Theatre
Review – National Theatre Connections 2020: Plays for young people
30 December 2020 From climate change to the perils of the information era, the collection powerfully explores the struggles facing contemporary teenagers, writes Jordana Belaiche
Ntando Yam: theatre as protest
28 August 2020 Phoebe Kisubi reflects on using participatory theatre as a tool for social and political activism among sex workers in Cape Town, South Africa
Talking back to Shakespeare: theatre in women’s prisons
26 August 2020 Shakespeare’s women can alert us to alternative stories – if we listen to them. In ‘talking back’ to the Bard we can change our own stories, says Charlotte Scott
Who’s laughing now?
22 August 2020 As venues tentatively reopen post-lockdown, Siobhán McGuirk surveys the impact of the pandemic on comedy, theatre and the cultural sector
A little more action: theatre, disability, and Elvis
20 August 2020 Elizabeth McGuirk interviews Claire Cunningham, the internationally acclaimed disabled artist, about taking risks, engaging audiences beyond our own bubble, and the enduring power of The King
Shake it up: class, theatre and politics
16 August 2020 Political theatre should ask questions – and prompt us to challenge the status quo. Evie Manning explains the Common Wealth approach
Working class theatre: Save Our Steel takes the stage
18 September 2017 A new play inspired by Port Talbot’s ‘Save Our Steel’ campaign asks questions about the working class leaders of today. Adam Johannes talks to co-director Rhiannon White about the project, the people and the politics behind it
A musical fightback against school arts cuts
15 August 2017 Elliot Clay on why his new musical turns the spotlight on the damage austerity has done to arts education, through the story of one school band's battle
A Dionysus for all seasons
8 June 2015 Greek tragedy is enjoying something of a revival with some imaginative stagings of the ancient plays, writes Steve Platt
Shelagh Delaney and the drama of everyday life
1 April 2014 Michael Calderbank reconsiders the context of Salford playwright Shelagh Delaney’s breakthrough as the National Theatre stages a revival of her debut A Taste of Honey
The Shed is proving that theatre can tackle the issues of the day
3 February 2014 A temporary space at the National Theatre has been tackling a host of contemporary issues. Edd Mustill has been enjoying the show
Theatre review: The World of Extreme Happiness
14 October 2013 Edd Mustill reviews The World of Extreme Happiness at London's National Theatre Shed.
Revolutionary rehearsals
6 September 2013 Lorna Stephenson looks at theatre groups giving a voice to the voiceless – and making social change happen in the process
Giving homeless young people a voice through theatre
15 August 2013 Edd Mustill reviews Home, a play at the National Theatre Shed
Fighting and winning: the struggle for the Hackney Empire
15 August 2013 Taking on the Empire: How We Saved the Hackney Empire for Popular Theatre by Roland Muldoon, reviewed by Jane Shallice
Uhuru Lumumba! A Season in the Congo review
23 July 2013 Catherine Hoskyns reviews A Season in the Congo at London's Young Vic
Oil City: campaigning theatre
19 June 2013 Siobhan McGuirk experiences Oil City, an immersive, site-specific play produced by campaign group Platform
Theatre Uncut: Art attack
26 April 2011 Red Pepper investigates a theatre project dramatising the cuts
Epic drama
1 December 2009 With a new adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children at the National Theatre, Steve Platt assesses the legacy of one of the 20th century's greatest dramatists
Playing the Great Game
3 June 2009 The Tricycle Theatre's production of The Great Game - 12 plays on the history and contemporary realities of the struggle for control over Afghanistan - brings to the fore what will be one of the central political issues in the coming years. Co-director Indhu Rubasingham reflects on the project
Pitmen painters
8 February 2009 Six days a week they toiled down the mine, making art in their spare time after attending a Workers Education Association art appreciation class. The Ashington Group of miner-artists is the subject of a witty and wise play by Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall, currently showing at the National Theatre, that has much to tell us about art, culture and the working class, writes Steve Platt
Keep throwing stones
18 December 2007 From the CAST theatre company to New Variety and the Hackney Empire, Roland and Claire Muldoon have been at the heart of cultural dissent for the past four decades. By Jane Shallice
