What makes a good theatre director? How do you learn to be one? What do you do on the first day of rehearsals? Sir Richard Eyre reflects on the director's elusive craft in his foreword to a new book, Drama Games for Actors by Thomasina Unsworth... Most of us have an indecent curiosity about what … Continue reading ‘The mistake is to pretend you have all the answers’: Richard Eyre on what makes a good theatre director
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‘She has made us all raise our game’: Rufus Norris introduces All Change Please by Lucy Kerbel
Tonic Theatre founder Lucy Kerbel's new book, All Change Please: A Practical Guide to Achieving Gender Equality in Theatre, is an eye-opening look at why theatre continues to struggle to reflect the gender balance of the world it seeks to represent – and what can be done to fix that. Here, Rufus Norris, who as … Continue reading ‘She has made us all raise our game’: Rufus Norris introduces All Change Please by Lucy Kerbel
‘One of the greatest ever collaborators’: Enda Walsh on working with David Bowie
Now playing in London following its premiere in New York last year, new musical Lazarus marks a unique collaboration between the playwright Enda Walsh and legendary singer and songwriter David Bowie – featuring many of the latter's most famous songs. Though nobody realised at the time, the production turned out to be one of Bowie's … Continue reading ‘One of the greatest ever collaborators’: Enda Walsh on working with David Bowie
Harriet Walter on playing Shakespeare’s great roles
In her new book Brutus and Other Heroines: Playing Shakespeare's Roles for Women, acclaimed actor Harriet Walter looks back at her experiences of playing many of Shakespeare’s most famous roles – both female and male – across her varied and distinguished career. Her perceptive and intimate accounts illustrate each play as a whole, and provide … Continue reading Harriet Walter on playing Shakespeare’s great roles
‘It’s not so much about the gift, but the graft’ – Lyndsey Winship on Being a Dancer
In her new book Being a Dancer, dance critic and arts journalist Lyndsey Winship shares invaluable advice and insight taken from exclusive interviews with twenty-five leading dancers and choreographers, including Carlos Acosta, Matthew Bourne, Darcey Bussell and Tamara Rojo. Here she reflects on her own personal love affair with dance, and what compiling the book … Continue reading ‘It’s not so much about the gift, but the graft’ – Lyndsey Winship on Being a Dancer
Girls centre stage: Lucy Kerbel on building a new canon of writing for young actors
Good roles for young female actors are in short supply, so Tonic Theatre set out to change that by commissioning a series of new plays with mainly or entirely female casts for schools and youth theatre groups to perform. As the first three plays in the Platform series are published by Nick Hern Books and … Continue reading Girls centre stage: Lucy Kerbel on building a new canon of writing for young actors
With a little help from my friends: Amelia Bullmore on her play Di and Viv and Rose
Actress and playwright Amelia Bullmore had a West End hit earlier this year with Di and Viv and Rose, a warm and funny play about three women and their enduring friendship. As the play is made available for amateur performance, she recalls the moment that inspired her to write it, and explains why, for her, … Continue reading With a little help from my friends: Amelia Bullmore on her play Di and Viv and Rose
‘Leave me my name’: Richard Eyre on the importance of Arthur Miller
Richard Eyre directed the first Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. With several major productions of Miller's work opening in this, his centenary year, it's a time to reflect on why plays such as Death of a Salesman, A View from the Bridge and The Crucible speak so urgently to us today. Here, in … Continue reading ‘Leave me my name’: Richard Eyre on the importance of Arthur Miller
John Hollingworth on writing – and rewriting – his first play, Multitudes
When actor John Hollingworth started writing his first full-length play, he had little idea it would take so long to reach the stage. No bad thing, though, when the result is Multitudes, currently at the Tricycle Theatre – and 'as urgent and immediate as the morning headlines' (Guardian). How did he do it? In this interview, … Continue reading John Hollingworth on writing – and rewriting – his first play, Multitudes
West End Producer: ‘Traditions and superstitions’
Though they're perfectly sensible, sane and rational in every other possible way, theatre folk are a rather superstitious lot. So to mark this Friday 13th, theatre impresario and masked Twitter phenomenon West End Producer - who was himself born onstage during a performance of Titus Andronicus - delves into the murky, sometimes confusing world of … Continue reading West End Producer: ‘Traditions and superstitions’
The Prompt Book 