2,878 stories by "Lyn Gardner"
It's the time of the year when thoughts turn again to Edinburgh, as companies weigh up whether to take part in next
Romance and adventure abound as Rhys Ifans plays Scrooge, Guys and Dolls hits Harlem and Sherlock returnsMore to see: Carols and concerts | Dance | ComedyBea Roberts is a smart writer with a…
BAC, LondonFeminist theatre company RashDash rework the Brothers Grimm fairytale for a family audience, with colourful heroines in control of their own destinies'No, not the Disney version,"…
Sleeping Beauty hasn't always been a docile object, says Lyn Gardner. She's had to face a cannibal queen, a rapist king - and even a Nazi princeFor our age of anxiety, Sleeping Beauty is the…
As she announces her first season, including a My Left Foot musical, the new head of NTS says she wants to demystify the artistic process and is calling on young people to shape the company'…
"I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage," wrote Peter Brook in his famed 1968 book The Empty
The Pit, LondonCurrent events cast a timely light on this funny, gripping story of oppression, told through the world of all-female roller derby'This is a witch hunt. We are the witches, and…
Oval House, LondonSex workers and professional actors take to the stage together to undermine received ideas in a ramshackle but engaging eveningEarlier this year, the Young Vic handed over …
In Paddington 2, Hugh Grant plays villainous actor Phoenix Buchanan, a man of unlimited egotism and fading fame. To fund his one-man
Wales Millennium Centre, CardiffThis three-hour hymn to Welsh dockers in the early 20th century is a throwback to the musical theatre of the 80s " and exhausting to watchWriting a new musica…
On the centenary of the Russian revolution, a glut of revivals show Chekhov's characters struggling to adjust to the social earthquakes that engulf themIt's over a decade since Katie Mitchel…
Last Thursday, The Stage and its editor, Alistair Smith, asked six key questions of the Old Vic board over the Kevin Spacey
Guildhall, HullPeake reels us in with this winning story about the women who fought for fishermen's rights, featuring folksy music by the Unthanks 'Good to see you. You're a rum lot," says L…
Park theatre, LondonKathy Burke directs this three-hander about a city boy seeking enlightenment but the jokes keep getting in the way of the storyYou'd expect plenty of jokes from the first…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterChris Goode directs Toyah Willcox in a wild reimagining of Derek Jarman's film about a time-travelling queen and a generation with no future'Welcome to Jubilee," sa…
From cabaret to a witty teenage odyssey, the Shoot the Breeze festival at Camden People's theatre considers global warming and pollution in striking styleWas Shakespeare a chronicler of clim…
Jess Thom's wonderful weekender featured bipolar pop star Captain Hotknives, a witty striptease by blind performer Amelia Cavallo and poetry done in BSL"Is there anything going on for us?" a…
Last week, Camden People's Theatre's outgoing executive director Amber Massie-Blomfield observed, very wisely, that not every small theatre has a big theatre
Ustinov studio, BathPatrick Baladi and Niamh Cusack impress in Daniel Kehlmann's two-hander about surveillance, but their characters are mere mouthpiecesJudith, a philosophy professor, is on…
BAC, LondonIn a ridiculously enjoyable show, Victoria Melody and her father, Mike, reveal how they came to organise his funeral even though he was still very much aliveWe don't like speaking…
Hampstead theatre, LondonFenella Woolgar is magnificent as a woman in fear of intimacy but the nuances of Patrick Hamilton's world are lost in Jonathan Kent's uncertain productionIf there is…
Phoenix theatre, London This stage version of the classic movie deploys blackouts, special effects and the voice of Ian McKellen to do the devil's work, but possesses no fearful thrillsThe d…
The Shed, LondonTaking its title from Robin Thicke's song, director Carrie Cracknell's show cunningly exposes gender inequalityThere is a terrific scene towards the end of this piece examini…
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonRice caps her brief Globe tenure with this endearing musical about a pair of shy chocolate makers " and shows she's not done taking risksWhen relationships fai…
Recently, I described Sally Cookson's staging of Jane Eyre as theatre at its most original. A theatre company retorted on Twitter: "Suspect
