140 stories by "Vanessa Thorpe"
The most powerful producer in the West End, and key player on Broadway, is a risk-taker with an artist's eye. No surprise then that she's behind the thrilling new musical, The Book of Mormon…
With The Vagina Monologues, the activist and writer celebrated women's strength. Now her new project, a global street party that launches this month, aims to raise awareness of abuseIn July …
The director who set Verdi's Rigoletto in mafia Manhattan hits out at West End habit on the eve of his own revival of a neglected Edwardian playJonathan Miller, the elder statesman of Britis…
Tickets for much-anticipated play starring Dominic West will be available only on day of performanceHeavy demand for seats to see Jez Butterworth's new play, The River, starring Dominic West…
In Britain's oldest theatre, reopening this week, actors performed with noisy members of an anarchic audience surrounding them on three sidesRenovations to the oldest theatre in Britain, Bri…
Rikki Henry went to Paris to help Peter Brook with casting but found himself centre stageWhen Rikki Henry's family and friends take their seats among the audience at the Young Vic later this…
Increasingly shown in 3D, classic stage works including Madam Butterfly are winning new audiencesIf there is a queue around the block leading into the local cinema this month, it might not b…
The West End's endless diet of tried and trusted theatrical fare comes at the expense of experimental plays, say critics and playwrights. But in the 21st century is it still desirable " or p…
Fame and loneliness led the Gavin & Stacey star to go out drinking every nightJames Corden was "so lost" at one point in his late 20s that his Gavin & Stacey co-stars, Ruth Jones and Rob Bry…
British acting family will appear together at a restored venue built by their talented forebearMembers of the Fox family, one of Britain's most glamorous theatrical dynasties, are to appear …
The UK's black stars are succeeding at the American box office " but are they working there because some parts offered in the UK are off limits, while others play to stereotypes?When Residen…
Royal Shakespeare Company project applauds contribution to the arts of a peculiarly British institutionOn a stage in Windsor two rival groups will compete for a new national title intended t…
After sitcoms and serious drama, Olivia Colman is about to start West End rehearsals in a Noel Coward classicTomorrow morning, Olivia Colman is alarmed to remind herself, she is due at the f…
After sitcoms and serious drama, Olivia Colman is about to start West End rehearsals in a Noel Coward classic Continue reading...
Stratford-upon-Avon will host an international festival as part of the 2012 Cultural OlympiadUnder a dusting of snow and a heavy load of festive lights, the town of Stratford-upon-Avon is pr…
Bowie's space-age fantasies will be used for the first time in showcase London performance next yearThere's a starman waiting in the sky, David Bowie sang. But he need wait in the sky no lon…
Aardman's Arthur Christmas has joined a long list of UK-generated successes in the StatesA large American man sits in a swivel chair, chewing the end of a fat cigar. He is, in this hackneyed…
Anti-bullying musical to open in London next month after £20,000 investment from one-time victim Charmaine WatsonCharmaine Watson makes an unlikely theatrical impresario. At the age of 31…
The author's stylish language will be heard once more in the movie, fifty years after he was branded as old-fashioned amid the coming of drama's angry young menThe spare, stylish dialogue of…
Shakespeare scholar reveals contribution of virtuoso court lutenist Robert Johnson towards The TempestShakespeare's The Tempest was first performed at court in November 1611. Four hundred ye…
Comedy has been a mainstay of the fringe for years. But now serious plays are attracting a broader range of starsFilm stars have developed a habit of venturing on to the West End stage to h…
Comedian who made her name on TV in the 1980s takes role in new work celebrating the teaching professionHollywood stars and the public sector are rarely mentioned in the same breath. But tha…
Stadium-filling comedian Michael McIntyre tells Desert Island Discs of 'amazing hostility' from other comicsThe comedian Michael McIntyre has admitted to being shocked by the "hostility" of …
I once wrote a report on Bridport's burgeoning cultural scene. Residents of the town still haven't forgiven me. Will they now?It may not be a scandal on the level of the phone hacking furore…
Actors in acclaimed National Theatre play, starring James Corden, given a dressing down by Nicholas HytnerIt turns out there is such a thing as having too much fun at the theatre. As the Nat…
