Edinburgh’s August festivals cancelled due to coronavirus

Fringe joins international, book and art festivals and military tattoo in pulling plugEdinburgh absence will be felt throughout arts worldCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEdinburgh’s five August festivals, which were due to w…

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From standup to the Sistine chapel: the best online culture for self-isolation

The coronavirus crisis has closed galleries and concert halls – but inspired an explosion of creativity to enjoy at home. Here’s some of the best The best theatre and dance to watch onlineThe best classical music onlineGreat livestreamed gigs to watch …

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Comedy’s coronavirus crisis: ‘performers are in deep, deep trouble’

With gigs cancelled and no support given to an art form that Art Council England does not officially recognise, comedians fear the worstCoronavirus and culture – a list of major cancellationsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverage‘…

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Hottest front-room seats: the best theatre and dance to watch online

From live streams of new plays to classics from the archive, here are some of the top shows online now or coming soon The stage on screen: our guide to films about theatreAmy Trigg’s debut play about a twentysomething navigating friendship, romance and…

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Jon Culshaw to play Bill Bryson in Notes from a Small Island adaptation

Dead Ringers impressionist takes lead role in stage version of bestselling book on British identityThe impressionist Jon Culshaw is to play Bill Bryson in a new stage adaptation of Notes from a Small Island, the Iowa-born author’s bestselling book abou…

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Sadie Clark on dating, swipe culture and creating a ‘bisexual Bridget Jones’

Algorithms, Clark’s hilarious one-woman show, triumphed at the Edinburgh fringe. Is a hit TV series on the way?Sadie Clark is one of theatre’s most exciting rising stars but back in 2017 she was in a rut. Depressed and anxious, she couldn’t stop checki…

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Mark Thomas: 50 Things About Us review – an inventory of Britishness

Radlett Centre, HertfordshireThis grab-bag show sheds little light on our political travails but it’s stuffed with funny caricatures and plenty of myth-bustingHow did we get here? asks Mark Thomas. His new show, 50 Things About Us, promises little-know…

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David Baddiel – Trolls: Not the Dolls review – standup surveys the online cesspit

Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-AvonThe comedian leads us from weird to wonderful to ‘the absolute worst of humanity’ in his new show about social mediaTwitter has curdled public discourse, says David Baddiel; it has normalised angry and extr…

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Vault festival 2020: all of the latest reviews

Keep track of the shows at the sprawling arts extravaganza beneath Waterloo Station in London. This page will be updated throughout the festivalUntil 1 MarchFunny, tragic and full of hope, Dumbledore Is So Gay blends a charming nerdiness with an earnes…

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The PappyShow: Boys review – 10-man team gets to grips with masculinity

Southbank Centre, LondonThis devised drama about relationships between young men moves from grim violence to understandingPhysical theatre company The PappyShow devises its material through workshops, games and role-playing for its racially diverse ens…

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