Cultural venues in much of the UK are now closed to audiences, but one thing is clear: the shared experience of art should never be taken for granted The late summer and early autumn saw a m…
About £120m has been set aside for arts commissions. It may as well be used wisely When, at the 2018 Tory party conference, Theresa May announced a "nationwide festival in celebration of …
Culture needed a lifeline, and has got one. Now the sector must avoid treading water There are as many reasons to applaud the UK government's decision to pump £1.57bn into the arts as the…
The Southbank Centre in London is the latest institution to warn of disaster. It is time for decisive government action A vocal minority in the UK say the arts are parasites on the state, le…
The brilliant creativity of British theatre must be safeguarded " and not just the great national institutions Theatre has brave new thinking in its bones. What is it, if not the imagining a…
Theatres across the UK are struggling to provide the opportunities that actors and audiences needFrom the Ffwrnes in Llanelli to Eden Court in Inverness, the UK's approximately 1,200 theatre…
Corporate sponsorship needs to steer clear of impinging on artistic freedomsNews that investment managers the Man Group is withdrawing its sponsorship from the Booker prize after 18 years ha…
Instituting a UK 'town of culture' award alongside the existing 'city of culture' title might look like a desperate post-Brexit search for meaning. But the idea could bring real benefits to …
The actor's one-man shows, marking his 80th birthday, will take him back to old hauntsMany people seek unusual ways to celebrate a big birthday, but it's unlikely that anyone has beaten Sir …
The BBC2 broadcast of Mike Bartlett's play is a reminder that even for republicans, the Queen's death will loom largeKing Charles III, Mike Bartlett's play set in a future shortly after the …
Authentic productions of the playwright's productions can be brilliant but Britain must not be bound by a hertiage-industry view of Mr Anne Hathaway's workThe abrupt cessation this week of E…
It is time for the possibilities, dreams, imaginations and capabilities of female actors to be properly reflected on stageIn London, the Donmar Warehouse has just opened its all-female The T…
The Bard was the best of us, so to mark four centuries since his death we should make a resolution to see one of his plays this year, ideally in Stratford-upon-AvonUnfortunate the land that …
On Stage: Live from Television Centre, far from being a one-off experiment, could signal a new direction at the BBCSubversive, anarchic, mischievous, unpredictable: not words that could ofte…
The best way audiences can help Benedict Cumberbatch and his colleagues put on a great show is to treat it like any other night at the theatreBenedict Cumberbatch is one of the finest male B…
From Athens to London, ancient dramas are being used to open up questions too thorny to be tackled head on Continue reading...
The writer of A Taste of Honey may never have replicated her original success, but she blazed a trail for female playwrightsHalf a century after Joan Littlewood staged Oh, What a Lovely War!…
Her work is imbued with a passionate concern for the unrecognised that makes her own voice unforgettableThere are a few actors who are always ready to take risks. Maxine Peake " familiar mos…
A crucial missing prop, an entrance from the wrong side of the stage, or an actor drying make for unforgettable momentsNot one but two actors' nightmares, confessed Sam Mendes, forced to mak…
In the midst of recession, the UK's creative industries have been quietly outperforming the rest of British industryColin Welland famously exclaimed "the British are coming!" while accepting…
National treasure status can surely not be far away for the writer of SherlockEvery so often, always in the nicest possible way, a good actor's career enjoys a breakthrough. Suddenly the wor…
Stage nudity is becoming so frequent it might be needful in future to highlight programmes in which some performers may appear wearing clothesThe film actress Demi Moore, who in her earlier …
Nothing beats being there, as any sports fan knows, but there are consolations when barriers to theatre access are removedOn Wednesday night the Royal Shakespeare Company joined the growing …
A choreographer as likely to work with Radiohead as the Royal Ballet, McGregor wilfully embraces his own contradictionsTop choreographer opens new show at Sadler's Wells: hardly a surprise. …
For innovative theatre company Teatro Vivo, no-go areas simply become destinations for one more adventure to add to the story so farThe reinvention of theatre, continued. After Kenneth Brana…