Emma review – Austen’s comedy of manners gets an exaggerated Essex makeover

Rose theatre, Kingston upon ThamesAva Pickett’s modern-day adaptation of the novel adds pop music, farce and clowning but lacks gimlet-eyed observationsAn early blast of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance sets the mood of this 21st-century take on Jane Austen’s c…

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‘It’s a lot darker than Sleaford Mods’: Jason Williamson on acting, rejection and a radical portrait of street life

The frontman is realising his stage dreams by starring in Edgecity which draws on playwright gobscure’s experience of sleeping rough. The pair talk about an urgent, explosive showIn the late 1980s, fresh from being kicked out of school, Sleaford Mods f…

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‘It’s a lot darker than Sleaford Mods’: Jason Williamson on acting, rejection and a radical portrait of street life

The frontman is realising his stage dreams by starring in Edgecity which draws on playwright gobscure’s experience of sleeping rough. The pair talk about an urgent, explosive showIn the late 1980s, fresh from being kicked out of school, Sleaford Mods f…

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Esther Manito review – disjointed dispatches from the frontline of family life

Soho theatre, LondonThe standup has some effective material about the usual middle-aged gripes, but never quite coalesces these scattershot routines into a well-rounded wholeNobody ever listens to what put-upon mums have to say, says Esther Manito, and…

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‘There’s magic, blood and gore!’ Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton on touring Inside No 9 – and being megastars in China

As the show based on their cult TV hit goes on the road, the duo discuss haunted theatres, feeling like arthritic swans and what it was like being mobbed in ShanghaiHow do you make a shopping centre in Woking spooky? I bow before Reece Shearsmith and S…

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Ideal review – stage return for Johnny Vegas’s TV weed dealer fails to score

Lowry, Salford Reprise of Graham Duff’s cult comedy delights the series’ fans but there’s not much here for anyone elseIf you are a fan of the cult BBC Three sitcom Ideal, you should immediately book a ticket for this show. Judging by tonight’s audienc…

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Haywire review – early history of The Archers inspires behind-the-mic farce

Barn theatre, CirencesterFeaturing extraordinary voice acting, this play about the birth of the BBC’s farming drama will equally satisfy superfans and everyday folkEven regular listeners to Radio 4’s The Archers can balk at the laborious annual plotlin…

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The best theatre to stream this month: Basil’s back as Fawlty Towers reopens for business

John Cleese’s stage version of his beloved sitcom, a cast recording of Cornish musical The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Robert Wilson’s production of Handel’s Messiah are among September’s highlightsFifty years ago this month, Torquay’s most fam…

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Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg and Caliban’s take on The Tempest: the best theatre, comedy and dance of autumn 2025

Andrea Riseborough and Sarandon deliver a decade-hopping drama, superstar standups hit the road and Shobana Jeyasingh rewrites Shakespeare• See the rest of our unmissable autumn arts preview picks here Continue reading…

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Rodney Black: Who Cares? It’s Working review – a loathsome standup stirs hatred

Gilded Balloon Patter House, EdinburghThe onstage ranting of a comedian is interrupted by impassioned accounts of violence against women in Sadie Pearson’s dramaFull Frontal Theatre is a female-led company with a commitment to fighting misogyny. No sur…

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