Our critics’ highlights of the year include a 24-hour marathon, a standup welcoming hecklers, a reboot of The Matrix and a bus ride filled with emotion• More on the best culture of 202310. Standing at the Sky’s EdgeOne iconic housing estate in Sheffiel…
Continue ReadingShe started out doing panto tours of northern garden centres. But Arnstein is now emerging as a thrilling performer, turning the shocks of her life – sexual harassment, her mum’s cancer – into bracing solo showsKatie Arnstein greets you at her theatre …
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonBoris Johnson and his successors Less Trust and Riches Sooner are satirised in a superb political pantomime directed by Patrick MarberKeenly anticipated since its summer announcement, Pandemonium finds the last seven years of Britis…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonBoris Johnson and his successors Less Trust and Riches Sooner are satirised in a superb political pantomime directed by Patrick MarberKeenly anticipated since its summer announcement, Pandemonium finds the last seven years of Britis…
Continue ReadingFrom Bill O’Neill’s slippery skins to Grubby Little Mitts’ ping-pong eyeballs, performers explain why their comedy leans on more than a mic stand‘I have this illusion that I’m in charge of what’s going on, but there are all these bananas on stage, and …
Continue ReadingThe comedian posted a video of the ‘shocking’ amount of litter left behind after his performance in a panto, saying, ‘You wouldn’t treat your own home like that, would you?’“It’s behind you” is the customary cry from the audience during panto season. B…
Continue ReadingWith 10 shows on and 1m tickets sold, Evolution are panto gods. But how do you work a giant? What will 50kg of glitter cover? And why did a bench almost cause a riot? The giant takes a lumbering step forward, her arms swinging heavily like battering ra…
Continue ReadingWatch Mike Birbiglia’s hit comedy about mortality, Colm and Brenda Meaney in Enda Walsh’s two-hander or choose from a flock of Swan Lakes Here’s Mike Birbiglia’s pitch for his Broadway and West End hit: “I wrote a show about mortality and I guarantee y…
Continue ReadingLyric Hammersmith, LondonVikki Stone’s playful fairytale is staged with fabulous costumes and high-energy songs but falls short of delirious comedyIn 2021, Camila Cabello was a screen Cinderella with dreams of opening a boutique for her dresses. Last y…
Continue ReadingSoho theatre, LondonThis one-woman play aims to dramatise Wax’s globe-trotting spiritual quest but gets sidetracked into anecdoteThis isn’t what she usually does, Ruby Wax confides in the preface to her show; this is a play. And so an expectation is se…
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