Guest Author - Page 7

The Apollo Victoria Theatre is a theatre that has hosted Wicked since 2006, and a theatre I know all too well having played The Wizard during the UK’s 10th anniversary in 2016 and returned in 2023. On this second return I discovered podcasts. The 1 hour 20-minute wait before my first entrance was made easier by listening, and this inspired me to create a series of my own.

I’m covered in glitter and surrounded by the kind of costumes that would give Ru Paul’s Drag Race a run for its money. It must be panto season again.

Panto is Hamlet in a nappy; Beckett in a bath of beans; Johnson in long johns. It’s gaudy and brash and all the better for it. It’s the High Art of Low Comedy

When I was at the Juilliard Playwriting Program, my instructor Marsha Norman talked a lot about how every playwright has their “stuff” – essentially the themes and ideas that they keep coming back to in all their work.

London's Voila! Theatre Festival is currently hosting 72 shows across nine venues, with 35 different languages being spoken.

‘I JUST HOPE YOU DON’T END UP WORKING IN THEATRE.’ My mum, who worked in theatre, would often say to me. It didn’t seem to have any impact - I ended up working in theatre. It’s all I ever pictured myself doing. And yet, I imagine I’ll say the same to my kids.

Unlike what seems like the entire population of the UK, I didn’t know anything about Abigail’s Party when I began working on it with Jack Bradfield in May this year. I was, however, a big fan of Mike Leigh’s films because of his eccentric yet totally believable characters. I love his use of banal and repressed dialogue and there’s such an incredible combination of brutality and compassion in his work.

Described as 'a raw, euphoric choreography between 3 figures and 75 litres of fake blood' and 'a cyclical feat of endurance and precision', Ocean Hester Stefan Chillingworth's Blood Show is coming to the Battersea Arts Centre from 12-23 November. We asked the artist to fill us in on what they found fascinating about the red stuff. 

Pentabus Artistic Director Elle While and book writer Jeanie O’Hare discuss the creation of Make Good: The Post Office Scandal, a new musical that is currently on a 25-venue tour of the UK, produced by Pentabus and New Perspectives.

'F**k the King. Beauty Shall Live.' Calm down, I'm not having a pop at Charlie boy. Well not yet anyway. Well, maybe a bit. More of that later. These aren't actually my words, they're the words of Babur in our production of Guards at The Taj at the Orange Tree Theatre.

Over the years, Parabolic Theatre has prided itself on making highly immersive and interactive work, where the audience contributions are not only meaningful, but critical to the experience – and genuinely different every night. But how does this actually happen?

Our obsession with True Crime is nothing new. Stories of wrongdoing and justice have captivated us for centuries, whether in ancient holy texts, courtroom dramas, or today’s hit podcasts. There’s a primal satisfaction in seeing justice served, especially when a villain threatens the peace of a law-abiding community. But what happens when the system fails, and a town is forced to confront that threat on its own terms? This is the chilling premise at the heart of KENREX…

At its core, No Particular Order is about the rise of authoritarianism, and how we resist it, often through small but significant acts of defiance. It also explores the vital role of art in resisting oppressive systems.

En på alle måder skør og vanvittig morsom samtidskomedie, der på sin groteske facon belyser klimakrisen samt de skæve verdensopfattelser.

From the beginning, Dizzy has been more than just a show—it’s a reflection of the conversations, emotions, and experiences that have shaped the lives of young people today.  

John Galsworthy’s classic story The Forsyte Saga has been newly dramatised for the stage in two parts for the Park Theatre, bringing the unheard female voices to the fore for the first time. Spanning 40 years from the last gasp of the Victorian age to the beginning of the roaring 1920s, this is an epic tale of sex, money and power.

Who gets to decide who we are and what criteria defines that? When I first started writing Mulatto Boy this was the central question that drove me.

Immersive theatre comes in all shapes and sizes. The Key Of Dreams from Lemon Difficult is a 24-hour experience which invites guests to explore a 17th century manor house filled with mysteries revealed through stories, puzzles and a cast of intriguing characters. How, though, does Lemon Difficult prepare actors for a role in this kind of production? Lead writer Laura Langrish fills us in.

As a kid, I had always dreamed of being a Broadway performer. From the time I started dance classes at three years old and then finally entering vocal competition at 11, I was hooked.

As we head into the final rehearsal week of our new production The Mystery of Little Angel Theatre, I find myself reflecting on how much I’m enjoying the thrill and challenge of devising a new show, how much I love the collaborative process of theatre making.