theatreVOICE

Say what you like about Sir David Hare or just plain David Hare (but not, please, “Call me Dave”). And some people have been very mean indeed - step forward, most notoriously Dominic Dromgoole (“The most intriguing question about David Hare is how such a flat writer has come to be afforded such a mountainous […]

Very sad news about the death of Corin Redgrave, as some have said a much under-rated actor - and a man whose reputation crept for a long period under a double-shadow, that of his formidably successful father and that of his own often contentious hard-left political activism.
I feel blessed to have encountered some of his […]

I don’t know about you, but I’m going to miss Urban Scrawl.

Every week for the past year (give or take the odd break, when co-editor Aleks Sierz has stepped into the breach), I’ve had the privilege to upload and assign a new play to the site. And every time, there’s always been something to hook […]

Stand by for a slice of audio with Felix Barrett and Adam Curtis on the new Punchdrunk show: It Felt Like A Kiss. In the meantime, here’s a feature on this ground-breaking event that ran in the Daily Telegraph but never made it online:
It looks like the sort of office-block Manchester’s answer to David Brent […]

I’m impressed by the spread of this year’s Laurence Olivier awards. Good to see the Donmar’s sensational revival of The Chalk Garden being rewarded in the best actress and lighting categories. Top marks for the championing of Elena Roger, too, as Piaf, a knock-out performance. And the acknowledgement of the RSC’s Histories was more than […]

Although these are nervous times in critic-land, as they are in pretty much every other land you care to mention, including the one beginning with Ice, it’s always reassuring for those who fear the professional reviewer is a dying or doomed breed, to see luminaries from the world of British theatre turning out in force […]

Hi all, just a quick note to say that the podcast problems identified last month have now been rectified, we’ve been assured by our web-designer. If you notice any further problems, best - and quickest - to report them via the theatrevoice facebook group. Thanks

As you stagger bleary-eyed to your computer terminals at the start of 2009, hungover from the end of year celebrations or afflicted by those January / recession blues, you should do your ears - and imagination - a favour and give up eight minutes of your time to listen to Chips Hardy’s delightfully fresh comedy […]

The theatre world is still digesting the news of Harold Pinter’s death on Christmas Eve. A great, great loss. In latestNEWS, you’ll find a clutch of links to news items and obituaries. Best thing to do, though, I think, is to listen to the man himself, recorded at the British Library shortly after the death of […]

An amazing week last week: finally, after months of preparation, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. The Urban Scrawl project - a partnership between TheatreVOICE, Theatre 503 and Rose Bruford College - went into major recording mode in Sidcup. Which meant that Gene David Kirk, indefatigable programming director at 503 - and newly […]