Theatre Interviews
theartsdesk Q&A: Writers Ray Galton and Alan SimpsonThursday, 14 March 2013
Is Steptoe and Son the platonic ideal of the British sitcom? Two men trapped in eternal stasis, imprisoned by class and bound together by family ties as if by hoops of steel, never to escape: it’s what half-hour comedy should be. Posterity would seem to agree, because since the sitcom ended in 1974 the two rag and bone men have never been out of work, appearing in the cinema, on stage and radio. Read more... |
10 Questions for Choreographer Bob AvianWednesday, 20 February 2013
A Chorus Line is one of the great American musicals. It opened off Broadway in 1975, rapidly barged a path to a larger Broadway house and proceeded to run for over 6,000 performances, breaking records along the way. Chicago, which opened in the same season, failed to seize the city's imagination in the same way, and had to wait till the 1990s to find an audience prepared to devour it. Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Comedian Rowan AtkinsonSaturday, 19 January 2013
The generation of alternative comedians who emerged around 30 years ago have long since elbowed their predecessors into the long grass and themselves become the establishment. Of no performer can that be said with more certainty than Rowan Atkinson. His rubbery physiognomy is instantly recognisable to billions, which is why he – or rather Mr Bean - was granted pride of place at the Opening Ceremony as guest artist with Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra. Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Composer John KanderSaturday, 15 December 2012
In 1972 John Kander and Fred Ebb were invited by Bob Fosse to a private screening of his film version of their hit stage musical, Cabaret. The movie starred their protégée, Liza Minnelli, who at only 19 had won her first Tony in Kander and Ebb’s first show, Flora the Red Menace, and for whom they would go on to write “New York, New York”. “Liza was our girl, and we cared very deeply about her. Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Writer Michael FraynSunday, 23 September 2012
Michael Frayn (b 1933) has been having an annus mirabilis. The play the hapless actors of Noises Off are touring is called Nothing On. In the playwright’s case, almost everything has been on. Frayn’s best-known farce spent the first half of the year tickling ribs at the Old Vic and then in the West End. Read more... |
Interview: 10 Questions for Rob AshfordMonday, 10 September 2012
Rob Ashford occupies a unique perch in the Anglo-American theatre. Florida-born, raised in West Virginia and a product of Broadway, where he began as a dancer in shows including Parade, Victor/Victoria and the celebrated Lincoln Center revival of Anything Goes, he some while back crossed to the other side of the footlights to build a career as a director/choreographer that has spanned the Atlantic. Read more... |
Kiss the Day Goodbye: Marvin Hamlisch, 1944-2012Wednesday, 08 August 2012
Marvin Hamlisch’s three Oscars all came in 1974. "I think now we can talk to each other as friends," he said as he accepted his third award of the night. He composed the winning song "The Way We Were" (and the film's score) for Barbara Streisand, having started out on Broadway as rehearsal pianist in Funny Girl. Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Playwright Simon StephensSunday, 29 July 2012
Simon Stephens (b 1971) is the most prolific British playwright of his generation. Born and brought up in Stockport, he began writing as a student in York University and had produced seven plays before his Bluebird was produced at the Royal Court in 1998. Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Playwright Martin CrimpSaturday, 10 March 2012
Playwright Martin Crimp is one of British theatre’s best-kept secrets. Although his neon-lit name appears in the theatre capitals of Europe, with his work a big hit at festivals all over the continent, here he is better known to students - who love his 1997 masterpiece Attempts on Her Life - than to ordinary theatregoers. Read more... |
Interview: Director Peter GillWednesday, 29 February 2012
There is a simple explanation to why Cardiff-born Peter Gill has never directed in his home city, despite the fact that many of his own plays are set in the Catholic, working-class Cardiff of his youth. “I’d never been asked,” states Gill matter-of-factly; “it’s just a trade; it’s not a magical world. You have to ask me to do things.” Read more... |
Pages
Advertising feature
★★★★★
‘A compulsive, involving, emotionally stirring evening – theatre’s answer to a page-turner.’
The Observer, Kate Kellaway
Direct from a sold-out season at Kiln Theatre the five star, hit play, The Son, is now playing at the Duke of York’s Theatre for a strictly limited season.
★★★★★
‘This final part of Florian Zeller’s trilogy is the most powerful of all.’
The Times, Ann Treneman
Written by the internationally acclaimed Florian Zeller (The Father, The Mother), lauded by The Guardian as ‘the most exciting playwright of our time’, The Son is directed by the award-winning Michael Longhurst.
Book by 30 September and get tickets from £15*
with no booking fee.
latest in today
Help to give theartsdesk a future!
It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
It followed some...
10 Questions for Mark Gatiss, writer-director of 'A Gho...
There are no white-sheeted ghosts in this year’s A Ghost Story for Christmas. The...
All Creatures Great and Small, Christmas Special, Channel 5...
Since its revival in 2020, All Creatures Great and Small has drawn big audiences internationally and become Channel 5’s biggest hit, even...
Travis, OVO Hydro review - a Christmas night out with some r...
Travis arrived onstage with the theme tune from classic sitcom Cheers as an accompaniment. The cavernous OVO Hydro might not be a place...
Nosferatu review - Lily-Rose Depp stands out in uneven horro...
Robert Eggers' strength as a director is his ability to bring historical periods alive with gritty, tactile realism. He does this...
First Person: cellist Matthew Barley on composing and record...
For many thousands of years, humans have turned to art to tell stories about themselves and others because it feels good. It feels good because we...
Death in Paradise Christmas Special, BBC One review - who ki...
Though Death in Paradise is an Anglo-French production filmed in Guadeloupe, in the French West Indies, the Frenchness seems to have...
The English Concert, Bicket, Wigmore Hall review - a Baroque...
Enough is as good as a feast, they say. But sometimes, especially at Christmas, you crave a properly groaning table. At the Wigmore Hall, The...
The Unthanks in Winter, Cadogan Hall review
A suitable place to find yourself out for the winter solstice, buttoning up for the longest night of the year, was at the Cadogan Hall off Sloane...
Albums of the Year 2024: Everything Everything - Mountainhea...
There are some years where my pick for album of the year is obvious; something stands out so...