Nick Haverson

It’s very much the time of year for seasonal silliness, and whilst run-of-the-mill pantomimes are a safe choice, they are also a predictable one. Theatre company Told by an Idiot’s Get Happy is anything but that.

At a time when we're getting too many words, words, words from a bumbling Prime Minister and his cronies, what a relief to discover a charming, kind and life-affirming silent movie-style production that harks back to simpler times. The enticing live piano score by composer Zoe Rahman, is the dialogue, aided by the odd ditty (song arrangements by Sophie Cotton) and clever projected captions taking you back to the heydays of Victorian music hall and Hollywood silent pictures.

Charlie Chaplin will now be played by Danielle Bird, joining Jerone Marsh-Reid as Stan Laurel, Nick Haverson as Fred Karno and Sara Alexander playing all the other parts, including Chaplin's mother, and the piano! 

You thought you knew more or less what to expect but, somehow, the entire show turned out to be a very refreshing surprise. Two days ago, the Théâtre des Capucins opened its doors to The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, a Told by an Idiot production, written and directed by Paul Hunter.

In 1910 the unknown Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel set sail for New York as part of Fred Karno's famous music hall troupe. On the journey, Charlie and Stan shared a cabin and then spent two years together touring North America, with Stan as Charlie's understudy.

The Royal Shakespeare Company have burst back to the West End with their double bill of Love's Labour's - both Lost and Won. This pairing really is a remarkable achievement. Set in the summer of 1914 and the winter of 1918, director Christopher Luscombe has combined the charm and elegance of an Edwardian country estate with a wit, silliness and sense of play that would surely have made Will proud.

The RSC's hugely acclaimed 2014 pairing of Love's Labour's Lost and Much Ado About Nothing (or Love's Labour's Won) arrives in London this Christmas, following runs at Chichester Festival Theatre and Manchester Opera House. From 9 December 2016 to 18 March 2017, Edward Bennett and Lisa Dillon will delight audiences at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in Christopher Luscombe's elegant, effervescent productions.

Full casting is announced for the world premiere of Phil Porter's new play, The Christmas Truce. Inspired by the real events of the First World War exactly 100 years ago and directed by Deputy Artistic Director Erica Whyman

Full casting is announced for Christopher Luscombe's productions of Love's Labour's Lost and Love's Labour's Won (also known as Much Ado About Nothing). As part of a season marking the centenary of the First World War, both productions will play in repertoire in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon with a joint press day on Wednesday 15 October. They will also be broadcast live into cinemas worldwide and streamed free into schools.