The Tempest Re-imagined for Everyone Aged Six and Over review – revels just beginning
Child-friendly adaptation that features an airborne chicken takeaway and Prospero casting spells with an iPad is a lovely introduction to Shakespeare
February 2023
The Tempest review – Alex Kingston is a magnificent Prospero
Climate catastrophe and power struggles dominate Elizabeth Freestone’s RSC interpretation of Shakespeare’s play
November 2022
The Tempest review – Shakespeare gets a radical edit from Sydney Theatre Company
‘People now trust that my ideas work’: is this Australia’s most acclaimed theatre director?
October 2022
‘I’m not saying Shakespeare is an anti-black racist. But …’ – the festival tackling an incendiary issue
They have suffered vicious abuse and ugly trolling, but the team behind the Globe’s Shakespeare and Race festival tell our writer why their work feels more urgent than ever
September 2022
To be or not to be cancelled: how directors deal with Shakespeare’s problematic side
Misogynist gags? Ancient puns? Unethical bed tricks? Theatre-makers discuss how they tackle the Bard’s trickier works
August 2022
The week in theatre: Closer, The Tempest, The Darkest Part of the Night – review
The Tempest review – the bard in budgie smugglers
July 2022
The week in theatre: Patriots; The Tempest; King Lear
Tom Hollander excels in Peter Morgan’s incisive oligarch drama; Deborah Warner directs a fine Tempest; and Michelle Terry plays both the Fool and Cordelia to Kathryn Hunter’s Lear
The Tempest review – Deborah Warner’s grimy island engrosses and disgusts
Ustinov, Bath The veteran director’s arrestingly visceral production honours the sheer strangeness of Shakespeare’s late play
Peter Brook obituary
Revered and influential theatre director who took drama out of the auditorium to stages and spaces all over the world
May 2022
The best theatre to stream this month
The best theatre to stream this month: Red Pitch, Constellations and more
Our roundup of plays to watch at home in May includes The Tempest with Jessie Buckley, Robert Icke’s The Doctor staged in Amsterdam and Amanda Wilkin’s superb solo show Shedding a Skin
January 2022
Hamlet, Henry V and Jerusalem’s Rooster: Mark Rylance’s stage roles – in pictures
As the Oscar-winning actor returns to the UK boards in 2022 – first at Bristol Old Vic in Dr Semmelweis then in Jerusalem at London’s Apollo – we remember some of his theatrical highlights
November 2021
The Tempest review – Michael Pennington’s mighty magician lends spark
The Tempest review – stirring all-female Shakespeare on the cusp of Cop26
August 2020
For ever and a day: why we turn to Shakespeare at times of crisis
Four hundred years after his death, the dramatist remains a uniquely powerful touchstone. In this extract from his new book, Robert McCrum considers his evergreen appeal
April 2020
Lockdown culture
The Tempest review – interactive online production goes down a storm
Given a portal to Prospero’s island by Zoom, the audience become the most excited characters in this mischievous and magical version of Shakespeare’s fantasy
December 2019
The Michael Billington archive: highlights from five decades of reviews
Ken Dodd’s laugh riot, Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman, Lucy Prebble’s dazzling debut and ‘off-with-your kit Harington’ … revisit the hits and flops assessed by our outgoing theatre critic
