Avenue Q review – provocative puppets return for a feast of filth and fun

Shaftesbury theatre, LondonTwenty years since its West End debut, the sweetly subversive musical returns with a few tweaks and a lot of heartThe trigger warning “puppet nudity” does not begin to cover it. You will also see puppets having sex, singing a…

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Naked puppets! Having sex! Lusty, foul-mouthed musical Avenue Q is back

The taboo-busting, Tony-award-winning show has returned. But how will its 00s attitudes land today? Will they still sing Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist and If You Were Gay?There are certain problems you might expect when rehearsing a West End musical. …

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Naked puppets! Having sex! Lusty, foul-mouthed musical Avenue Q is back

The taboo-busting, Tony-award-winning show has returned. But how will its 00s attitudes land today? Will they still sing Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist and If You Were Gay?There are certain problems you might expect when rehearsing a West End musical. …

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Riki Lindhome: Dead Inside review – a gobsmacking comedy about fertility

Soho theatre, LondonThe unassuming US comedian and musician turns her journey to motherhood into a witty, bittersweet and beautifully judged show‘I know this show can be uncomfortable,” says Riki Lindhome, sat at her keyboard after a song about pregnan…

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Private Lives review – Noël Coward’s queasy merry-go-round of desire and spite

Royal Exchange theatre, ManchesterSparring lovers play a capricious game in Blanche McIntyre’s revival – but the cut and thrust is kept witty, rather than curdling into dangerIn director Blanche McIntyre’s take on Private Lives, love is a dizzying thin…

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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) review – this brevity is the soul of wit

Bristol Old VicThe Reduced Shakespeare Company returns with a frantic mix of pratfalls, audience participation and lightning-flash characterisationsA classical actor who appeared in a recent production of Othello told me that the cast was alarmed by th…

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From Hamlet at the Globe to Keir Starmer on SNL UK: the anarchic rise of George Fouracres

After years of skits and Shakespeare, the Black Country performer has found his biggest audience yet on Saturday Night Live UK. Phil Wang and others hail his ‘pure comedic instinct’A cast of unknowns, they keep saying about Saturday Night Live UK, whos…

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‘It won’t be pretty!’ French and Saunders to play the Ugly Sisters in Palladium panto

Comedy duo will take the stage together in the West End for the first time in 17 years in Cinderella alongside Julian ClaryDawn French and Jennifer Saunders are to return to the stage together for the first time in 17 years to play the Ugly Sisters in …

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‘I’m a big bear. I lumber’: showbiz superstar Richard Kind on delivering performances you can see from space

The first time Kind starred in Nazi-spoof The Producers, he lost 30lb. Is he – and the West End – ready for his return? And why is he so worried about his old flatmate George Clooney?Richard Kind has played everything from a child’s imaginary friend in…

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The Legend of Davie McKenzie review – Butch, Sundance and the ultimate cinematic send-off

Òran Mór, GlasgowCovering friendship, addiction and death, this dark comedy from the team behind Dancing Shoes celebrates one man’s life and his passion for filmThe title is ironic. There is nothing legendary about Davie McKenzie. Scarcely out of priso…

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