2,878 stories by "Lyn Gardner"
Sheffield Crucible StudioBecky and John dream of the good life after a move to the country. But all is not pastoral bliss. Their new home has a plumbing problem, a fear of the future is play…
A friendly welcome, well-run bar and clean loos can make a big difference to audiences " and we tend to love it when we find the artistic director is tearing ticketsYesterday I casually tw…
'It was an intense solo show and I was in the front row. Ten minutes in, she stopped the show, removed my notebook and pen, and carried on'I've had my embarrassments as a critic, when the fo…
Chichester Festival theatre Continue reading...
Chichester Festival theatreAge may not wither her, but two years since Kim Catrall made her debut as the Queen of the Nile in Liverpool she arrives in Chichester with a new Antony in thrall:…
Rona Munro explores a giant leap for womankind, the Past Half Remembered returns to Cambridge fresh from NIE's festival tour to Japan and the Tiger Lillies tackle Hamlet at the SouthbankScot…
Jacksons Lane, London"Once upon a time some were, and some were not," is a traditional Persian way of starting a story. The formula could not be more appropriate for this tale of the elusive…
Bristol Old VicAll the world's a stage in John O'Keeffe's good-natured 1791 comedy, which reopens Bristol's restored gem of a Georgian theatre. There are few plays that invoke the spirit of …
Union theatre, LondonWhen Zelda Sayre, who became the wife of F Scott Fitzgerald, was a girl, she called the fire brigade and told them a child was stranded on the roof of her house; she the…
Royal Court, LondonHistory and secret histories, the things that free us and the things that tie us to the past are all examined in this exhilarating, multi-layered new play from Tarell Alvi…
BAC, LondonThere's a moment halfway through Kate Tempest's spoken-word theatre show when the gloom intensifies and the vaulted ceiling is lit up by the glow from the streetlights outside, po…
BAC, London Continue reading...
Time Out's recent coverage of a show produced by its 'event-producing arm' prompts the question: can a publication offer independent critical opinion when it is also behind a production?Ther…
BAC, LondonDo you remember the feelings you had as a child when sitting in the back seat of the car at night, feeling a little drowsy? There would be the half-heard voices from a radio …
Footsbarn's Indian Tempest comes to Cornwall, Polly Findlay directs The Country Wife in Manchester, and Golgol's A Government Inspector relocates to HarrogateNorthLee Mattinson's Chalet Line…
Old Vic Tunnels, LondonMarisa Carnesky took audiences on an unsettling funfair ride in Carnesky's Ghost Train, and considered female bodies in the eerie Dystopian Wonders. Her latest piece, …
Jermyn Street, LondonCrystal (Charlotte McKinney) fantasises about Sean Connery appearing in her hotel room like a panther, and making love to her with consummate, silent skill. Instead she …
Gilded Balloon, EdinburghEveryone loves a hellraiser " provided, of course, he's a man. Female hellraisers simply get dismissed as sad, bad and mad. Actor Oliver Reed, who wrestled naked wit…
Pleasance, EdinburghThe title is a mite deceptive because it is the male writer, not the female characters he created, who really dominates in this revival of Miriam Margolyes' Oli…
Women will take centre stage at the Donmar with Phyllida Lloyd's all-star, all-female revival of Julius Caesar "Â and not a moment too soonSarah Bernhardt played Hamlet, Fiona Shaw has pla…
Apollo, LondonDora has lost her teddy bear! There is no time for tears (and they wouldn't be possible anyway, because Dora's plastic moulded head is set in a permanent rictus) as Teddy and a…
When angels descended on London last night, they reminded us that large-scale spectacle can be a meaningful, magical and politically subversive art formIf the Olympics and Paralympics have g…
Piccadilly CircusAngels paid London an unannounced visit last night. As dusk fell over the city, a pink flare was lit on top of the old HMV building, and a strange feathered creature ca…
It's the last quiet week before theatres start to open their autumn seasons, but there are some potential gems " including things getting minty in Kendal ...ScotlandYou have until Saturday t…
Shows such as Matilda and War Horse seem to make the case for subsidy. But if the money was used at the grassroots, how many more great shows might we produce?British arts funding is not a l…
