Tim Wright News

Helen Woolf has just been announced as Glinda in the upcoming UK & Ireland tour of Wicked. We spoke to her at the press launch in Bristol (see the full story here), where the tour kicks off in January.

Amy Ross has just been announced as Elphaba in the upcoming UK & Ireland tour of Wicked. We spoke to her at the press launch in Bristol, where the tour kicks off in January.

Today, hit musical WICKED announced its full cast for the UK & Ireland Tour in 2018, and BroadwayWorld UK was at the launch in Bristol to catch all the action!

Crafting The Caretaker (or indeed any Pinter) off the page takes a great deal of nuance and skill. Thankfully, in this new co-production from the Bristol Old Vic and Royal & Derngate Northampton, Christopher Haydon directs with the right amount of faithfulness to the text alongside flexibility for his cast.

Presented by Center Theatre Group, The National Theatre production of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' opened at the Ahmanson Theatre on August 3.

Presented by Center Theatre Group, The National Theatre production of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' will begin performances at the Ahmanson Theatre on August 2 with the opening set for August 3. The Tony Award-winning new play by Simon Stephens is adapted from Mark Haddon's best-selling novel and directed by Tony winner Marianne Elliott ('War Horse'). Performances will continue through September 10, 2017.

Casting is set for the Los Angeles engagement of the National Theatre production of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" presented at Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre. The Tony Award-winning new play by Simon Stephens is adapted from Mark Haddon's best-selling novel and directed by Tony winner Marianne Elliott ("War Horse"). "Curious Incident…" previews August 2, opens August 3 and continues through September 10, 2017.

Presented by Center Theatre Group, The National Theatre production of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' will begin performances at the Ahmanson Theatre on August 2 with the opening set for August 3. The Tony Award-winning new play by Simon Stephens is adapted from Mark Haddon's best-selling novel and directed by Tony winner Marianne Elliott ('War Horse'). Performances will continue through September 10, 2017.

Mike Shepherd is an actor, director, teacher and the Artistic Director of Kneehigh. He started Kneehigh in 1980 and has worked almost exclusively for the company ever since. He is currently playing King Mark in their acclaimed production of Tristan & Yseult and is about to direct a new production of The Tin Drum. We met in the surrounds of the Bristol Old Vic Backstage Bar to talk.

We've all been members of 'The Club of the Unloved' where tales of unrequited love and broken hearts are the norm. In Kneehigh's world, this is a kind of back alley jazz club and the initial setting for the epic love story of Tristan & Yseult.

On the face of it, David Hare's state-of-the-nation play Racing Demon should be fruit ripe for the picking. However, in this latest production from Jonathan Church (in his first summer season as Artistic Director at Bath Theatre Royal) it struggles to feel as vibrant and relevant as it once might have.

So, the nail-biting morning for arts organisations up and down the country is over: now they all know whether they are part of the National Portfolio from 2018-22. There will be many individual stories of triumph and disappointment, but after interrogating the data, here's some headline news.

15-year-old Christopher Boone has an extraordinary mind. He can solve maths problems that would send most adults into a mild panic and he can remember levels of detail that confound those around him. He also, however, hates the colour yellow, can't use a toilet if a stranger has used it and has never left his street in Swindon on his own…until now. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time adapted by Simon Stephens from Mark Haddon's best selling novel is a joyous explosion of bravery, difference and humanity.

Casting is set for the Los Angeles engagement of the National Theatre production of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" presented at Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre. The Tony Award-winning new play by Simon Stephens is adapted from Mark Haddon's best-selling novel and directed by Tony winner Marianne Elliott ("War Horse"). "Curious Incident…" previews August 2, opens August 3 and continues through September 10, 2017.

How much are you in control of the choices you make? This is the central question posed by 1927's Golem - a story inspired by the myth of the clay man Golem but given a distinctly modern edge over 90mins of exhilarating and ingenious theatre.

"They sentenced me to life, not to death" is the cry from an increasingly broken Winston in this new production of Fugard's The Island. Set on the notorious Robben Island (the infamous place that held Nelson Mandela) during apartheid The Island offers a glimpse into the lives of two inmates- John and Winston who face impossibly long stretches of time under the unspeakably harsh regime.

'Welcome to my home, well it's not actually my home but for tonight it is' says Asha Jain at the top of A Brimful of Asha. Asha and her son Ravi are inviting us to share an evening with them to tell us a story about Asha's desire for her son to marry a nice Indian girl and settle down. They've even brought samosas.

Oh dear. It's hard to know where to start with this confused and disjointed version of Euripides' tragedy.  Based on a concept by director George Mann, this new production weaves the Greek myth of Medea with the story of Maddy - a modern woman who is cheated on and suddenly divorced by her husband.

So why have I picked 'Solidarity' as my favourite song from a musical? I mean, it's hardly the best known - you won't find people on Britain's Got The X Factor singing it or countless YouTube covers of it. It won't even be on Michael Ball's new album and he really must be running out of tunes now. It's just not that sort of number.

It's eight months since Mike Tweddle took over from Ali Robertson as Artistic Director of Tobacco Factory Theatres in Bristol. In the surrounds of the theatre bar, I caught up with him to ask about his time so far.