‘A lot of kids’ songs are absolute bangers’: the comedy show about warring children’s entertainers

Back by popular demand, Ed MacArthur and Kiell Smith-Bynoe are reworking their anarchic show about the rivalry between a toff and a TikToK rapper on the kids’ party scene This doesn’t usually happen: I’ve turned up to interview two people, and neither …

Continue Reading

‘You have to double-cross the audience’: the director turning Cluedo into a theatre murder mystery

Will it be Miss Scarlett with the lead pipe? Or that horrid Colonel Mustard? Mark Bell explains why the board game’s enduring appeal makes it ideal for the stage”There are always moments in a comedy which you’re convinced are going to bring the house d…

Continue Reading

‘The godfather of alternative comedy’: Eddie Izzard, Paul Merton and more on Spike Milligan

He was the shellshocked genius who channelled his anarchic brilliance into The Goon Show. Ian Hislop and Nick Newman explain why they’ve written a play about Spike Milligan – while comedians remember a legendThe tortured lives of comedians form a biogr…

Continue Reading

The Rubber Merchants review – condom comedy with little fun or feeling

Old Red Lion, LondonThis revival of Hanoch Levin’s odd, over-long 1970s play has minor thrills but ultimately misfiresYou might think, in our age of safe spaces and “cowering” from Covid (in Sajid Javid’s coinage), there’d be mileage in Hanoch Levin’s …

Continue Reading

Orgies, BDSM and smacking fruit: the ‘smutty’ play recreating 44 Sex Acts in One Week

Fresh produce is the real star of David Finnigan’s live radio play, an ‘apocalyptic romcom’ for a Sydney festival crowd not afraid to get stickyA juicy watermelon is made to sound like cunnilingus while banana and rockmelon make a potent visual and aur…

Continue Reading

Theatre, dance and comedy to book in 2022 – from Alan Partridge to Tennessee Williams

Amy Adams makes her West End debut, immersive dance confronts mental health and Steve Coogan’s alter ego embarks on a rare live UK tour• Preview more cultural highlights of 2022 Continue reading…

Continue Reading

‘Beautiful, profound, uplifting’: readers’ favourite stage shows of 2021

A comeback year saw standout productions up and down the country. Here’s your pick of the bestMore on the best culture of 2021Curve, LeicesterI don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it – it was so captivating I saw it twice. Forced to switch t…

Continue Reading

Le Gateau Chocolat & Jonny Woo review – stompalong drag fun

Soho theatre, LondonHigh-camp songs and OTT costumes grab the attention in drag duo’s cheap-and-cheerful songs-from-the-shows extravaganzaGood luck generating festive cheer on the same day your show – like every show at this venue – has been Covid-can…

Continue Reading

The best theatre, comedy and dance of 2021

It was a year of revivals in every sense, as venues threw open their doors again. From fresh takes on classics to blazing new talents and shows that captured the current moment, our critics pick their favourites of the yearTHEATRE Continue reading…

Continue Reading

Take that Fleabag! Liz Kingsman, the comic skewering the ‘messy women genre’

Chaotic life, lots of sex, little sense of purpose … the Anglo-Aussie’s hilarious takedown of Fleabag and the booming ‘messy-woman genre’ was halted by Covid. Now, after a year and a half of worry, it’s finally backGiven the content of her smash-hit co…

Continue Reading