Foul is fair: stunning shots of Shakespeare's Macbeth – in pictures
As the RSC’s production starring Christopher Eccleston is broadcast on BBC Four, take a look back at some of the most arresting stagings of the ‘Scottish play’
October 2017
Macbeth review – Ninagawa's samurai Shakespeare is a weeping wonder
A revival of the Japanese director’s 1985 production, filled with cherry blossom, poetically explores the obsession for power – and its emptiness
September 2017
Blood and cherry blossom: Yukio Ninagawa's samurai Macbeth is back
His bold take on Shakespeare’s tragedy features kabuki witches, Buddhist chants and a cello-playing Lady Macbeth. As it returns, Yukio Ninagawa’s collaborators remember how he enthralled and enraged audiences
June 2016
King Lear, past and present – in pictures
Shakespeare’s tragic monarch remains one of the most demanding roles in theatre. Revisit the key portrayals on stage and screen, from Olivier and Scofield to Jonathan Pryce and Geoffrey Rush
May 2016
Yukio Ninagawa obituary
Yukio Ninagawa, masterful director of Shakespeare, dies aged 80
August 2014
A life in ...
Thelma Holt: 'I'll be honest, I thought: I'm never going to be as good as Vanessa Redgrave'
The arts interview: The legendary stage producer talks to Andrew Dickson about marriage, Shakespeare and bloody-minded determination
May 2014
Shakespeare's plays – as you like them
Best Shakespeare productions: Pericles
Michael Billington: This once-unloved play has become both a study of asylum seekers and a show for kids. It still has a potent theatrical magic
March 2014
Shakespeare's plays – as you like them
Best Shakespeare productions: what's your favourite Macbeth?
Rupert Goold's staging, with Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood, is one of Michael Billington's top picks. Which versions of the play have you enjoyed the most?
May 2012
Cymbeline – review
Yukio Ninagawa's Cymbeline is operatic and lavishly designed, but psychologically it's more Disney than Shakespeare, writes Lyn Gardner
December 2011
Theatre blog
Isn't it time the National Theatre went international?
Matt Trueman: Without work from abroad, British theatre is in danger of becoming hidebound. So why doesn't the National Theatre stage any?
September 2011
Biggest Shakespeare festival ever will straddle the London Olympics
Companies from all over the world are coming to England in 2012 to join an extravaganza of Shakespeare productions
May 2011
Barbican unveils Olympics arts festival
Programme includes theatre productions starring Juliette Binoche and Cate Blanchett, and major Bauhaus exhibition
May 2010
Musashi
Barbican, London Samurai duels and comedy conga propel a dazzling Japanese fable, writes Michael Billington
January 2010
This week's theatre previews
11 And 12/My Stories, Your Emails | Knives In Hens | The Miser | Salt | Class Of '76 | The Lieutenant Of Inishmore | Ghost Stories | Medea
November 2009
Timothy Bateson obituary
British character actor whose role in Waiting for Godot led to more than 50 years on stage, television and film
March 2009
Theatre blog
It's time to recognise Britain's theatrical treasures
John M Morrison: Japan and Australia bestow special status on their greatest actors - surely the home of Shakespeare should too
Shochiku Grand Kabuki
Barbican, London Yukio Ninagawa's attempt at a Kabuki Twelfth Nightis more of a shotgun wedding than a happy marriage, says Lyn Gardner
Theatre preview: Twelfth Night After William Shakespeare, London
Barbican Theatre, EC2, Tue to 28 Mar
October 2008
Theatre blog
What to see this week
Lyn Gardner: From Six Characters in Search of an Author to Othello and The Horse Marines, there's plenty to tempt you to the theatre
