stage
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This House review – James Graham's thrilling political play returnsGraham captures the daily machinations of politics, and raises questions about our current parliamentary system, in this account of Labour’s 1970s struggles
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Andrew Lloyd Webber warns of diversity crisis in British theatreComposer publishes report saying he fears for ‘hideously white’ industry’s survival unless it reflects diversity of population -
Aladdin review – Vikki Stone's brilliant villain brings out the boosDaftness trumps topicality in a magic carpet ride that finds the actors working the audience really well, even if the dame gets a bit lost in the wash -
Posh to be staged with all-female castPlay loosely based on the Bullingdon Club will be performed as it was initially written, using the male names and the ‘he’ pronoun
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Theatre misfits celebrate 50 years of anarchyHalf a century after their first gig in a bookshop’s basement, the innovative group are staging their 132nd show which promises to be as unpredictable as ever
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The Snow Queen review – spectacular sleigh ride to ScandinaviaTheresa Heskins whisks Andersen’s fairytale back to its Danish roots, adding a snow flurry of hygge and revealing its debt to Dickens
talking points
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Albert Camus' enigmatic outsider hits BerlinThe Schaubühne is staging the absurdist classic with three actors sharing the main role. Director Philipp Preuss reflects on what ‘otherness’ means in society
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How can theatres keep panto audiences all year round?Many of those flocking to a theatre’s annual festive show intuit that the rest of the year’s programme isn’t for them. It’s about time panto had serious artistic status
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Tim Yip's stunning designsThe Oscar-winning artist Tim Yip talks through five of his creations, including Ang Lee’s martial arts epic and Akram Khan’s Giselle
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Jamali Maddix: ‘I saw Bill Hicks and thought, there’s someone like me’Now fronting a new documentary series on racial hatred, the Essex-born standup tells how comedy has been his salvation
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Stewart Lee review – Brexit, Trump and a history of bondagePolitical cataclysms jostle with gags about kinky sex and selfie culture in a characteristically twisty and frequently brilliant show from the ‘ex-TV comic’
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The rise and fall of the Invisible Dot, comedy's Factory RecordsThe innovative outfit that cultivated talents such as Tim Key and Claudia O’Doherty is no more. So why, during this boom time for comedy, did it fail?
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Trevor Noah: What if I’m the Piers Morgan of The Daily Show? – videoThe Daily Show’s Trevor Noah discusses his new book, Born a Crime, with an audience of Guardian Members
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The Children review – Kirkwood's slow-burning drama asks profound questionsFrancesca Annis, Ron Cook and Deborah Findlay give fine performances in a post-apocalyptic play that is genuinely disturbing
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Scottee's cabaret about queer lives in Brexit BritainFor his new Roundhouse show, Putting Words in Your Mouth, the artist interviewed 400 LGBT people around the UK. Their views are staged in a ‘lip-sync marathon’ designed to catch audiences off guard
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Kiki's Delivery Service: Japanese classic returns in time for ChristmasThe apprentice witch – created by Eiko Kadono and featured in Hayao Miyazaki’s movie – is coming to Southwark Playhouse in a new stage adaptation. But first they need to work out how to make her fly …
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Phyllida Lloyd: a director who's determined to put women centre stageFrom all-female Shakespeare trilogys to hit musicals and films, she has a gift for works that focus on – and resonate with – women
from the archive
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Merce Cunningham at the Saville theatre24 November 1966: The choreography is silly-simple stuff, visually awkward sometimes but never requiring more than meagre technical accomplishment by its performers
series
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The Funny SideThe Funny SideBeth Vyse: A breast cancer appointment is like Deal or No Deal – videoWhat happens when you’re faced with a breast cancer diagnosis at 28? Beth Vyse was whisked off to Alicante and offered a chocolate box full of fake nipples
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How we staged ShakespeareHow we staged ShakespearePatrick Stewart on Shylock: 'I should have been arrested for overacting'Our How We Staged Shakespeare series ends with the celebrated actor explaining why he keeps coming back to the much-misunderstood role of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice
