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Published: 23 April 2008
On 20 February 1908, Britain's first actor knight, Sir Charles Wyndham, presided over a lunch meeting at the Hyde Park Hotel to form an association with 20 of his actor-manager… Read More
Lilian Baylis was arguably London’s most important theatre manager during the first half of the 20th Century and the companies she created still thrive today. Born in London in 1874,… Read More
Rambunctious, witty, gifted and decent, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was a dominant figure in London theatre from the late 1870s until his death in 1917. After initially making his name… Read More
In his 1920s heyday, Noël Coward was the West End’s most popular playwright. Like his predecessor Oscar Wilde, Coward’s plays succeeded through a blend of witty dialogue, precise plotting and… Read More
No performer since Laurence Olivier has inspired the universal affection and respect afforded to Dame Judi Dench. Like Olivier, Dench has achieved consistent box office success at the cinema while… Read More
John Gielgud’s astonishing career began in 1921 under the direction of Granville Barker and ended, just weeks before his death, in an appearance alongside Harold Pinter in a film adaptation… Read More
In the opinion of Andrew Seth, Chairman of the Board of Governors of Kingston University, where Sir Peter Hall was appointed Chancellor in 2000: “No living person has had as… Read More
Andrew Lloyd Webber is the composer of several of the longest running musicals in West End history. His most successful West End shows include The Phantom Of The Opera, which… Read More
Described by the New York Times as “the most successful, influential and powerful producer of our time”, Cameron Mackintosh is considered by many to be the man who transformed musical… Read More
Considered by many to be the greatest actor of modern times, Laurence Olivier enjoyed a 60-year career in which he touched greatness, as both actor and director, in a dizzying… Read More
One of the West End’s most applauded and acclaimed performers, Paul Scofield, is considered one of the finest classical performers of his, or any, generation.Scofield was best known for his… Read More
Sir Charles Wyndham was an actor, impresario and the founding president of the Society of West End Theatre (now the Society of London Theatre).Born in Liverpool in 1837 to Major… Read More
Published: 22 April 2008
Some 15 major London shows are already confirmed on the line up of this year’s free outdoor theatre festival, West End Live. The annual event, now in its fourth year,… Read More
Shaun Escoffery, who was nominated for the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance In A Supporting Role In A Musical, joins the cast of Disney’s The Lion King tonight… Read More
Actress Jessie Wallace leads a cast packed with television faces for the world premiere of new thriller Haunted, which opens at the Arts theatre in May. Wallace is joined in… Read More
Published: 21 April 2008
An exciting summer season of shows has been announced to follow Hello And Goodbye and Lifecoach in the Trafalgar Studio 2. David Bradley leads the season in black comedy The… Read More
English National Ballet is offering an intensive dance course for young students of ballet on 28-30 May, linked to the company’s new production Strictly Gershwin at the Royal Albert Hall.The… Read More
The new drama from playwright Steve Waters, Fast Labour, receives its London premiere at the Hampstead theatre on 3 June (previews from 30 May). The topical piece, which has its… Read More
Published: 18 April 2008
Elena Roger is to make her debut at the Donmar Warehouse playing French icon Edith Piaf in Pam Gems’s play about the tragic performer, Piaf. The production, which opens in… Read More
The great actress Sybil Thorndike is resurrected from the dead, two explorers trek to the Arctic, a group of humanitarians consider the value of poetry and the ice-breaker ship Fram… Read More
Nigel Harman, James Dreyfus and Reece Shearsmith are to star in a revival of Simon Gray’s comedy about friendship, The Common Pursuit, at the Menier Chocolate Factory from 9 May… Read More
In my experience, there are few interviewees who would happily let you continue recording them while they had a phone conversation. There are even fewer who would actively encourage you… Read More
Adam Long, co-founder of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, has turned his condensing talents to Charles Dickens with a new comedy musical called Dickens Unplugged, which opens at the West End’s… Read More
The latest edition of Access London Theatre, the brochure which lists all audio described, captioned and sign language interpreted performances in London’s Theatreland, has just been published. The brochure contains… Read More
