‘I filed my copy from Waterloo station loos’: the Guardian’s theatre critics assess The Critic
Ian McKellen plays a theatre reviewer in the 1930s in the new film adapted from Anthony Quinn’s novel Curtain Call – but how accurate is it?
The Critic review – deliciously waspish Ian McKellen lifts 30s London murder mystery
A fine cast is squandered in this sour adaptation, scripted by Patrick Marber, of Anthony Quinn’s lively novel
Notebook
Is the fizz up to Edith Wharton’s standards? The joys of launching a book
Rachel Cooke
Peter Bradshaw's film of the week
The Critic review – Ian McKellen’s poison pen sharpens 30s society cosy-crime drama
Ian McKellen says he is fine but has ‘emotional residues’ after onstage fall
August 2024
Ian McKellen says fat suit saved him after ‘horrible’ stage fall
The 85-year-old actor, who fell from London stage in June, says he still has ‘agonising pains’ and avoids leaving the house
July 2024
How we made
‘We went bankrupt and had to set up the explosives ourselves’: Ian McKellen and Richard Loncraine on making Richard III
‘The movie changed my life,’ says McKellen of the 1995 film. ‘If Bryan Singer hadn't seen it, he would never have asked me to be in X-Men’
The waiting is over! Have the times finally caught up with Godot?
Samuel Beckett’s groundbreaking play is back again, this time starring Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati. Its tragicomic take on existence may match our cultural moment
Ian McKellen pulls out of Player Kings national tour after fall from stage
Actor says he is reluctantly following medical advice to ‘protect my recovery’
June 2024
Ian McKellen’s understudy to perform in final London dates of Player Kings
Ian McKellen ‘looking forward to returning to work’ after falling off stage
I was Ian McKellen’s understudy – I know how he must feel after his accident
David Weston
Ian McKellen expected to make ‘speedy recovery’ after falling off stage
Week in geek
Hunt for Gollum: are Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen being quietly dropped?
Top-price West End theatre tickets rise by 9% in a year and reach £300
April 2024
The week in theatre: Player Kings; Red Pitch; Underdog: The Other Other Brontë – review
Player Kings review – Ian McKellen’s richly complex Falstaff is magnetic
March 2024
When an outgoing Tory minister like Robert Halfon channels Gandalf, the magic of Tolkien begins to pall
Alex Clark
Ian McKellen’s Player Kings to tour England
February 2024
The film’s the thing: Ian McKellen’s new Hamlet shows the screen can outdo the stage
Michael Billington
Sean Mathias has reimagined his 2021 production of Shakespeare’s tragedy as a movie, inventively using Windsor’s Theatre Royal and capturing McKellen’s subtle performance