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Naked puppets! Having sex! Lusty, foul-mouthed musical Avenue Q is back
The taboo-busting, Tony-award-winning show has returned. But how will its 00s attitudes land today? Will they still sing Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist and If You Were Gay?There are certain problems you might expect when rehearsing a West End musical. Then there are the problems arising today, reg...
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Eyes on the prize! Backstage at the Olivier awards 2026 – in pictures
Guardian photographer David Levene was at the Royal Albert Hall to photograph the stars and the special performances at London’s biggest night of theatreNo need for hard stares as Paddington: The Musical triumphs at Olivier awardsOlivier awards 2026: full list of winners‘I want to thank my amazi...
‘So beautiful’: Rachel Zegler hails accessibility of Evita’s free balcony scene
Zegler won the Olivier award for best actress in a musical for her role in Jamie Lloyd’s ‘genius’ productionOlivier awards 2026: full list of winners‘I want to thank my amazing husband, who doesn’t exist!’ – Olivier awards’ best quotesIt was the most talked about theatre scene of the...
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No need for hard stares as Paddington: The Musical triumphs at Olivier awards
West End spectacular about beloved bear wins seven prizes, while Rachel Zegler, Rosamund Pike and Paapa Essiedu all recognisedOlivier awards 2026: full list of winnersIt was a night of sweet victory for Michael Bond’s marmalade-loving bear as Paddington: The Musical dominated the Olivier awards on...
Olivier awards 2026: full list of winners
Paddington: The Musical, Evita, All My Sons and Punch were among the winners at the Royal Albert Hall ceremony – find out who won whatNo need for hard stares as Paddington: The Musical triumphs at Olivier awardsBest new musicalHere We Are, book by David Ives, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim a...
Enter stage right: the Olivier awards 2026 arrivals – in pictures
Cate Blanchett, Rachel Zegler, Bryan Cranston and a host of stars arrive for the Olivier awards, marking their 50th anniversary, at the Royal Albert Hall in London
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Rosamund Pike fights back tears during curtain call of London play Inter Alia
The 47-year-old returned to the theatre last summer after more than a decade away
Romeo and Juliet review – overbearing directorial stamp saved by Sadie Sink and Noah Jupe’s chemistry
Harold Pinter theatre, LondonYoung stars perfectly encapsulate the uncompromising nature of first love in Robert Icke’s productionHas the conveyor belt from screen-to-stage celebrity turned full circle when a star from a hit TV series steps on to the West End stage in a production that runs contem...
Kinky Boots: The Musical review – Strictly’s Johannes Radebe is a perfect fit
London ColiseumSuperbly cast, the dancer brings stratospheric levels of charisma to a rather pedestrian show driven by Cyndi Lauper’s songsJohannes Radebe (AKA Jojo from Strictly) is a born performer. He is utterly magnetic on stage, and when he’s dancing you can’t take your eyes off him. The ...
Amber Davies says she ‘fully crashed’ amid burnout as she addresses Legally Blonde backlash and feud rumours
EXCLUSIVE: The actress opens up about her burnout recovery and says the backlash was a first in her near decade-long career after stepping back due to illness
Robert Fox obituary
Film and theatre producer who made The Audience the starting point for The Crown, and was behind Another Country, The Lady in the Van, Iris and Notes on a ScandalScion of one of the great theatrical dynastic families, Robert Fox, who has died aged 73, was a producer on stage and screen over a period...
The Last Five Years review – Rachel Zegler and Ben Platt make time stand still
London PalladiumThe musical-theatre megastars fall in and out of love, in opposing timelines, in a stirring production of Jason Robert Brown’s musicalAfter her electrifying Evita, Rachel Zegler is back at the Palladium – although not on its balcony – joining Ben Platt for a 25th-anniversary co...
Brendan Gleeson wins best actor as Critics’ Circle theatre awards toasts The Weir
Other winners include Inter Alia’s Rosamund Pike, Ivo van Hove for All My Sons and Hayley Atwell who beat her Much Ado co-star Tom Hiddleston to best Shakespearean performanceBrendan Gleeson has been named best actor at the Critics’ Circle theatre awards for his West End debut in Conor McPherson...
A Mirrored Monet review – painter reflects on his past in a musical with heart and humour
Charing Cross theatre, London Carmel Owen’s ambitious musical follows the impressionist’s regrets back to his early adventures in art and his first marriageAs its title suggests, this musical about Claude Monet is full of reflections – fittingly so given the artist’s preoccupation with light...
Teeth ’n’ Smiles review – Self Esteem makes a mesmeric rock star but the drama doesn’t dazzle
Duke of York’s theatre, LondonFifty years since David Hare’s play was first staged, Rebecca Lucy Taylor is inspired casting as a singer who refuses to go out without a bangDavid Hare’s 1975 play Teeth ’n’ Smiles captured the melancholy mood of a generation as it looked back on the lost cou...
And who’s playing Madeline? Lily Allen’s West End Girl could make sensational theatre
Intimate monologue or performance art? The singer’s recent gigs give a tantalising idea of what a stage adaptation of her album might look like‘This conversation’s too big for a phone call,” sings Lily Allen on her new album, West End Girl. Maybe those conversations are too big for its 14 tr...
Dingy and 'unwelcoming' Villiers Street in Charing Cross set for major makeover
More than 3,000 people an hour pass down narrow route connecting Embankment with the Strand
Trainspotting: The Musical to make West End debut in London this summer
Scottish actor Robbie Scott will take to the stage to star in the musical as Mark Renton
‘It’s got real sass!’ Irvine Welsh chooses new life for Trainspotting as a stage musical
Production based on 1993 novel opens at Theatre Royal Haymarket in London in July, with original songs co-written by the authorIt has been a book, a play and a film. It has also spawned three sequels, a prequel and two soundtrack albums. Now, Irvine Welsh’s 1993 debut novel Trainspotting is to fin...
‘It shook the plaster off the ceiling’: Self Esteem and David Hare on reviving rock romp Teeth ‘n’ Smiles
It lit up the 1970s with its nihilistic tale of a hippie band imploding in a trail of drugs, booze and violence. What can it tell us about the music business today? Writer David Hare and wild-child rocker Self Esteem plug in The first time Rebecca Lucy Taylor read David Hare’s 1975 play Teeth ’n...