2,436 stories by "Michael Billington"
Rose, KingstonShakespeare's sonnets can be read in any number of ways: as literary exercise, autobiographical narrative or anatomy of love. Peter Brook clearly leans towards the last. In thi…
Arcola, LondonThe Arcola has moved to inviting new premises: a converted paint factory in Dalston whose colour blocks were made famous by Turner and Constable and that, with its brick walls …
Star of Tom Jones and They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, she defied typecastingSusannah York, who has died aged 72, was a vibrant, energetic personality with a devouring passion for work, stron…
Cock Tavern, LondonPau Miró's play has been a big hit in its native Catalonia but it's not immediately easy to see why. What it offers, in the course of 80 minutes, is a faintly louche va…
Orange Tree, RichmondStudents of French farce can have a field day with this one. Written in 1875 by Alfred Hennequin and Alfred Delacour, and here niftily translated by Reggie Oliver, it pr…
Roundhouse, LondonI was tickled by the Observer's recent, inadvertent description of a malt whisky as "a genuine classic which never fails to disappoint". I've always felt that Julius Caesar…
Theatro Technis, LondonAs a famed singer and actor persecuted for his radical politics and civil-rights campaigning, Paul Robeson has the dimensions of an American tragic hero. And, even if …
Finborough, LondonAs a novelist, Graham Greene was prepared to experiment: as a dramatist, he was trapped in the conventions of the well-made West End play. That, at least, is the conclusion…
Royal Albert Hall, LondonCirque du Soleil is often accused of a soulless efficiency. So it must have seemed a bright idea to get Robert Lepage (who also hails from Quebec, where the circus s…
Riverside Studios, LondonWho would have thought it? One of the strongest theatrical survivors of the mid-1950s turns out to be this whimsical musical by Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds abo…
Little Angel, LondonYou don't, of course, get the whole of Alice in Tim Kane's 90-minute puppet version: no caucus-race, no croquet-mallet flamingos and " perhaps rightly, as the show is aim…
The plot is thin, the musical numbers bland " but Julie Taymor's production remains kaleidoscopically brilliantI may not be the ideal person to explain the enduring appeal of The Lion King. …
Which playwright was banned in Dudley for discrimination? Who handbagged the Queen? Put your theatrical knowledge to the testMichael Billington
Which playwright was banned in Dudley for discrimination? Who handbagged the Queen? Test your theatrical knowledge on the year just gone here Continue reading...
Michael Billington thinks Terence Rattigan is well worth revisiting in his centenary year, and selects the best of the rest of the year's theatreCentenaries offer a great chance for re-asses…
Roundhouse, London"A sad tale's best for winter," says the boy Mamilius; and, possibly because of the season of the year, I became unusually aware of the fairytale elements in Shakespeare's …
The absurdity of comparing the living with the dead, plus the changing nature of acting 'greatness', means polls like the one carried out by the Stage are little more than a marketing exerci…
Hampstead Theatre, LondonIn an exceptional season for family shows, this one ranks comparison with the best. First seen in Bristol in 2004, it consists of eight European fairy tales dramatis…
'My plan for how the Bard could rule TV'Did you catch Rupert Goold's Macbeth on telly on Sunday night? Probably not. For a start, it was tucked away on BBC4. It was also up against The X Fac…
Old Vic, LondonBack in 1966 Feydeau's masterpiece erupted on to this very stage in a production by Jacques Charon that ushered in a major re-evaluation of farce. At a time when the genre is …
Royal Court, LondonWe don't normally associate the Royal Court with seasonal jollity. Anthony Neilson, whose last work at this venue, Relocated, dealt with the abduction and abuse of childre…
The RSC have produced a dark and delightful adaptation of Roald Dahl's tale of a child genius, and her monstrous headmistressAt a time of year when mush is licensed, it is a bright idea of t…
The RSC have produced a dark and delightful adaptation of Roald Dahl's tale of a child genius, and her monstrous headmistressAt a time of year when mush is licensed, it is a bright idea of t…
Lyttelton, LondonIn theory, it seems perfect timing: a revival of Alan Ayckbourn's 30-year-old bilious comedy about the rows, tears, forced merriment and crises of Christmas family reunions.…
Bristol Old VicIt is a nice irony that the author of one of the most impeccably middle class of all children's books was a one-time Bolshevik sympathiser as well as the Manchester Guardian's…
