The actor’s sophisticated sense of humour and natural ability to make everyone laugh were there long before her famous sitcom rolesA life in picturesPenelope Keith: the most spectacular sitcom snob ever to grace our screensPenelope Keith, who has died …
Continue ReadingWatford Palace theatreThere’s plenty of devilment as the Pennsylvanian flies the flag for the magnificence of women and riffs on pregnancyThe Best Job in the World, Michelle Wolf’s touring show is called. Whether that refers to motherhood (chief among …
Continue ReadingThe podcaster and TV host talks to us about doomscrolling, aliens and a horrifying sound healing that made her want to vomitWhat’s the best piece of advice you have ever received?It’s not really advice, but it is something my mum said when I was going …
Continue ReadingThe Irish standup and writer on three-day benders, her accidental comedy career, and her feral stage personaBorn in County Roscommon in 1983 and raised in Dublin, Joanne McNally is a standup comedian and writer. Her breakthrough came with the…
Continue ReadingThe Irish standup and writer on three-day benders, her accidental comedy career, and her feral stage personaBorn in County Roscommon in 1983 and raised in Dublin, Joanne McNally is a standup comedian and writer. Her breakthrough came with the…
Continue ReadingThe Irish standup and writer on three-day benders, her accidental comedy career, and her feral stage personaBorn in County Roscommon in 1983 and raised in Dublin, Joanne McNally is a standup comedian and writer. Her breakthrough came with the…
Continue ReadingLeeds PlayhouseIn a cavernous venue seemingly designed for a colliery-based story, Amy Leach directs Paul Allen’s adaptation of the 1996 filmIt’s odd that this most Yorkshire of stories has never been staged at Leeds Playhouse. That’s remedied with gri…
Continue ReadingLyric Hammersmith, London Four siblings squabble over an art treasure possibly stolen by their grandfather in this riotous play by Ben OckrentBen Ockrent’s black comedy about a family in mourning has distinct strains of the ludicrous, though the cartoo…
Continue ReadingApollo theatre, LondonStephen Mangan, Sarah Hadland, Ardal O’Hanlon and Janie Dee are seat-shakingly funny in this study of adulteryAlice and Michel must conceal their affair from possibly suspicious spouses Paul and Laurence, sometimes under detective…
Continue ReadingLyttelton theatre, LondonHeroic but imperfect modern-day version of the 17th-century classic is stuffed full of debates about how we might live differentlyMolière’s misanthrope here is a bestselling writer in a stylish trouser suit, gender-reversed as …
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