378 stories by "Nick Smurthwaite"
Half a century on from the end of official British theatre censorship, Nick Smurthwaite looks at writers and critics who campaigned for
More than 35 years since The Young Ones, Adrian Edmondson and Nigel Planer are working on a stage project. They tell Nick
The Goon Show burst on to the airwaves in 1951 and changed comedy forever. As a stage version of the classic radio
To mark the 10th anniversary of the playwright's death, Pinter devotee Jamie Lloyd has assembled a stellar cast to bring all 20
The Sydney-born actor and writer made his name in London by following his performance in Yerma with an equally acclaimed turn as
Automation specialist Simon Crowley is responsible for ensuring the scene changes at the Royal Shakespeare Company are seamless. He tells Nick Smurthwaite
Historians have argued whether poet Emilia Bassano was the muse of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Nick Smurthwaite finds out more about the inspiration for
Gary McCann is one of UK's most in-demand designers, working on shows from touring musicals to international operas. He tells Nick Smurthwaite
Recently reopened after painstaking restoration, Riddle's Court has had many guises in its 400-year history, from grand residence to 19th-century slum, before
William ‘Bill’ Hobbs, who has died aged 79, practically invented the modern-day fight director's role. A champion fencer and co-founder of the
One of the hardest working and most influential British directors of the past 50 years, Braham Murray was the last surviving member
Having begun her career in Nottingham's working men's clubs, Su Pollard made her name in a series of 1980s sitcoms. Now she
Braham Murray, the longest serving artistic director of the Royal Exchange Manchester, has died suddenly aged 75. Murray devoted most of his
In the 1920s and 1930s, provocative chanteuse Margo Lion wowed the Berlin cabaret scene before she fled to Paris. Nick Smurthwaite meets
Like many other playwrights and screenwriters, Hugh Whitemore, originally wanted to be an actor. He trained at RADA, where one of his
This month, Shakespeare Schools Foundation was gifted a Praemium Imperiale grant to boost its work with marginalised groups. Nick Smurthwaite looks at
Later this month Joking Apart, Ayckbourn's 21st play, returns to the Stephen Joseph Theatre " 30 years after its premiere there. In
After starting out as a boy soprano singing at eisteddfods in north Wales, Gareth Valentine went on to become a top musical
Legendary writers' agent Peggy Ramsay was known for offering forthright guidance to those she represented. A collection of her correspondence is a
Firm friends for decades, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Joan Plowright relive career triumphs and disasters in Roger Michell's documentary, a
When the wealthy Rowena Cade wanted an outdoor theatre for her amateur production of The Tempest, Cornish gardener Billy Rawlings made it
With a string of stellar performances already illuminating her CV, the actor tackles her most challenging role yet as Dusty Springfield. Nick
Birmingham Rep's company manager is a vital link between the production department, creatives and performers, while also managing the venue's community shows.
The revolutionary director behind Theatre Workshop at Theatre Royal Stratford East, Joan Littlewood, will be played by seven different actors on the
For David Harrower, adapting Muriel Spark's 1961 novel has been a project that has taken more than a decade of his time. Nick
