, adapted and di…
Susannah Clapp’s best theatre of 2021
Little Amal stirred hearts, Chaucer hit Willesden, Cush Jumbo was a perfect prince, and once again James Graham said it allRead the Observer critics’ review of 2021 in full hereIt was a year of promises and postponements, of dodgy mask-wearing in the s…
The Guardian view on tighter Covid rules: better safe than sorry | Editorial
Ministers have announced a plan B. Now they must ensure it can be implementedWork from home if you can; wear face masks when in public indoor spaces (except when eating, drinking or exercising); use the NHS app to prove you are vaccinated, or have rece…
Sexual Consent Santa is coming to town! Taylor Mac’s drag queen Christmas
With a Virgin Mary strip show, lessons in how to sit on Santa’s lap and a carol about drugs, this festive extravaganza is about as alternative as Christmas can get. Is Britain ready for the New York legend’s show?If there’s one song that hardly seems C…
Treasure Island review – BSL production a sign of progress
Derby theatreJim Hawkins becomes a young woman (or two) in this joyous but flawed adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic taleWhile this is a sometimes flawed production, with an occasionally uneven pace and a script that could do with more dept…
The Drifters Girl review – sensational songs but flat storytelling
Garrick theatre, LondonBeverley Knight excels as trailblazing manager Faye Treadwell in a musical that skips hastily through history and lacks emotional drama The idea behind this musical is to show the powerhouse female force that managed the all-male…
Playwright James Graham: ‘Was I too easy on Dominic Cummings? I go back and forth’
He has written powerful dramas about the likes of Rupert Murdoch and Dominic Cummings. The playwright explains why he’s now tackling 11 vitriolic TV debates that gripped AmericaLast May, the playwright James Graham found himself in the unfamiliar envir…