2,878 stories by "Lyn Gardner"
Hampstead, LondonWhen Jane was young and desperate to escape her alcoholic mother, she would take refuge with her friend Ray. Ray's family would feed her but always send her back. Now as the…
With theatre critics swamped by new shows, make-or-break performances are fast becoming obsolete. Does it matter?Is the traditional press night an endangered species? It feels as if that mig…
New Diorama, LondonKieran Lynn recently had a success at the Finborough with An Incident at the Border, and here's one he made earlier, produced by Exeter's thriving Bike Shed theatre. You c…
The Royal Court is attempting to solve its ticket problems for Jez Butterworth's The River by making some only available on the day. Is it a solution?You've heard the buzz, you've read the g…
Soho, LondonHeard the one about three Irish labourers digging a road? Colin Teevan's latest play is no joke, however, mixing stories of Irish exile with Greek myth. The three men " young, mi…
Royal Exchange, ManchesterHell is relocated to a Mississippi general store in Tennessee Williams' 1957 drama, a play livid with symbolism and awash with poetry. There is something wild and d…
As the recent ruckus over Arthur Miller's Salesman demonstrates, literary estates tend to be hugely protective of late authors' texts. But shouldn't a good play be open to fresh interpretati…
Theatre should always be an adventure " and it is in BAC's latest show, which takes children and adults on separate but linked escapades. The adult version (13+) leads audiences …
As Michael Morpurgo's War Horse gallops on to stages from Berlin to Melbourne, we are reminded of the great value of time, experimentation and supportive fundingWar Horse celebrates its fift…
A day spent at West Yorkshire Playhouse suggests the traditional review is not dead yet, but that word of mouth is crucial tooHow do people decide what they are going to see at the theatre? …
The Sheffield revival of A Taste of Honey should help us better remember an unfairly neglected playwright " but here's plenty of footage to be going on withAs a major of revival of Shelagh D…
It may have become a term of abuse on The X Factor, but as cabaret goes from strength to strength it's attracting some of our brightest talentLed by Frisky and Mannish and a glorious array o…
Reading plays host to a medley of theatre as the Sitelines festival gets under way, while in Liverpool the Everyword festival showcases a week of new storiesSouthLet's begin in Reading, wher…
Little Angel, LondonWhy does the moon shine so brightly at night? Carol Ann Duffy uses poetic licence to explain all. Invisible unless her reflection is glimpsed in a puddle, the Tear Thief …
Salberg Studio, SalisburyHeathrow Airport and its urban sprawl have a fascination for playwright Simon Stephens. The airport loomed over his works Wastwater and Harper Regan; and it plays a …
As the ENO launches its 'undress' campaign encouraging audiences to dress down for the opera, does it really matter what we wear to the theatre?A guide for theatregoers published in the 1950…
Hoxton Hall, LondonHealth-and-safety issues scuppered the planned promenade element of this two-hour version of the Jacobean thriller of disputed authorship. But it would take more than movi…
Legend has it that Elizabeth I so loved the character of Falstaff in Henry IV that she demanded Shakespeare write another play about him. Which characters from plays do you love?A few weeks …
Noisy coughing and spluttering seems to be more prevalent in the theatre than at the cinema " but why?Coughing at the theatre is a year-round British sport. As the theatre critic James Agate…
Gate, Dublin"Is it really that interesting, the past?" demands a teenager in Declan Hughes' time-slip play, which is set over two summers in Dalkey, not far from Dublin. Sadly, the answer is…
Dermot Bolger stages Ulysses in Glasgow, Hugh Hughes returns to his roots with Stories from an Invisible Town, and there's European theatre galore in the Best of BE festival in LondonSouthTr…
Violence at the theatre is often at its most unbearable when left to the imagination. Which shows have made you want to avert your eyes and scream 'stop!'?The terror season is upon us in Bri…
Savoy, LondonThe final 20 minutes of Rufus Norris's revamped revival of Cabaret are shockingly good. The campy glamour of Berlin's pre-war Kit-Kat Club is gradually stripped away, just as t…
Most souvenir programmes for shows are over-priced, ill-designed and uninformative vehicles for the selling of advertising space. What do you want from yours?What do you really want from a t…
Young Vic, LondonHow do you like your blackbirds? Flambéed? Kurt does. This is a boy who has clearly never heard what happened to Hilaire Belloc's Matilda when she played with matches. Kurt…
