Macbeth review – Ralph Fiennes’ monstrous monarch wages war in a warehouse
Staged in a hangar-like venue strewn with the charred remnants of battle, Simon Godwin’s intelligent production puts violent conflict to the fore
April 2023
Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma to star in Macbeth staged in warehouses
The production, directed by Simon Godwin, will open in Liverpool before heading to Edinburgh, London and Washington DC
July 2022
Much Ado About Nothing review – screwball Shakespeare goes with a swing
Simon Godwin masterfully directs a slick production starring Katherine Parkinson and John Heffernan
April 2022
It’s time for the Royal Shakespeare Company to be led by an actor
Michael Billington
The US politics sketch
Much ado about Doug: second gentleman takes spotlight at Shakespeare debate
July 2021
Romeo and Juliet review – a bold rewiring with no room for romance
Director Ola Ince’s take on Shakespeare’s tragedy is clever, energetic and doesn’t have a single smooch
May 2021
Shakespeare Theatre Company to host Britney Spears musical
Once Upon a One More Time will debut on 30 November at company’s flagship theater in Washington DC
April 2021
Romeo & Juliet review – Jessie Buckley and Josh O’Connor are outstanding
Romeo and Juliet review – National Theatre's first film is an ingenious triumph
Observer New Review Q&A
Tamsin Greig: 'Romeo and Juliet speaks to our polarisation today'
'We had a three-hour window to get intimate!' Romeo and Juliet at the National
March 2021
Jessie Buckley on Covid filming: ‘The world’s greatest love scene – and we couldn’t touch!’
From Chernobyl to Beast, the Irish star has become the go-to for challenging roles. Now she’s joining Josh O’Connor in Romeo & Juliet – shot in an empty National Theatre
November 2020
Culture in peril
Rufus Norris on the National Theatre's new films, saving panto and the UK arts crisis
The NT’s artistic director says a forthcoming Romeo and Juliet film will be unlike any other production – and reveals his plan B for a lockdown Dick Whittington
May 2020
Lockdown culture
To Egypt, with love: Antony and Cleopatra at the National Theatre
As the NT streams the epic tragedy online, Hildegard Bechtler recalls bringing a monumental setting to the Olivier stage while creating an intimate atmosphere
April 2020
Tamsin Greig on Twelfth Night: 'The self-judgment of women is awful'
As the National Theatre streams its acclaimed staging of Shakespeare’s comedy, its star recalls playing Malvolia and eliciting help from the audience
August 2019
Is Rufus Norris’s run at the National drawing to a close?
Richard Brooks
Why the National Theatre’s artistic director may want to take stock. Plus, Breaking the Waves the opera and bank holiday Proust
February 2019
Simon Godwin: how the British director is taking on US theatre
In his new role as artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington DC, the National Theatre and RSC star talks about swapping Brexit for Trump
November 2018
Love and hisses: Cleopatra star Sophie Okonedo on acting with live snakes
Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo win at Evening Standard theatre awards
September 2018
Antony and Cleopatra review – Okonedo and Fiennes are a magnificent match
Simon Godwin directs a terrific and epic National Theatre production, filled with passion and delusion
