Richard Pilbrow

Read the Reviews for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway

The two-part play—the eighth chapter in J.K. Rowling's saga—officially opened at the Lyric Theatre April 22.<p>The Broadway production of <i>Harry Potter</i> …

‘Harry Potter’ epic is Broadway magic

Harry Potter has come to Broadway.<p>But The Boy Who Lived is a boy no longer: He’s 37 years old and going through a magical midlife crisis in J.K. …

Drama Book Shop Will Feature Discussion and Signing With Tony Winner William Ivey Long

The event will celebrate Bobbi Owen’s The Designs of William Ivey Long.<p>The Drama Book Shop will celebrate Bobbi Owen’s <i>The Designs of William Ivey …

Hal Prince at 90: ‘Musicals should be dangerous’

The man behind West Side Story and Cabaret has some notes for theatreland today: you’re playing it too safe<p>He is the renowned American producer-director who staged some of the most famous musicals of the 20th century, including <i>West Side Story</i>, <i>Cabaret</i> and <i>Fiddler on the Roof</i>, winning more Tony awards …

The ‘Hamilton’ of World War II

Seventy-five years ago this April Fool’s morning, a line of ticket buyers stretched down West 44th Street outside the St. James Theatre in Manhattan, and a policeman struggled to keep order at the box office. A new musical play had opened the night before and taken the town by storm. “Wonderful is …

Review: A Moving ‘Winter’s Tale,’ With Women in Charge

Shakespeare scholars categorize “The Winter’s Tale” as a “late romance,” as if the fuzziness or freedom of old age explained its weirdness. But Shakespeare was merely in his mid-40s when the play had its premiere around 1611.<p>It wasn’t senility melting the edges of form and letting the clowns and …

‘Angels in America’: ‘Magnificent’ revival of Tony Kushner masterwork is Tony Awards frontrunner

In 1993, two-time Tony winner and two-time Oscar nominee <b>Tony Kushner</b> earned the coveted Pulitzer Prize for “Angels in America: Millennium …

“Angels in America” Rises Again

Marianne Elliott wrestles with a notoriously difficult play, and with Tony Kushner.<p><b>Audio:</b> Listen to this story. To hear more feature stories, download the Audm app for your iPhone.<p>Onstage at the Neil Simon Theatre one recent afternoon, Andrew Garfield was wrestling with an angel. The …

No one is spared Ibsen's wrath in Goodman's powerhouse 'Enemy of the People'

Henrik Ibsen wrote “An Enemy of the People” 136 years ago, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the Goodman Theatre’s sleek and calculated new …

How the National Theatre’s new in-house stage engineers spun into action

Holly Williams<p><i>Michael Lane has engineered shows at the National Theatre for 20 years, but his team has a new challenge – designing bespoke machinery.</i> …

Why the sudden rash of movies onstage now?

The famous “mad-as-hell” line from Paddy Chayefsky’s <i>Network</i> rings out nightly at the National Theatre, where Ivo van Hove’s adaptation of the 1976 …

A standing ovation: the honesty of a British audience or the X-Factorisation of the theatre?

I remortgaged and went to the theatre last week. We saw Network, the National Theatre’s electrifying production of the 1976 film about a television news anchor who goes loopy. It was especially thrilling because my boyfriend and I had “dinner tickets”; tickets that mean we were sitting onstage, …

Why Andrew Garfield Says Angels in America Is the Hardest He’s Ever Worked in His Life

Watch the Tony nominee explain the epic drama to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show.<p>After a smash run in London’s West End, Tony-winning director …

Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre: Nicholas Hytner gives Shakespeare the uncomplicated thrill of a prestige TV drama

Following a fairly conventional maiden production in Young Marx, the Bridge Theatre lays down a statement of intent with this bold, nerve-shredding …

Long Day's Journey Into the Night at Wyndham's Theatre review: A brilliantly acted study of disappointment and squandered potnetial

Long Day’s Journey into the Night is a punishing play. Even this stripped-back production – a mere three and a half hours! – wears you down with wave …

Nicholas Hytner on Julius Caesar: 'I've staged many plays but never one that warns of such a terrible future'

A vain leader bent on absolute power; an elite that ignores the appeal of populism ... after a Trumpian reimagining of Julius Caesar caused outrage in New York, the director explains why he’s bringing Shakespeare’s tragedy to a divided Britain<p>The leaders of the metropolitan elite are terrified that …

Carousel, News

London’s newest commercial theatre and the interior designer behind more than 80 venues are among the winners of The Stage Awards 2018, in …

Alastair Coomer appointed head of casting at National Theatre

The National Theatre has appointed Alastair Coomer as its new head of casting. Coomer will replace Wendy Spon, who leaves the National

Nathan Lane, Andrew Garfield, and Cast of Angels in America Begin Rehearsals

The National Theatre's production of Tony Kushner's <i>Angels in America</i> has begun rehearsals for its transfer to Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre. Directed …

Sir Mark Rylance returns to the stage at Shakespeare's Globe

Sir Mark Rylance is returning to Shakespeare’s Globe, the theatre he helped to launch more than 20 years ago, to play Iago in a production of Othello.<p>The Globe’s new artistic director, Michelle Terry, is taking the company back to its roots by inviting Rylance to be part of her first season in …

Network at the National Theatre’s on-stage restaurant – a food critic’s verdict

The new stage version of the 1976 film allows audience members to dine as the play takes place around them. We sent a restaurant reviewer to appraise the food – but he got too distracted by a staggering show<p>It’s common to describe the modern restaurant in the language of theatre: behold the deft …

Opinion: Why English theatre can boost integration in Sweden

OPINION: It isn't always easy putting on English-language theatre in southern Sweden, but presenting plays in their original language has huge value …

Review: A Wondrous ‘Pinocchio’ With That ‘Lion King’ Magic

LONDON — The most uncanny thing of all about the National Theater production of “Pinocchio” — a show that is wondrously strange from top to bottom — is how simple it appears. This may seem an unlikely characterization of an obviously expensive musical, replete with special effects that brim well …

How UK theatre audiences have always been a rowdy lot

Without an audience in the theatre, there’d be no drama. But audiences have been providing rather too much drama in UK theatres – if a couple of …

Michael Billington on Macbeth: profile of greatest theatrical poem ever written

The destructive nature of unchecked power-lust and political ambition in Shakespeare’s play speaks to us urgently still today<p>“A drum! A drum! Macbeth doth come.” So say Shakespeare’s Weird Sisters in an uncanny prophesy of the Scottish play’s ubiquity this coming year. Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie …

David Hare: my ideal theatre

During David Hare’s 50 years in theatre its fortunes have changed beyond recognition. In the face of cultural cuts and crises, he sets out his vision for a Playhouse for today<p>In 1946, George Orwell wrote his last essay for the Evening Standard. He described an imaginary pub, the Moon Under Water, …

We smiled, laughed, and enjoyed delicious food at our office holiday party tonight! We also toasted to TPC’s 60 years and celebrated David and Millie’s 20 years with the company! #theatreprojectsat60 @Rplight4978 https://t.co/EIRFCfmQ2w

‘Pinocchio’ on Stage: The Best Puppet Show Since ‘War Horse’

Can a Disney classic keep pace with a golden era of children’s theatrical masterpieces?<p>LONDON—Seventy-seven years after Pinocchio was first projected …

Olivier Winner Roger Allam Will Reprise Performance in West End Premiere of David Hare’s The Moderate Soprano

Jeremy Herrin will direct the production at the Duke of York’s Theatre.<p>David Hare’s critically acclaimed <i>The Moderate Soprano</i>, first seen at the …