With a simple red lit stage, containing just the four solitary characters and a chair for each, Peter Gill’s kitchen sink drama Small Change is a vivid portrayal of the… Read More
Letitia Dean, best known as Sharon Watts in the BBC soap EastEnders, is to play the role of eccentric drama teacher Ms Darbus in the stage production of High School… Read More
Laurence Olivier Award-winning song-writing team George Stiles and Anthony Drewe celebrate 25 years of collaboration on 6 July, in a gala concert at Her Majesty’s in support of Mercury Musical… Read More
Janie Dee, Clive Rowe and Lisa O’Hare will be hoping for a warm, dry summer this year as they join the season at the Open Air theatre, Regent’s Park, which… Read More
Published: 17 April 2008
A distinctly English story was sprinkled with some Spanish fairy dust at the Garrick today, when Peter Pan – El Musical was launched to the press. The production, which has… Read More
From the moment you step into the Soho theatre you know this play isn’t going to be your average production, with Polish Rock and Rap blaring from the speakers and… Read More
Is a person just a metaphorical jellyfish, who cannot swim and is pushed around by the tides of fate, or can he make things happen in his life? That is… Read More
The award-winning success of 2007’s Saint Joan was taken by National Theatre Artistic Director Nicholas Hytner as a sign that London theatre was ready for a bit more Bernard Shaw.… Read More
Hannah Murray makes her professional stage debut as she joins the cast of That Face when it transfers to the Duke of York’s in May. Murray is best known for… Read More
The King’s Head in Islington showed off the refurbishment of its pub theatre to guests and members of the press today, who were treated to a sneak preview of two… Read More
After the reality blurring Hollyoaks storyline that saw an ambitious Chester student tenaciously stalk Andrew Lloyd Webber until he offered her the part of Maria in The Sound Of Music,… Read More
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is encouraging teachers and students to take a more practical approach to Shakespeare in schools with a new manifesto called Stand Up For Shakespeare.Over the… Read More
Marti Pellow, David Bedella and Clarke Peters have been added to the star-studded line up of Chess In Concert, a two-night concert performance of Tim Rice, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny… Read More
Transferring from Broadway, where it collected awards like its main character collects furniture, Doug Wright’s I Am My Own Wife, starring Jefferson Mays and directed by Moisés Kaufman, is now… Read More
Actress Sue Johnston, best known for her television roles which include Barbara in The Royle Family, makes her theatre return in Peter Gill’s Small Change at the Donmar Warehouse. The… Read More
The law is a serious business, or so anyone would think before watching this double bill of plays (The Dock Brief and Edwin) by former barrister John Mortimer. Mortimer sees… Read More
She grew up in the leafy New Forest and spent her youth watching MTV and copying Janet Jackson’s dance routines. Now 33, Kate Prince is an established choreographer who has… Read More
For 20 years Ian Talbot was Artistic Director of the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park, concerned with money, casting, programming and the well being of everybody who worked at the… Read More
Following last year’s teenage-centric triptych Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship, the National Theatre’s Connections programme continues its commitment to presenting theatre for and about teenagers with this trio of new plays which address teen… Read More
Originally performed as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Complete Works Festival, Leo Butler’s I’ll Be The Devil received its first full staging at the Tricycle last night. A wincing… Read More
Oscar winning composer Michel Legrand will perform for one night only at the Haymarket on 13 April. Legrand will perform his own work alongside singers Ruthie Henshall and Julian Ovenden,… Read More
Three long running London theatre productions have announced extensions to their runs. Buddy has extended its run by seven months and is now booking to 28 March 2009 at the… Read More
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest has been a big success in the West End in recent years with two productions led by Hollywood star Christian Slater. But Slater would… Read More
As a family comes to terms with the world after the end of the Second World War, where and with whom they belong is brought into question as they struggle… Read More
Twenty-five years after Howard Brenton’s The Romans In Britain created all manner of controversy with its portrayal of male rape on stage, Brenton’s work has returned to the National in… Read More
