Lyonesse review – Kristin Scott Thomas charms in messy #MeToo tale
Starry cast including Lily James and Doon Mackichan are tossed around in a plot that never gets hold of its many concerns
August 2022
All of Us review – Francesca Martinez’s urgent call for radical empathy
Personal, political and polemical, this intensely moving play about disability and austerity challenges preconceptions
May 2022
The week in theatre: Jerusalem; The Corn Is Green; Marys Seacole
Spellbinding Mark Rylance returns as the anarchic Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron; Nicola Walker hits the mark in Dominic Cooke’s brilliant Emlyn Williams revival; and in praise of Mary Seacole
August 2021
‘The best summer of my life’ – Kae Tempest takes Sophocles on a gender odyssey
The writer has turned a Greek tragedy about a marooned soldier into an all-women play for the Covid era. They reveal how its creation mirrored their own journey
May 2021
Reopening culture
Gemma Arterton play resumes in West End after Covid-related cancellation
A performance of Walden at the Harold Pinter theatre in London was cancelled on Tuesday but all cast and crew ‘remain negative for Covid’ after the alert
March 2021
Sonia Friedman unveils season of West End plays for 'bold new world'
Gemma Arterton and Emma Corrin will be among cast in set of dramas confronting urgent issues
February 2021
Lockdown culture
The lockdown boom in audio plays: 'it's drama the pandemic can’t touch'
Mike Bartlett, Alan Ayckbourn, Adjoa Andoh and other top theatre-makers reflect on why listening to drama is perfect for our times
December 2020
Best culture 2020
A dramatic year: the 10 best theatre shows of 2020
As the industry faced turmoil, there were triumphant stagings of classics by Sarah Kane, David Mamet and Alan Bennett – and bold new experiments
October 2020
Uncle Vanya review – coronavirus gives Chekhov a shot in the arm
The pandemic supercharges the atmosphere in this film version of Ian Rickson’s recent stage production
Culture in peril
Richard Armitage: 'Theatre is hanging on by a thread'
As he returns in a new film version of Uncle Vanya, the star remembers when Covid shuttered the West End and reflects on the arts crisis
Tristram Kenton at the Guardian
Pause for the camera: the best of Harold Pinter – in pictures
Revisit the work of one of Britain’s greatest playwrights in the month that he would have turned 90
April 2020
Mark Rylance to return as Rooster Byron in Jerusalem revival
Jez Butterworth’s acclaimed play about English myths is to be revived in 2021, directed by Ian Rickson
January 2020
Uncle Vanya review – Toby Jones triumphs in perfect Chekhov
Toby Jones: 'Actors talking about acting? It makes you scream!'
May 2018
Translations review – a flawless take on Friel's culture-clash masterpiece
Brian Friel’s play about the infinite mysteries of language is richly realised in a meticulous Ian Rickson production, with excellent performances from a strong cast
August 2017
Against review – Ben Whishaw is outstanding as a tech messiah
Against review – Ben Whishaw on a mission to save the world
December 2016
The Observer's obituaries of 2016
Alan Rickman remembered by Ian Rickson
The director recalls the generosity and deep social engagement of an actor as at home in Harry Potter as in Hamlet
July 2016
Now We Are Here review – refugee playwrights see Britain with fresh eyes
Created by refugee writers, this affecting double-header is a reminder that everyone has a story worth telling
October 2014
Electra review – Kristin Scott Thomas breaks new ground with mixed results
Kristin Scott Thomas is caught between fervour and languor as Sophocles’s avenging heroine, writes Susannah Clapp
