The latest news and comment on director Nicholas Hytner
June 2024
Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey to play Richard II on London stage
‘Absolute outrage’: arts in state schools must be a priority for next government, say theatre leaders
May 2024
TV tonight
TV tonight: the adaptation of bestselling book The Tattooist of Auschwitz
Jonah Hauer-King , Harvey Keitel and Melanie Lynskey star in the chilling drama. Plus, Taskmaster on top form. Here’s what to watch this evening
April 2024
2024’s Olivier awards remain too white, too male – and too safe
Arifa Akbar
A string of seven awards for Sunset Boulevard was hardly radical, and many more daring theatrical successes went unrewarded
February 2024
Sunset Boulevard wins big at the WhatsOnStage awards
Nicole Scherzinger-led musical bags seven prizes at awards show voted for by theatregoers
October 2023
‘Delicate, dangerous, anarchic’: Daniel Craig, Michael Mann, Matthew Macfadyen and more remember Michael Gambon
He wasn’t just a magnificent actor – he was also a raconteur, mentor, joker, engineer and pilot. Friends including Tom Hollander, Penelope Wilton, Simon Callow, Nicholas Hytner, Matthew Warchus and Rupert Goold pay tribute to the star
September 2023
Michael Gambon: an actor who let his heart and soul crack open
A star with incredible presence, Gambon brought heft and delicacy, mischief and feeling, to the stage and screen
July 2023
Twelve culture secretaries in 13 years: what does that say about the Tories’ attitude to the arts?
Don Carlo review – Lise Davidsen doesn’t disappoint in Verdi’s sprawling masterpiece
May 2023
The Guardian view on excellence in the arts: it’s not about elites
Editorial: It is refreshing to hear new ideas, but dividing culture into the best and the rest won’t do anyone any good
March 2023
Musicals are having an exceptional moment – but classic plays are vanishing from UK stages
Michael Billington
There are invigorating versions of Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma! and Cabaret in London – and some enticing new dramas coming up – yet theatre risks being cut off from its past
The week in theatre: five stars for Guys & Dolls, plus Marjorie Prime and The Tragedy of Macbeth – review
The audience is swept along with the action in Nicholas Hytner’s thrillingly immersive new Guys and Dolls; Nancy Carroll and Anne Reid surf memory and identity; and Shakespeare’s witches multitask
Guys and Dolls review – Nicholas Hytner’s gamble pays off
This immersive production of the New York musical has a bold design, superb singing and chemistry between its stars
October 2022
‘I threw my arms around Beckett!’ – electrifying first nights, by Ciarán Hinds, Eileen Atkins and more
The author of a new book about the greatest openings in theatre history asks stars of stage to recall their most thrilling first nights – and the occasional disasters that befell them
August 2022
‘I want to do things I’ve never done’: The History Boys’ Samuel Barnett on his new one-man show
Making his fringe debut with a show about a troubled standup, the actor explains why he loves solo performance, his issues with The History Boys, and why this government’s days are numbered
June 2022
The Southbury Child review – a vicar picks an odd hill to die on
Even-handed to a fault, Stephen Beresford’s new comedy coasts by on sub-Alan Bennett humour and the odd eye-roll at wokeness. But its hero’s stance on balloons beggars belief
March 2022
Straight Line Crazy review – Ralph Fiennes enthrals as the man who shaped New York
Fiennes heads an electrifying cast in David Hare’s dynamic portrait of Robert Moses, an aggressive yet visionary urban planner who refused to back down
December 2021
Until I get a second pink line on the lateral flow, I’m going to squeeze the pips out of life
Rachel Cooke
The daily Covid test provides each morning’s drama. A negative result means another evening of food for the soul
Culture in peril
‘Hanging on by our fingertips’: theatres fear Omicron’s impact on festive season
With a surge in cancellations across the country, the new strain of Covid might be the biggest threat to the UK’s stage industry yet
The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage review – a theatrical marvel
Nicholas Hytner brings a dazzling wizard’s touch to this adaptation of Philip Pullman’s fantasy tale
