Hamlet, Cabaret and a fistful of Romeos: the best theatre, comedy and dance of autumn 2021

Cush Jumbo tackles the troubled prince, Jessie Buckley and Eddie Redmayne head for 30s Berlin, while standup favourites and dance spectaculars burst back on the stage Continue reading…

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Diane Chorley: Modern Love review – Duchess of Canvey’s hymn to solidarity

Soho theatre, London After months of being starved of social contact, David Selley’s celebration of togetherness couldn’t be better timedDiane Chorley’s show made a splash two years ago on the Edinburgh fringe. But there’s a sense in this delayed Soho …

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Diane Chorley: Modern Love review – Duchess of Canvey’s hymn to solidarity

Soho theatre, London After months of being starved of social contact, David Selley’s celebration of togetherness couldn’t be better timedDiane Chorley’s show made a splash two years ago on the Edinburgh fringe. But there’s a sense in this delayed Soho …

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We Are Each Other review – strangers become friends in interactive comedy

Summerhall, EdinburghTrevor Lock uses audience participation to satisfy our yearning for community in a show that prioritises connection over actionWhat did we miss most during the pandemic: the entertainment or the audiences? We still had box sets and…

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We Are Each Other review – strangers become friends in interactive comedy

Summerhall, EdinburghTrevor Lock uses audience participation to satisfy our yearning for community in a show that prioritises connection over actionWhat did we miss most during the pandemic: the entertainment or the audiences? We still had box sets and…

Continue Reading

Joan Rivers and Barbra Streisand: the myth of their lesbian play

Before they were superstars, Joan Rivers kissed and tried to kill a young Barbra Streisand on stage – or so she claimed. Now her tall tale has inspired drama The Funny GirlsIn the late 1950s, a 25-year-old struggling actor named Joan Molinsky – later t…

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Joan Rivers and Barbra Streisand: the myth of their lesbian play

Before they were superstars, Joan Rivers kissed and tried to kill a young Barbra Streisand on stage – or so she claimed. Now her tall tale has inspired drama The Funny GirlsIn the late 1950s, a 25-year-old struggling actor named Joan Molinsky – later t…

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Mark Thomas: Seriously Annoying review – heartfelt angry protest against proposed new law

Arcola theatreThe comedian draws on his Clapham childhood and violent dad as he rails against the dangers of the government’s police, crime, sentencing and courts bill“Behaviour that causes the public or a section of the public to suffer serious annoya…

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Mark Thomas: Seriously Annoying review – heartfelt angry protest against proposed new law

Arcola theatreThe comedian draws on his Clapham childhood and violent dad as he rails against the dangers of the government’s police, crime, sentencing and courts bill“Behaviour that causes the public or a section of the public to suffer serious annoya…

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Still game: Edinburgh’s 2021 fringe is a return to the festival’s roots

This August the Scottish capital is much quieter but performers and audiences at this modest jamboree are full of spiritOn the wall in my kitchen is a calendar made by Edinburgh theatre critic Thom Dibdin. This time last year, he and his photographer b…

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