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Play timePlay timeHow to Hide a Lion review – kids' book comes to life with a roarPeter Glanville directs an enchanting musical adaptation of Helen Stephens’ picture book about a girl who strikes up a friendship with a forlorn lion
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The funniest thingThe funniest thingSean Lock: 'Father Ted never gets the credit it deserves'From The Third Policeman to Johnny Vaughan’s football chat, the standup reveals what makes him laugh the most
pictures & video
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Phil Davis as the storming monarchCursing and raging, Lear is admitted into care while he plots revenge on his daughters in a modern take on Act II, Scene 4 from Shakespeare’s tragedy
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My love-hate relationship with OthelloPhoebe Boswell riffs on her conflicted attitudes towards Othello in Dear Mr Shakespeare, which co-stars Ashley Thomas aka Bashy
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An age of experimentationLondon’s Roundhouse is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Revisit some of the theatre that was staged in its first wave of activity, from the late 1960s to the early 80s
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A Pacifist's Guide to the War on CancerA Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer is a new musical collaboration between National Theatre and Complicite Associates, looking at life with a cancer diagnosis and confronting its fears and misconceptions
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Jean-Paul Gaultier's Berlin cabaretThe celebrated designer has created 500 costumes for The One – Grand Show, an outré production at the Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin, which opens this week
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How I made an impression on Alistair McGowan and Rory BremnerAnt and Dec? Perpetual laughter. Boris Johnson? Strangle the vowels. Andy Murray? Just growl. Alistair McGowan and Rory Bremner try and make a mimic of Stephen Moss
you may have missed
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How Hetain Patel shape-shifted from Spider-Man to 'bad Obama'He has aped superheroes, written over himself in henna and based a performance around his moustache. Now, accidental dancer Hetain Patel has imagined a post-presidential rampage
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'I love winding people up'The firebrand writer is a vociferous critic of the establishment but his new work is an RSC commission about Caravaggio. He talks about challenging audiences’ prejudices – and his own
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Will Tuckett on why his Nutcracker was a leap too farIt was one of this winter’s hottest tickets but has been cancelled after one performance. The choreographer describes the heartbreak behind the scenes of his ballet
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The whole of democracy looks fragile and farcicalHow do you top a hit play about global politics? By tackling the end of the world – from nuclear meltdown to Brexit and Trump. The writer talks eavesdropping and honesty
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Lost classics of Greek tragedyIn his new book, Matthew Wright analyses the remaining evidence of hundreds of Athenian texts that, packed with sex, magic and happy endings, would give a radically different impression of the genre
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‘Once I tell women my story, everything changes’As she takes on three Shakespeare plays set in a women’s prison, the actor reflects on her own time behind bars
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Ayesha Dharker as Titania: ‘The forgeries of jealousy’Ayesha Dharker plays Titania, the queen of the fairies, in a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
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Adrian Lester as Hamlet: ‘To be or not to be’Adrian Lester performs Hamlet’s soliloquy in which the prince considers taking his own life
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Riz Ahmed as Edmund: 'Now, gods, stand up for bastards'Riz Ahmed speaks Edmund’s soliloquy from King Lear, in which Edmund reflects upon being an illegitimate son and plots against his half-brother, Edgar
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Samuel West as Henry V: 'Upon the king'Samuel West speaks Henry V’s soliloquy on the night before battle, in which he reflects upon the public’s expectations of the king
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David Morrissey as Richard III: ‘Now is the winter of our discontent’David Morrissey speaks the opening lines from Richard III in which the scheming Richard lays out his plan to turn his brothers, Clarence and the newly enthroned King Edward IV, against each other
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Eileen Atkins as Emilia: ‘If wives do fall’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
Anti-pantos The plays getting to the grim reality of Christmas