Local News
Sheila Bernette obituary
Singer and actor who appeared in theatrical variety and worked on TV light entertainment programmes such as Candid Camera and The Leslie Crowther ShowSheila Bernette, who has died aged 94, had a long acting and singing career that began when she was a child. It embraced the West End, provincial thea...
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Gerry & Sewell review – tragicomic search for a Newcastle United season ticket
Aldwych theatre, LondonJamie Eastlake’s play about two football fans mixes together song, dance, comedy and dark family drama, with incohesive resultsThis tale of two hard-up reprobates in Gateshead, who dream of getting a Newcastle United season ticket by hook or by crook, encapsulates hope in th...
Sadiq Khan to increase council tax to help fund Met Police crackdown on phone thefts
If approved, the plans would be the first time City Hall’s share of average bills has exceed £500 a year
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High Noon review – Billy Crudup brings classic Hollywood western back with a bang
Harold Pinter theatre, LondonCrudup and Denise Gough lead a tense adaptation that turns the film into a debate play whose McCarthy-era roots resonate powerfully todayHow do you turn a classic Hollywood western into West End musical fare? Add songs, many of Bruce Springsteen’s in this case, along w...
Woman in Mind review – play stands the test of time for its originality
Duke of York’s theatre, LondonSheridan Smith’s disconsolate housewife seeks refuge in a fantasy world, in Alan Ayckbourn’s critique of the emptiness of married lifeSusan is not the first woman battling inner demons in her middle years that Sheridan Smith has taken on for the West End stage. Be...
The best theatre to stream this month: the rollicking return of One Man, Two Guvnors
James Corden got his ticket to Hollywood after this first-rate farce. Plus: the biggest stars in musicals gather for a night of big hits and breakdancers interpret Bach’s baroque musicRichard Bean’s riotous relocation of The Servant of Two Masters from 18th-century Venice to the British seaside ...
‘The best thing I have ever witnessed on stage’: readers’ favourite theatre of 2025
A transcendent new take on King Lear, a thrilling Evita and a show at Glasgow’s revamped Citizens that reduced one viewer to a ‘blubbering wreck’ are among your highlights• More on the best culture of 2025Hull New theatre Continue reading......
Oh, Mary! review – US history lewdly revised as American Pie-grade comedy
Trafalgar theatre, London Arriving from Broadway with much fanfare, Cole Escola’s play about Mary Todd Lincoln is loaded with obvious jokes and squanders the talents of its cast Oh, my! Mary Todd Lincoln is a drunken wannabe cabaret star! Her husband Abraham, the 16th US president, is a closet hom...
Dame Maureen Lipman to tour UK after 20 years to star in new play Allegra
The 79-year-old actress will appear in the play’s world premiere in Brighton next year.
The best theatre, comedy and dance of 2025
A meet-cute between Humanity and Earth, a mod ballet and Nick Mohammed’s career-best standup set – our critics pick the best stage shows of the year10. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold FryStaging a bestselling book that has already been adapted into a film starring bona fide national treasures ...
The Nutcracker review – cheeky, wild and warm-hearted spin on Christmas classic
St Martin’s theatre, London Little Bulb’s ingenious show for children features sword fights, crooning mice and some cheesy gagsThink of this joyful show as a cheeky nod to The Nutcracker rather than anything genuinely resembling the original. Yes, Little Bulb’s Olivier-nominated festive show ...
Paranormal Activity review – this fright night leaves you spellbound and spooked
Ambassadors theatre, LondonWith expert direction and eye-catching stagecraft, the tension is ramped up in a play inspired by the film franchiseDarkness holds us long enough for the dread to seep into our bones. By treating horror as an art form rather than a cheap set of jump scares, this thrilling ...
Christmas Carol Goes Wrong review – a Dickensian disaster to savour
Apollo theatre, LondonMischief Theatre return to the am-dram battlefield, turning the Victorian tale into a blizzard of bruised egos and expertly timed farceIn the interval, I hear a newcomer to Mischief Theatre’s enduring “goes wrong” concept ask if these comic symphonies of am-dram mishaps e...
Tributes paid to Scottish comedy ‘giant’ Stanley Baxter after his death aged 99
He died on Thursday in a north London care home for entertainment figures.
Horror hit Paranormal Activity spawns a West End play – and even its director yelped with fear
Inspired by the scary film franchise, playwright Levi Holloway and Punchdrunk maestro Felix Barrett are bringing the ‘bizarrely joyous’ world of terror to the stageMalevolent spirits be damned – theatres can be haunted simply by the memory of bad plays and perhaps unscary horror in particular....
Strictly Come Dancing co-host Claudia Winkleman says finale will be ’emotional’
Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly announced last month they will be leaving the BBC dancing competition at the end of the year.
Met Police launch Christmas blitz on e-bike phone snatchers in London’s West End using facial recognition
Standard invited out on patrol with unit ‘taking the fight’ to criminals as Sir Mark Rowley turns to high-tech cameras to combat scourge
Why a play about a fatal punch has gripped younger audiences and will tour schools
James Graham’s play Punch touches on gang culture, restorative justice and masculinity in crisis, and for the playwright the true story was a privilege to tellWhen thousands of schoolchildren came to see James Graham’s play Punch in the West End, the playwright, actors and producers were struck ...
First look at Joseph Fiennes as Gareth Southgate in BBC Dear England series
The actor was previously nominated for an Olivier Award for his role as the former England football manager in the West End production.
Tom Fletcher to sing with Paddington during Strictly’s musicals week
They will take to the ballroom on Saturday.