Grand Guignol review ghoulish tribute to Montmartres terror theatre by Lyn Gardner

Southwark Playhouse, LondonPariss famous factory of stage frights liked its audiences to faint with shock; this cheerfully gory celebration thrills best when it concentrates on mind games Co…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 7:47am on November 4, 2014☆⚑

Curtains for the drama GCSE? That would be a tragedy by Lyn Gardner

Is drama GCSE an irrelevance as the National Youth Theatre's Paul Roseby has suggested? Not at all: we need to value creativity in our schools and the teachers who nurture it Continue readin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 4:43am on November 3, 2014☆⚑

Plan your week's theatre: top tickets by Lyn Gardner

Antony Sher plays Falstaff in Bath, the lives of female Muslim boxers are examined in Manchester, one-on-one performance is big in Liverpool, and La Soirée sashays back into London Continue…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:00am on November 3, 2014☆⚑

Spill festival review riotously entertaining with plenty of surprises by Lyn Gardner

Various venues, IpswichA gender-bending Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and destruction of Holyroodhouse contributed to a challenging, questioning, pleasurable festival Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:58am on November 2, 2014☆⚑

Jonah and Otto review quiet and beautiful with an explosive centre by Lyn Gardner

Park theatre, LondonRobert Holmans play confronts the big existential questions with a graceful simplicity Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:53am on October 30, 2014☆⚑

Camera Lucida review haunted by spirits of recordings past by Lyn Gardner

The Pit, LondonDickie Beaus ensemble seance adds flesh to voices of the dead to explore the reminders of absence in our daily lives Dickie Beau on the origins of Camera Lucida Continue read…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 5:15pm on October 29, 2014☆⚑

Daring directors are shaking up the classics and making great theatre by Lyn Gardner

From The Cherry Orchard to The Wild Duck, it's been a wonderful year for radical reinventions of classic plays by directors who aren't awed by a work's revered status Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:41am on October 29, 2014☆⚑

Sweeney Todd review: All meat and no gristle by Lyn Gardner

Harringtons Pie and Mash Shop, LondonThis clever pie-shop staging of Sondheims musical walks the tightrope between grisly and comic in its tiny chamber of horrors Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:46am on October 28, 2014☆⚑

Why the National Theatre must make itself a truly national service by Lyn Gardner

Residents of Detroit could have seen more of the NT last year than people living in Sunderland. Is so much touring overseas in the National's interests? Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:20pm on October 27, 2014☆⚑

The Pearl review inventive, affecting Steinbeck adaptation by Lyn Gardner

Greenwich theatre, LondonDumbshow delivers a clever and funny stage version of John Steinbecks novella about the worth of a jewel against the worth of family Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:47am on October 27, 2014☆⚑

Plan your week's theatre: top tickets by Lyn Gardner

In Sheffield, women take to the frontline of the miners' strike, while Tom Stoppard's best play is revived in Nottingham and check out the half-term happenings all over the country Continue…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:00am on October 27, 2014☆⚑

The Hunters Grimm review storytellers search for a fairytale ending by Lyn Gardner

Deptford Lounge, LondonThis rough-and-ready promenade piece on the streets of southeast London explores storytelling with no shortage of vim Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 1:07pm on October 26, 2014☆⚑

The Father five-star review a savagely honest study of dementia by Lyn Gardner

Ustinov, BathFlorian Zellers Molière award-winning play, starring Lia Williams and Kenneth Cranham, takes us into the confused world of an elderly man and his carer daughter Continue readin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 7:11am on October 23, 2014☆⚑

DIY theatre (because nobody else will) by Lyn Gardner

Is it an aesthetic? A political statement? Or just the best way to get things done? Do-it-yourself theatre is all around us Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:59am on October 23, 2014☆⚑

The Scottsboro Boys review a dazzling civil rights musical by Lyn Gardner

Garrick, LondonThe story of nine black men, falsely convicted of raping two white women, is reframed as a minstrel show with a brilliant cast and electrifying choreography Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:33am on October 20, 2014☆⚑

Tweet Bitterness: how Forced Entertainment took over Twitter by Lyn Gardner

Streamed live from Berlin on Saturday night, Speak Bitterness proved that it's possible to have a communal experience watching theatre in your own home"How do you clap over Twitter?&quo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 3:00am on October 20, 2014☆⚑

Plan your week's theatre: top tickets by Lyn Gardner

Hunt out stories on the streets of Deptford, see Sweeney Todd in London's oldest pie-and-mash shop or catch up with Mark Thomas's raw and angry Cuckooed out on tour Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:00am on October 20, 2014☆⚑

The Infidel review David Baddiels musical knocks religion but respects belief by Lyn Gardner

Theatre Royal Stratford East, LondonKev Orkian delivers a terrifically warm performance, even as this stage adaptation of the hit film topples into pantomimic excess Dont put a fatwa on it: …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:45am on October 17, 2014☆⚑

Learning disabled theatre: where is the UK's answer to Back to Back? by Lyn Gardner

Ganesh Versus the Third Reich has been seen around the world. The Diverse Futures project is focusing on nurturing British equivalents to the Australian company Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:39am on October 17, 2014☆⚑

East is East review a complex and comic portrait of a man adrift by Lyn Gardner

Ayub Khan Din takes to the stage in his depiction of growing up in a mixed race household in the early 1970s Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 6:00pm on October 16, 2014☆⚑

Best of BE festival review uneven trio from emerging theatre-makers by Lyn Gardner

The Pit, LondonThree offerings from the Midlands festival promoting new work range from the neat to the chaotic, producing a disjointed evenings entertainment Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 9:32am on October 15, 2014☆⚑

For crying out loud! Why all this weeping at the theatre? by Lyn Gardner

Emotional theatregoers are bursting into tears more and more but it shouldn't be a measure of how good a play is Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 9:13am on October 14, 2014☆⚑

Uncle Vanya review John Hannahs Yorkshire Chekhov falls flat by Lyn Gardner

St James, LondonAny real sense of tragedy goes missing in a production that encourages too much acting and mistimes the big moments Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 7:21am on October 14, 2014☆⚑

Romeo and Juliet review good set, nice fights, shame about the lovers by Lyn Gardner

Sherman theatre, CardiffTrue love makes this Romeo bland. His stroppy Juliet tries hard to make the part new, but doesnt quite pull it off Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 7:23am on October 13, 2014☆⚑

Plan your week's theatre: top tickets by Lyn Gardner

Action Hero are in Crewe with the hugely entertaining Hoke's Bluff, Simon Stephens and Katie Mitchell reinvent Chekhov at the Young Vic, and Forced Entertainment live stream Speak Bitterness…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 2:00am on October 13, 2014☆⚑