stage
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Royal Court axes Rita, Sue and Bob Too amid harassment claimsPlay is now shelved after co-director Max Stafford-Clark stepped down over misconduct scandal
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Thirty Christmases review – a merry little comedyA reunited brother and sister try to repair their relationship at Christmas time in this amiable show with songs -
The Twilight Zone review – a spooky ride into the supernaturalAnne Washburn has adapted the TV show for an inventive production featuring tales of vanishing children, amnesiac teachers and alien interlopers -
Peter Kay cancels UK and Ireland tour over 'family circumstances'Comedian who has not toured for seven years says he deeply regrets decision to cancel more than 100 shows next year
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Five Little Christmas Monkeys review – a kids' show you can count onReggae songs, monkey puppets and a duet with a mop all add up to a surreal show for two- to five-year-olds
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Misalliance review – Shaw's women talk the talk in an English country gardenShaw’s 1909 play about class and feminism moves skilfully from disquisitory drama to anarchic comedy in this intellectually stimulating production
brexit shorts
talking points
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Nureyev premieres in Moscow with director under house arrestRussia’s political elite enjoy ballet about famous dancer at Bolshoi Theatre but Kirill Serebrennikov is conspicuously absent
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The fine art of learning your partTanya Moodie attacks the script with her highlighters, Pétur Jónasson starts at the end of a score and Sarah Lamb gets a good sleep. They explain how to avoid the moment all performers dread – forgetting what comes next
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The traditional Chinese dance troupe China doesn’t want you to seeThe long read: Shen Yun seems like a kitsch dance troupe. But Beijing sees it as the propaganda wing of the Falun Gong movement, and a threat to their rule – and hounds the dancers from city to city, trying to sabotage their shows
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Judd Apatow: The Return review – Netflix standup special is a bit of a trainwreckHollywood super-producer’s attempts at self-deprecation don’t combine well with boasts about schmoozing the president
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The Korean clown babies baffling audiences of all agesMixing circus skills with finely honed comedy and bum jokes, these juggling, beatboxing man-toddlers are joyous – and more than a little menacing
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Comedians on how to banish festive fearFrom faking illness to binning Brexit chat, standups share advice on taking the hassle out of the holidays
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Top comedians salute 'the Beatles of comedy'Eddie Izzard was inspired by his incontinence knickers. Armando Iannucci had to listen to his albums in secret. And he made Susan Calman hurt with laughter
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'I challenge them to leave but force them to stay'Eight dramatists, including Lucy Prebble, Neil LaBute and Chris Goode, discuss how much they think about the people who will come and watch their work
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Susannah Clapp’s best theatre of 2017Hot-off-the-press plays thrust the personal and the political centre stage, while Bob Dylan had a moment
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‘Hamilton is an insane idea, but the story works’As ‘the musical of the Obama era’ opens in London, its creator explains how the hip-hop life of an immigrant founding father can offer hope in the age of Trump
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The pacifists who built a farm – and stayedDuring the second world war, a group of conscientious objectors including Jim Broadbent’s father, Roy, set up a farming community. A new play starring their descendants tells their story
from the archive
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An interview with Glenda Jackson – archive, 196928 November 1969 While starring as Gudrun in Ken Russell’s Women in Love should have made here instantly recognisable, Jackson maintains her anonymity is safe
pictures & video
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'I became a black man when I arrived in England'
Inua Ellams speaks about black masculinity, his story as an immigrant and how he channels anger into his art
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Addiction v art: the radical theatre in the heart of Crackland
As police yesterday yet again applied brute force to the residents of São Paulo's 1,000-strong encampment of addicts, a group of artists is trying something wildly different
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The poster art of the National TheatreAfter 54 years of enticing audiences into the stalls, the National Theatre’s posters are getting their own moment in the spotlight with an exhibition
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National Youth Dance Company performs in Hull
Forty of the UK's top young dancers take sequences from their latest Sadler's Wells production to various locations around Hull, this year's UK city of culture
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Will Young and Louise Redknapp in CabaretIn Rufus Norris’s revival of Kander and Ebb’s classic musical, Will Young reprises his role as the Emcee and Louise Redknapp stars as Sally Bowles
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The world of Bunny ChristieFrom mapping the journey of The Curious Incident’s teen hero to putting Shakespeare in prison and erecting a towering newsroom for Ink, Bunny Christie talks through five of her creations
you may have missed
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My childhood Christmas by Conchita Wurst, Carlos Acosta, Oti Mabuse and moreForget turkey, crackers and carols. Oti Mabuse has a barbecue on the beach, Alma hits the sauna, Sofie Hagen hunts for a marzipan pig and Conchita Wurst hides from Krampus the horned monster
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US president nukes the worldAntonia Fraser, the playwright’s wife, is always being asked what he would have made of Trump. Now we know – thanks to her discovery of a sketch about a gung-ho ‘Pres’ unleashing a nuclear attack
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Quiz: Which Christmas show are you?Should you book a trad Messiah or sing along with Mariah? Take our festive personality test to help you decide
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Soldier, financial guru, hip-hop legendLin-Manuel Miranda’s musical about the founding father is set to storm London. Often mistaken for a president, its hero engineered America and Britain’s special relationship, was rocked by a harassment scandal and got his face on the $10 bill
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How actors use perfumes to get into characterPlaying Thatcher? Dab on Bluebell. Got a part in Hairspray? Reach for the Madame Rochas. We lift the lid on how actors use smells to nail a role
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On fighting with Kenneth Williams and bouncing back after bankruptcyShe survived a violent upbringing to become the 60s’ favourite comedy vamp. As she turns 90, the star remembers fending off Norman Wisdom, attempting suicide – and having two lovers for 20 years
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Joanna Vanderham as Juliet: ‘The mask of night is on my face’Joanna Vanderham performs Juliet’s speech from the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet
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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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Paterson Joseph as Shylock: 'You call me misbeliever'Paterson Joseph speaks Shylock’s lines from The Merchant of Venice, in which the moneylender reminds Antonio of the times he has insulted him
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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
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Damian Lewis as Antony: 'Friends, Romans, countrymen'Damian Lewis performs Antony’s funeral oration for Julius Caesar from act III, scene 2 of Shakespeare’s tragedy
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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
Little Mermaid's feminist fairytale knocks the spots off Cruella and co