stage
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Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s turn as a put-upon restaurant worker has more elements than El Bulli’s taster menu, and just as many surprises
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For his new theatre show, Greg Wohead plays the King at his peak – only there’s no quiff and no hip-swivelling. It’s more seance than rock’n’roll concert
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Top tickets Plan your week's theatre
Lyn GardnerEmma Rice’s tenure at the Globe begins with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Cymbeline hits Stratford-upon-Avon – plus the rest of the week’s best theatre -
Roxana Silbert’s off-the-wall production, set in a hotel lobby with a working lift, brings disabled and non-disabled performers together
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He reimagined live rock performance and taught David Bowie and Kate Bush the art of movement. Ahead of his first event in Britain for 15 years, Lindsay Kemp talks about his incredible life
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David Threlfall speaks Prospero’s speech in which the sorcerer contemplates the end of life – and the playwright, perhaps, considers the end of his career
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Daniel Mays speaks Macbeth’s lines from Act II, Scene 1, in which he sees a murder weapon in a hallucination
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Eileen Atkins speaks Emilia’s lines from Othello, act IV scene 3. Emilia, Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s maid, counsels Desdemona on marital fidelity
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Ayesha Dharker plays Titania, the queen of the fairies, in a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
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Camille O’Sullivan plays Constance in King John, who laments the loss of her son, Arthur, but disputes the suggestion that she has gone mad
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In a speech taken from the first scene of All’s Well That Ends Well, Sacha Dhawan’s Parolles stresses the importance of losing one’s virginity
talking points
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How middle-class theatres depict Britain's poor
Lyn GardnerPlays such as Boy, Re:Home and Yen serve up downtrodden lives for wealthy audiences – and can verge on cultural tourism. But presented carefully, they’re essential reminders of the brutal inequality in modern life -
His name may not appear in the credits, but the playwright has inspired some unlikely renditions of his great works
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Why can't we move beyond Good Muslim v Bad Muslim?
Omar El-Khairy and Nadia LatifOur play about the radicalisation of young Muslims was pulled. But the National Theatre’s is going ahead – with no censorship or police intervention. Why can’t Muslims tell their own stories? -
Whether his plays were performed on a whaling ship, up a redwood tree or by a burlesque dancer, the pioneers had a particular fondness for the Bard
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Theatre Royal, Glasgow
Scottish Ballet’s daring new interpretation boots out the main characters – leaving just a moody boy and a magical woman
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Comedy is funniest when it's set free
Brian LoganItalian company TIDA have made one of the shows of the year with Quintetto. It’s not billed as comedy: has that made it more humorous? -
From the sound of his own crying to superlative superhero spoofs
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The British ventriloquist and America’s Got Talent winner is a virtuosic voice-thrower but his material isn’t up to the same standard
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The British double act pay tribute to their heroes – including Matt Lucas and David Walliams, Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, and the late Ronnies Corbett and Barker
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Shakespeare: the playwright who brings the world closer
Dominic DromgooleAfter a decade at the helm, on the anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, Dominic Dromgoole bids farewell to the Globe and the company that has taken the plays far and wide -
Jonathan Pryce had never seen Hamlet on stage – and thought Olivier’s film version was mannered. But the violent death of his father prompted him to take on the Dane, and radically rethink the ghost as an Exorcist-style possession
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London’s powerhouse of new writing is celebrating its 60th birthday. Explore some of its key productions through extracts from our archive, alongside new recollections from Wole Soyinka, Ann Jellicoe, Amanda Redman, Sally Hawkins and others
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David Ireland’s story about a Belfast loyalist is a blackly comic examination of sectarian hatred – and a subversive drama that has never been more relevant
polls & quizzes
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A poll has found that under-25s know more lyrics from the pop star than they do verse from the playwright. Time to test your knowledge
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Are you a titan of the theatre or have the fates abandoned you? As the Almeida puts on a festival inspired by Dionysus, test your knowledge of Greek drama
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Thirty years ago today, Les Misérables had its official London opening. Test your knowledge of the show
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Here are 10 striking stage directions – can you identify the plays they're taken from?
pictures & video
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Obama takes in Hamlet at the Globe on Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary
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Mark Rylance offers a tip of the hat, Judi Dench beams, and Denise Gough is euphoric … Guardian photographer David Levene used his all-access pass at the 2016 Olivier awards to capture stars at their most candid
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In a dystopian near-future, Brutus (Mark Stanley, Game of Thrones) and his conspirators plot Caesar’s demise
you may have missed
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From Alan Cumming performing a solo Macbeth, to shows in pubs, airports and cars, the National Theatre of Scotland has produced some of the UK’s most daring work
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Doctor Faustus Kit Harington stars in Marlovian mish-mash