Theatre Features

The Big Question: What makes King Lear the most challenging role in theatre?

Published: 05 April 2007

Why ask this now?

Writer's 'virgin pregnancy' gives birth to new stage show

Published: 05 April 2007

Inspired by her 'virgin pregnancy' aged 17, Malika Booker's new performance piece 'Unplanned' explores childbirth from a new angle. Charlotte Cripps reports

Indian dance: Prize-winning classical choreography

Published: 03 April 2007

Nina Rajarani refuses to compromise with her traditional Indian choreography - and her stubbornness has won her dance's biggest prize

Preview: Exposure, The Place, London

Published: 03 April 2007

The show that nearly killed its creator

Shakespeare on stage: A dramatic era bows out in Stratford

Published: 02 April 2007

The lights have gone up and the curtain has come down for the final time at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre as it prepares for a multimillion-pound refit. By Terry Kirby

Son rising: Lorcan O'Toole

Published: 29 March 2007

He has his father's rakish attraction, and passion for acting, says Rhoda Koenig

Leaves: A drama, from page to stage

Published: 22 March 2007

When the 'Independent' columnist Lucy Caldwell heard her first play was to be produced, she thought her job was done. But as her diary leading up to the first night reveals, her work was just beginning...

Peter Brook: Of masters and masterpieces

Published: 18 March 2007

To his fans, he's a theatrical colossus. To his critics, he has his head in the clouds. Is this why the ageing Peter Brook is directing one of the great African political dramas? Kate Bassett met him

Cambodia's literary epic comes to the London stage

Published: 14 March 2007

Demons fight simians in 'Weyreap's Battle' at the Barbican, but the real crusade was rebuilding the country's theatrical tradition after its near-annihilation by the Khmer Rouge

Preview: Dido and Aeneas, Sadler's Wells, London

Published: 13 March 2007

They're not waving but dancing

Maggie Smith: The greatest Dame of all

Published: 09 March 2007

In everything from Harry Potter to Edward Albee, we know that the perfectionist Maggie Smith will deliver. Rhoda Koenig salutes her return to the West End

Martin Crimp: Why the British playwright is stranger in our midst

Published: 08 March 2007

Martin Crimp's name appears in lights all over Europe. So why is the British playwright barely known here? As the National Theatre stages one of his finest works, Aleks Sierz finds out

William Houston: Power and glory

Published: 04 March 2007

It's hard to imagine a more thrillingly dangerous performer than William Houston on the English stage today. Next week he plays Shakespeare's Coriolanus - a power-hungry, charismatic Roman general to add to his roster of psychopaths and tyrants. Kate Bassett met him in Stratford

The Shaffers: A family drama

Published: 02 March 2007

Twin brothers Peter and Anthony had a deep bond forged by the shared hardship of growing up during the Second World War. But their sibling rivalry began to emerge as their writing careers flourished. As Peter's 'Equus' returns to the West End, Ian Herbert explores a unique literary relationship

Osborne's 'The Entertainer' gets West End revival

Published: 01 March 2007

Rhoda Koenig on why John Osborne's play is unlikely to strike the sparks backstage that the original did

Tag... Me vs The City, Various venues across the Uk

Published: 28 February 2007

Graffiti breaks free from the wall

Preview: The Entertainer, Old Vic, London

Published: 26 February 2007

For his follow-up to Look Back in Anger, John Osborne set his 1957 play The Entertainer in the declining years of the music-hall tradition, which served to symbolise the decline of post-war Britain. The embittered and self-deluding Archie Rice acts out his laboured vaudeville routines against a backdrop that includes his son fighting in Suez and news bulletins from the politically messy desert war.

Harold Pinter: Not a word out of place

Published: 22 February 2007

In a rare interview, Harold Pinter tells Louise Jury why precision is the key to a play's success

Preview: Whipping It Up, New Ambassadors Theatre, London

Published: 19 February 2007

Politics is a funny old business

Thea Sharrock: 'Equus' director reveals naked ambition

Published: 15 February 2007

When Thea Sharrock agreed to direct 'Equus', she took on a huge responsibility - doing justice to Peter Shaffer's seminal play, and handling Daniel Radcliffe's transition from boy wizard to sex symbol. Alice Jones reports

Preview: The Big Ballet, Various Venues, Nationwide

Published: 13 February 2007

A lot more bounce to the ounce

Marcelo Alvarez: Living the high life

Published: 12 February 2007

As Marcelo Alvarez attempts to rival Pavarotti as 'king of the high Cs' at Covent Garden, Jessica Duchen explains why hitting the top notes can make or break a singer's career

Preview; Stacy, Arcola Theatre, London

Published: 06 February 2007

Caught in the trap of sexual freedom

The comedian who vanished

Published: 01 February 2007

You probably haven't heard of the comedian Ted Chippington. Even in his 1980s heyday he was hardly a household name. So how come, nearly two decades after he told his last joke in public, some of the biggest names in the business are holding a gig in his honour? Ed Caesar goes in search of the lost genius of British stand-up

Richard Eyre: inspirational force