If you missed the stage debut of Angelina Ballerina at the New Wimbledon last year, there is another chance to catch the musical mouse in London this spring as English… Read More
Derren Brown will be controlling minds in the West End once more when his new stage show, Derren Brown Mind Reader: An Evening Of Wonders, comes to the Garrick for… Read More
A reunion with an absent father at the age of 16 would be hard enough, but when he turns up out of the blue from Iraq with a gift you… Read More
Kerry Ellis, who is currently playing lead character Elphaba in Wicked at the Apollo Victoria, will pack her pointy hat and black cape, and fly her broomstick across the Atlantic… Read More
The nation’s favourite patchwork elephant is getting his very own stage show. Elmer, the multicoloured mammal from David McKee’s children’s books, comes to UCL Bloomsbury from 16 to 19 April… Read More
As he prepares to take to the stage at the Donmar Warehouse in the title role of Arthur Miller’s The Man Who Had All The Luck, young rising star Andrew… Read More
The creators of AutoAuto!, which opens at the Riverside Studios on 10 April (preview 9 April), seem to have been confused about the term ‘car sound system’. Instead of a… Read More
The King’s Head theatre has announced a 2008 season packed with premieres. The season, the first in a decade that the Islington theatre is able to produce in its entirety,… Read More
Benedict Cumberbatch, who appeared in both Rhinoceros and The Arsonists at the Royal Court in 2007, returns to the Sloane Square venue in April to appear alongside Hattie Morahan in… Read More
Former CBBC presenter Andrew Hayden-Smith is to appear in Antic Disposition’s new production of Romeo And Juliet at Jermyn Street theatre from 21 April to 17 May (press night 24… Read More
Hailing from New York, the Blue Man Group has arrived at the New London theatre to hit British audiences with a production like no other. Knowing only that it involves… Read More
The spring season at Kilburn’s Tricycle theatre has been announced. Joining the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of I’ll Be The Devil and Days Of Significance are an Out Of Joint… Read More
Harriet Thorpe is to replace Susie Blake as witchy headmistress Madame Morrible in Wizard Of Oz-based musical extravaganza Wicked, from 14 April.Thorpe’s face may be familiar due to her numerous… Read More
Champagne corks should be popping all over the West End today as Theatreland celebrates a century of existence in the form that we now know it.Exactly 100 years ago today,… Read More
Action for Children’s Arts (ACA), the UK body dedicated to the promotion and development of the creative and performing arts for children, is offering young people and parents the chance… Read More
A glamorous 1950s society ball, identical twins, a ballet dancer and a madcap story which confuses even the protagonists combine to create Jean Anouilh’s Ring Round The Moon - a… Read More
West End star Michael Ball will be providing BBC Radio 2 listeners with their Sunday morning soundtrack from 6 April with a new show on the station.Ball's show will air… Read More
The Pleasance theatre is encouraging children to help create a play with its new interactive show Jack’s Quest, which runs from 28 February to 1 March. Jack’s Quest, by Emma… Read More
The Royal Court has confirmed details of the three plays in its Upstairs Downstairs season this summer. The Ugly One, Free Outgoing and Gone Too Far!, all of which were… Read More
The Almeida theatre has confirmed the cast for Chain Play II. The show is the second innovative fundraiser for the theatre which sees several playwrights collectively writing a play over… Read More
That Face, the debut play by multi award-winning young playwright Polly Stenham, is to have a limited West End season at the Duke of York’s from 1 May (press night… Read More
The Young Genius season, co-produced by the Barbican and Young Vic, turns its eyes towards today’s young geniuses with theatre-rites new show for children The Thought That Counts. Being little… Read More
From the moment you step into the Cinema Haymarket you are a part of Kneehigh Theatre’s time-travelling experience. The Cornish theatre company has taken the cinema back to its 1930s… Read More
The Old Vic has created an exciting opportunity for amateurs to grace the stage, both from behind the scenes and in the spotlight. Open auditions are being held for new… Read More
The Unicorn is holding a mini-festival of Japanese theatre from 11 March-6 April. Oha! Japan comprises a production by a visiting Japanese theatre company and a new play about the… Read More
It is somewhat fitting that the musical adaptation of one of the world’s most famous romantic novels, Gone With The Wind, should start rehearsals in the same week as St… Read More