Theatr Clywd, MoldLetting the audience choose props and costumes adds both absurd and affecting possibilities to this selection of 15 new short playsDirected by Theatr Clwyd’s artistic director, Tamara Harvey, Curtain Up is an appropriately celebratory…
‘I came close to death’: David Harewood on racism and psychosis
Thirty years ago, fresh out of drama school, the Homeland star found himself in the midst of a breakdown, ending up in a locked hospital ward. He recalls the years of racial abuse that had pulled him apartWaking up in a mental institution is a strange …
The Song Project review – a mixed bag of theatrical ballads
Royal Court, LondonDutch singer Wende performs songs conceived by playwrights – on topics from bloody battles to online dating – with magnetism and a talent for storytellingIn this glorious experiment with mixed results, five playwrights – EV Crowe, Sa…
The Nobodies review – an old-fashioned heist movie turned play
Pleasance theatre, LondonThe real joy of this tale of three working-class friends scheming to save a local hospital lies in its bold, energetic storytellingWriter Amy Guyler has deftly constructed an intricate play about three working-class friends, th…
Cinderella review – not so much a ball as a blast
Gillian Lynne theatre, LondonBewitching melodies abound as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s terrifically OTT but warm and inclusive musical finally arrivesDelayed by a year because of the pandemic, and with last month’s opening night postponed at the 11th hour, A…
Dragons and Mythical Beasts review – watch out for the tooth fairy!
Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, LondonPuppeteers subtly animate a range of folkloric beasties, including a magical unicorn and screechingly strange fairy, in this comical, spellbinding showSomething miraculous is happening. The sun is shining and the k…
Joan Rivers and Barbra Streisand: the myth of their lesbian play
Before they were superstars, Joan Rivers kissed and tried to kill a young Barbra Streisand on stage – or so she claimed. Now her tall tale has inspired drama The Funny GirlsIn the late 1950s, a 25-year-old struggling actor named Joan Molinsky – later t…
Adrian Dunbar cast alongside Cush Jumbo in Hamlet at Young Vic
The Line of Duty actor will play Claudius and the Ghost when the postponed play opens next monthAdrian Dunbar is to join Cush Jumbo in the Young Vic theatre’s production of Hamlet which, postponed for more than a year, will open in London next month.Du…
Una Stubbs: a life in pictures
Una Stubbs – the actor whose long career took in Summer Holiday, Worzel Gummidge, Till Death Us Do Part and most recently Steven Moffat’s Sherlock – has died aged 84.Una Stubbs, actor in Sherlock and Till Death Us Do Part, dies aged 84Una Stubbs obitua…
The Guardian view on the Edinburgh festivals: signs of rebirth | Editorial
They may be smaller and quieter than they once were, but Scotland’s capital has its summer arts events, and even some visitors, backThe Edinburgh festivals are back – but not as we know them. Last year was the first time since their founding in 1947 th…